Ten Things Money Can’t Buy

It’s been an eye-opening summer. A number of power surges blasted our house, killing appliances like flies come rain. Four different repairmen put their hands in our pockets on account of the surges. These repairmen would have found only lent and perhaps a pacifier if my parents hadn’t loaned us the means to fix the essentials. Our clothes dryer was not deemed essential. A rope now runs the length of our backyard. The longest clothesline in California. Trouble has also plagued our vehicles. The transmission crashed in our old Suburban last week. It’s taken about four thousand dollars in the past three months to keep this decade-old Chevy on the road. Scott’s truck has a broken air conditioner. But […]

A Clothesline, Slip-N-Slide, and Carolina peaches

A soft, warm wind pulses through the laundry on our clothesline. Beach towels flap slow in the breeze. Summer fading. Three little boys with suds in their hair squeal down a long, yellow slide. Sun beats down. The thumping tail of August. Grandma worried about her lawn when my cousins and I would slip-n-slide. I try not to. Let the boys play themselves out. The slip-n-slide I’ll drag off the grass when the sun takes its turn and slides behind the house. I cut up peaches warm from the tree. Smile as I taste the fruit’s golden flesh. Grandpa would be proud. He loved that I loved his Carolina cling peaches. […]

Bitter Roots

This summer our family has spent countless hours picking puncture vine from our pastures. Also known as goat heads, these leafy vines web across the ground, producing pebble-like thorns that flatten tires and terrorize bare feet. They grow like crazy and carpet the soil, crowding out productive plants. To eradicate goat heads, this wicked weed must be pulled out by the root. Any roots left in the ground regrows another mean goat head. Inside the house is another story. The goat head thorns stick to shoes. They walk into the house with someone. They drop off on the carpet. Half asleep on the way to the kitchen for a cup of […]

Finding Beauty

Yesterday, I took Christian to the doctor for his four month checkup. Because Christian is a fussy baby, I asked my pediatrician if I should give up dairy products or anything else that may be making Christian colicky. “I don’t think it’s your breast milk,” the doctor said. “My guess is that he’s strong-willed. He cries to get his way. I like these kind of kids. They grow up to be leaders. I used to own a horse like Christian. Nobody could ride it but me. That was a great horse.” “I had a horse like that, too,” I said, remembering Soda Pop. He sometimes acted up, but Soda was […]

What I learned from my horse about being a Christian

JESUS CALLING

I love the devotion Jesus Calling by the missionary Sarah Young. Because I have not found the time to blog this week, I am posting Jesus Calling’s July 10th reading: Relax in My Peaceful Presence. Do not bring performance pressures into our sacred space of communion. When you are with someone you trust completely, you feel free to be yourself. This is one of the joys of true friendship. Though I am Lord of lords and King of kings, I also desire to be your intimate Friend. When you are tense or pretentious in our relationship, I feel hurt. I […]

What to do about Facebook

When Scott and I first married, our dog of choice was the pitbull. Our first pitbull, Evie, amazed us. She proved fierce and loving. I adored her and am convinced she would have died for me. After Evie came Scout, a pitbull I couldn’t trust. That two-faced dog in the house with our children rattled my nerves. Just like Facebook in our home now. In ’08, I signed up for Facebook because my literary agent highly recommended it. Scott and the girls had already “drank the Kool Aid” as my cousin so quaintly put it about joining Facebook. Remember the cult leader who fed his followers poisoned Kool Aid back in 1978? Nearly […]