I really don’t know how our upstairs hallway became a portrait gallery.
I did not envision the hallway looking like it does now.
It just happened over time.
It happened because of all the school pictures that were taken through the years.

It has already been determined that I keep a Mom Box for each of my children.
Each year when their school pictures came home, I would display them in a frame.
When the next year’s pictures came home, the previous year’s picture went in the Mom Box.
Whenever I would add their report card, an award, or a special card they made me, I saw it.

Read More...

The yardstick was always in the closet at the bottom of the stairs.
I remember it had the name of a hardware store on the front.
It had its own special corner of the closet where it rested against the wall.
It was used for measuring and nothing more.

I knew that some children were disciplined with a yardstick.
The yardstick in my house growing up was simply to measure my height.
Since a 36 inch yardstick was too large to keep in a drawer, the closet would have to do.
The yardstick came in handy for longer measurements.

Read More...

I am still hearing stories about my daughter’s summer internship.
Being away for twelve weeks, there are many stories to hear.
God taught her many things about Himself.
God taught her many things about herself.

My daughter served as a Mercy Ministry intern for The Philadelphia Project. (TPP)
It is an organization that my husband and I have supported for years for the work they do.
It is an organization that is close to the heart of my oldest daughter as well.
The director and his wife are good friends of hers.

Read More...

The plans were made months before.
The plans were set for the weekend after my birthday.
Everyone was coming home.
Everyone was excited to be together.

Five children and two of their spouses had the weekend free.
Getting something on the calendar a bit in advance always helps.
The idea was good one.
There was only one problem: there are nine of us and only eight could participate.

Read More...

I love when friends come to my back door.
There are three possible doors to enter my home, not counting the garage.
Two doors are in the front of my house.
The back door leads into the kitchen.

There is a main front door which leads into the foyer.
There is a second front door that leads into the laundry room.
There are also two doors that go out to my side porch but no one comes in the house that way.
It is my back door that only good friends use.

Read More...

It is called the embraceable monument.
You can touch it.
You can rest your head against it.
You can cry on it.

The monument is open to the public 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
The monument is made of volcanic rock.
Whenever you look at the monument you see your own refection.
The monument lists the names of those who lost their lives in a war lasting almost 20 years.

Read More...

I go to the dentist twice a year for my checkup, cleaning, and polishing.
Usually, the dentist will say that everything looks good.
I leave with my toothbrush and my dental floss.
This time, I had to return to the office the following week.

I needed to have a cavity filled.
There was an old filling, and the cavity was somewhere between my two back teeth.
It had to be done even though it was not bothering me.
I made the appointment for early in the morning.

Read More...

All the times I wished I had a second oven in my kitchen.
All the times it would have come in handy.
Preparing meals for all seven of us with one oven was doable.
However, there were always those times when I wished that there were two ovens instead of one.

I never asked my husband for a second oven because it was not high on the priority list.
Wishes are not musts.
I made my one oven work all those years.
It was after a surprise party for my husband’s birthday years ago when I planned my new oven.

Read More...

I was carefully driving behind a man on a bike.
It was a gorgeous spring day.
Everyone seemed to be using a bike as their mode of transportation.
There are many country roads that do not have bike lanes, so sharing the road is in order.

I had my window down as I was driving.
The breeze was coming in and wafting across my face.
The man who was cycling was wearing a bright yellow shirt to make it easier to be seen.
I could hear the bike gears shifting as he pedaled.

Read More...

We read about them in the news.
However, we read about one such man first in God’s Word.
It is the Good Samaritan; the person who steps in and goes the extra mile.
The person who thinks of themselves last in order to help someone else.

Ibn Ali Miller was honored in Atlantic City, New Jersey for being a Good Samaritan.
Miller broke up a street fight between two teenage boys.
He encouraged the boys to talk and shake hands.
What this 26-year-old young man did was caught on camera.

Read More...