Rhyme and Reason from my Empty Nest

                                                                   Remember that first day when you got the news? You were going to be a grandparent! WoW! Are you sure? Can this be real?  Am I old enough for this to even be possible?  Guess so! All of a sudden, the sky looks bluer. The birds tweeted louder. All in your world looked brighter. You dreamed of exciting days on the horizon: cuddle time, reading time, play time at the park.  Endless fun to anticipate.  My first grandchild was born in Houston. That is a half a country away. I jokingly (somewhat) told them they could live in Texas but don't go having my grandbabies in Texas. That's exactly what they went and did! My second grandchild came to reside in Tennessee. That is far but a more doable distance. We got the phone call that labor had beg...

                                                                                                                                                     It's a little after 4:00pm over here. That time of day has arrived - every day - every stinking day - when the question comes up and out...What's for dinner?!  More than one can voice this question. Typically, only one is to have the answer. Not again! Yes, over and over and over again and again and again... This prevalent question has been a part of my daily agenda for the past 40 years. I'll do the math for you. That's 14.600 times! That often I have heard the quest...

                                                                       So much opportunity. So many options. How do you decide where to go when there's a whole world out there?! This debate comes around each year in most families. Where are we going on vacation? It's almost up there with "What's for dinner?" This summer is half complete. Hopefully you've already enjoyed some fun trip or one is shown soon to come on your wall calendar. I remember the challenge we had when my boys were journeying through their high school years. The big discussion was where everyone was going for spring break or summer vacation. It seemed everyone was trying to one-up one another. The most exotic trip won the oohh's and aahh's of the crowd until the next year when that exotic trip was regarded as more mundane. It was way ridicul...

                                                                                                     I feel like an outsider quite often. How about you?  I felt comfortable in my previous community and then I went off and moved to a new community. It was my own choice, of course, so I must bear the consequences. It's not easy to start over with anything. Finding new neighborhood friends, new church friends or new pickleball playmates can bring an extra dose of challenging. This growth step was tough as a child. It's still tough as an adult. We have to be vulnerable as we never outgrow the timeless question, "Will you play with me?!"  How 'bout when we take it a personal step further - "Do you like me? Check Yes or No!"  W...

                                                                 Have you bit the bullet? Drank the water? Jumped on the bandwagon? Have you been hooked by the latest sports craze?  You guessed it. I'm talking about pickleball. It's the latest and greatest sport of all time, at least in this particular woman's opinion.  I was first introduced to this sport by a friend. She stated there were 2 things that changed her life - Jesus and pickleball. My response was surprise and hope these 2 were revolutionary in that exact order.  I now would tell others the same. I'm telling you now. Jesus first then pickleball has in deed changed my life! This sport is a phenomenon. It has been the fastest growing sport outranking all others for the past 4 years. Tennis courts remain empty. Pickleball courts have paddles stacked ...

                                                                       HELLO FROM UP ABOVE - my 2nd children's picture book - has a timely message for all of us. Adults and children alike. It's marketed to the 2-to-8-year-old, but we all never outgrow our longing to know certain important truths. Our God is near. He created us unique. We are special to Him. We yearn to discern how much He loves us.  Maybe we knew these important truths when we were younger. Maybe we took them to heart when our heart was more open and less crushed. When we hadn't yet traveled all the bumps in our road. A hectic life can cloud our view of seeing His gifts each day. Those gifts we more often take for granted. Those gifts we often overlook. We diminish the gifts we currently have wanting more...wanting different. Maybe we wer...

                                               When you've been together as long as we have, you gotta look for new ways to foster greater connection. It's important. It's not so easy to do.  Have the two of you become too predictable? Have we? Do you feel like you've done almost everything together already? Take restaurants for example.  On Friday nights can we find you at the same place at the same time? Does the hostess at said restaurant know you by name? Do you order the same entree again and again? I'm scared to ask if you dine with the 5:00 crowd or with the 7:00? I plead the fifth to protect the innocent on that one! Is your weekly television schedule pretty set where Mr. Remote Control already knows what shows to select? Hopefully not News then Wheel of Fortune then Jeopardy! Is your tv turned off or left on during dinner? Has that changed in your Em...