CONNECTING HEARTS THROUGH WORDS
We’re looking for love We’re looking for connection We’re looking for acceptance and approval We’re looking to hang on We never want to let go We crave community We crave loyalty We want to be known And admired And remembered We seek beauty We seek passion We seek comfort and contentment We desire good health... Continue Reading →
One life One love One raindrop One city One moment One kiss One perfect shot One marriage Three decades plus five years Two hearts Beating as one Full of gratitude to God This blessing of a man He’ll always be the one
You don't know what you don't know. And I didn't know what I put her through. My mom waited eleven hours to hear from me. Eleven hours that should've been six, while she was home in Illinois, and I was a high schooler on a January drive with friends, from there to Iowa, to visit... Continue Reading →
We grasped hands and held tightly, probably longer than appropriate considering we were mere strangers at the start. But our short yet profound conversation bonded us in a serendipitous way. "Mind yourself," he said, with a sudden solemnity before releasing his grip. "God bless you." God bless you too, dear sir. We stepped down from... Continue Reading →
On August 28, 2024, China suspended its international adoption program. As of November 1st, approximately three hundred American families who had been matched with a child in China are now separated from them indefinitely with the status of their adoptions uncertain. We understand and lived through a similar heartache when our adoption of a young... Continue Reading →
I hold my husband's hand and remember that our lives, and those of our kids and grandkids, began because of God’s love for humanity and, specifically, for the passion and adoration He’s given us for Him and for each other. Strong marriages make strong families which, in turn, make strong societies. Having an affectionate, faith-filled... Continue Reading →
Can I be honest? I’ve been pretty discouraged lately. Or, more specifically, discouraged with how technology has changed us. Yesterday, I was in a waiting room and it hit me like it does every time—we don’t talk to each other anymore. Twenty heads bent down looking at their screens. If conversation is initiated on a... Continue Reading →
Words don’t suffice. There aren’t enough that can express. A and E, let my heart talk to yours. You are so adored by your hard-working and fun-loving parents, grandparents, aunties, and uncles: Life will be a great adventure. Along the way, we’ll surround you and pray you'll be surrounded by God’s angels too. Your Nonny... Continue Reading →
May 14, 1985 Dad died in the hospital today. Why, why, why, why, why? Why wasn't I taken instead? Mom, Karen, and the boys could live fine without me. How will any of us survive without Dad? June 9, 2023 Dear Younger Me, These are such good questions. Thirty-eight trips around the sun later, and... Continue Reading →
They know all your secrets. They can name your old elementary and high school crushes, your most embarrassing moments, and your biggest regrets. They know the one you love and the ones that got away. They celebrate your greatest achievements and empathize with your wish-you-could-do-overs. You don’t have to be wordy in texts, phone calls,... Continue Reading →
After I repeated the expression, you told me it brought you to tears. “All of God’s grace in one tiny face.” We'd talked on the phone for an hour that afternoon—me swatting bees on the deck of our rental house in Indiana and you back home in Illinois in your cozy recliner, looking at birds... Continue Reading →
I’ve kept the gift for over twenty-nine years. When I take off the top and inhale, I’m right back in that significant time—the beginning years of marriage and living in our very own little home, expecting a baby. My sister-in-law, Jan, gave me the Elizabeth Arden body lotion for my birthday, two months before our... Continue Reading →