Beyond Bringing Up Boys

I cannot remember a time when Easter was not my favorite holiday. In my early years maybe it was because I loved Spring so much.  Being a Pennsylvania gal, sometimes the season arrived too late for my satisfaction. At nearly the first chirp of a robin, I'd be asking my dad if there'd be any more snow.  He'd always laugh and reply that there'd probably be more. Much to my disappointment he was always right. As my relationship with Christ grew, I loved Easter for more than just the season of the year but for the reminder of what Christ had done in my life. From death to life.  Spiritually, with the new birth but almost literally after the birth of Seth. This year meant even more.  I contemplated the words of  Michael Card's "Love Crucified Arose," And these words especially spoke to me.  "Love crucified arose And the grave became a place of hope For the heart that sin and sorrow broke Is beating once again" The grave became a place of

I heard someone say recently that the month of May is as busy as December but she hadn’t planned for it. I can identify! May is always busy with end-of-the-year school activities then add a birthday, piano recital, and at least six baseball games a week and we wonder if we’re coming or going. I LOVE celebrating David’s birthday but because of the above stated annual activities, it sometimes gets a little lost in the shuffle. But I really wanted this year to be different and because we obviously cannot get too much baseball, the boys and I gave him the gift of a family night at Turner Field. It was a late night and so we celebrated over two days and had cake the next night.                              (delivering the candy bouquet we made, along with his favorite drink) David is a lover of God, his family, and friends. I am forever grateful for the amazing parenting that he received. The boys and I are the daily beneficiaries of his stability and graciousness. We are blessed!

Zachary and I after his last day of middle school at Veritas It's after midnight and I should be sleeping.  I'll wish tomorrow morning that I'd closed this laptop and chosen sleep instead, or that sleep would have chosen me. I happened upon a picture of what-would-have-been Zachary's eighth grade class if we had stayed in KY. What a shock! In my mind's eye, I still see them as little first graders but the picture showed differently ...and then that wave of " homesickness" hit again. I felt a little like rabbit in Winnie-the-Pooh , "Why, oh why, oh why?" Monday was Zachary's last day of eighth grade at Veritas. There are still times he misses KY too, but he told me Monday this was his best year yet. And through my tears, I smile.