The Call: Unleashing the Sun — Jessica Today was one of those days. One of those days that makes the burden of a 365 project almost unbearable. And to make it worse, what an awesome word! There is so much power in the word. Unleash. It makes me think of wild power and freedom. It […]
The Call: Swarovski Through Glass — Cheryl When I started dabbling in beading a few years ago, I was immediately intoxicated by Swarovski crystals. They are the components I reach for first when starting a project. And while crystals may not ultimately end up in my creation, they always get considered for the job. The […]
The Call: Fading Beauty — Jessica Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on. Frédéric Chopin Response: Someone to Watch Over Her — Cheryl O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising, you discern my purpose from afar. You mark when […]
The Call: Bridget Creates Characters — Cheryl Most of my kids have great imaginations, and for that I am thankful. We all joke with Luke about his lack of creativity, but that’s just because he didn’t naturally take to art and games of make-believe. He’s always been too busy with golf and other sports. The […]
The Call: Tiny Weed, Towering Cliff — Jessica Sometimes “massive” is only a trick of perspective. The Response: My Feelings for Nature are Bittersweet — Cheryl When we moved into this house oh-so-long-ago, my mother sneered at the bittersweet vines growing along the fence and said something like, “Oh, you don’t want those! They’ll take […]
The Call: Book of Truth — Cheryl Of these I am certain: God loves me; my husband loves me; my kids love me; and I love all of them. I can speak with absolute trust about little else. The Response: Fall Arrives — Jessica As night follows day, autumn follows summer — of that I […]
The Call: A Nickel Up Close — Jessica I know that there are lots of sayings about stretching dollars and rubbing dimes and pinching pennies but it all comes around to being cheap. And cheap isn’t always a bad thing…there is a kind of freedom in not wasting a lot of money on stuff. Response: […]
The Call: At My Desk — Cheryl Most days teatime is about 3 p.m. Today it was 5:15. When it doesn’t happen at all, I’m probably out of town. My parents were tea lovers who would drive more than an hour, north into Canada, four or five times a year to buy King Cole Orange […]
The Cross — Jessica Every week I get some Catholic “item” in the mail. Whether it’s a rosary, a prayer card or in this case, a little crucifix, they all come with appeals to donate money to some religious community or worthy charity. That’s a lot of appeals and that’s a lot of guilt when […]
The Call: Stella Gazes— Cheryl Stella is persnickety. There’s just no getting around it. She tells me that I can pick out her clothing for the day, but then puts the kibosh on everything I choose. She likes to drink chocolate coconut milk, but only if it’s in the correct glass (a small wine glass). […]
The Call: Jump — Jessica Faint hearts never won fair maidens. The two-year-old hesitated for exactly two seconds and then followed his five-year-old brother, jumping down the entire flight of stairs two at a time. One time through was not enough. At the bottom, they turned and ran back up in order to hop down […]
The Call: And There are More Dishes to Wash — Cheryl About a month before Stella was born (a little more than three years ago), the dishwasher broke. The fridge got taken out by lightning a week or two before that. We bought a new refrigerator, but the dishwasher sits unused and unusable. Dennis, who […]
The Call: The Lego Lesson — Jessica What better mentor is there than an older brother? Response: Drawing Baby Animals — Cheryl Being guided by a mentor is a very effective way of becoming educated. Thomas Jefferson’s mentor was George Wythe, Michael Phelps is mentored by Coach Bob Bowman, and my son Luke has learned […]
The Call: My Clothes are not Me — Cheryl How do I appear to the rest of world? I get the feeling that it’s quite different from the way I appear to myself, and that’s probably why I seldom look in the mirror or voluntarily have my picture taken. That may also be why I […]