Where do we go from here…

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. My mom was a die-hard Baltimore Colts fan. I don’t know if I ever confessed that I admired another team’s cheerleaders (smile). I think they were just talked about so much that it brought my attention to them. If I close…

Hometown refugee…

About two weeks ago, I was traveling to a doctors appointment about 35 minutes from my house. It was before the ridiculous heat wave we’ve been in and it was a beautiful afternoon. I jumped in the car and hit play on my 80’s music playlist. Driving along listening to my music I was transported…

You are NOT who they say you are…

A couple of weeks ago, my neighbor invited me to a healing service at her church. Along with the details of day and time and location, she shared with me that her church was welcoming to ALL. I can’t begin to explain the comfort I got in that little word all. This is a small…

Fingers crossed it’s not stomach cancer…

That’s what the doctor said to me. A doctor I had just met. A doctor that knew nothing about my medical history. A doctor who didn’t examine me or ask me any questions. I was there because I felt something weird in my abdomen area and that was his response. There was no follow up…

Six days…

(I am having technical difficulties and needed to publish this post again. I apologize for the repeat) I remember I had Good Morning America on in the background as I was getting ready for the day. The kids weren’t back to school yet because their school was under construction and it wasn’t finished yet. Kyle…

There’s something about Pepper…

I figured since I posted about Lucy here (The very best girl) it would be only fitting for me to introduce our new baby here as well. It’s been a journey so I wanted to share in hopes that it may help someone else along the way. I have missed my Lucy so very much.…

The very best girl…

They say dogs bring many happy days into our lives and one terrible day…the day you have to say goodbye. Boy do I feel that. One of the things that has been suggested to help with grieving a pet is to write about them. Since that has helped with other things in my life, I…

Rule follower…

I am a rule follower. Always have been. I’m pretty sure my parents never worried about taking me places with them because they knew I would behave. My dad reads most of my posts so dad feel free to call me out if that’s not true (smile). I’m not saying that I was perfect, but…

Let it go…let it go…

Don’t hate me for getting that song stuck in your head (smile). When I was a little girl, I had a white “leather” coat. It wasn’t really leather of course, but it had the look of leather. It had two square pockets on the front of it and a belt to tie around your waist.…

A not so small problem…

When I was eight years old, I transferred from a public school to a private Catholic school. The public school wanted me to skip the third grade and go right to fourth. My parents didn’t want to do that. I’m very thankful for that because although I was ahead of my peers in the public…

My family thinks I’m garbage…

When I think of my childhood and the bullies that myself or my friends encountered, there are two phrases that come to mind: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. And… I’m rubber and you’re glue…whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you. It was a…

I am because we are…

Have you ever been helped by your neighbor? And since we are called to love our neighbor, I consider my neighbor anyone who isn’t me (smile). In other words…doesn’t have to literally be my neighbor. One of my most embarrassing moments involved being helped by a neighbor. It was several years ago on a hot…

Be a Charlotte…

One of the morning shows I watch had a guest on talking about good summer reads. It peaked my interest because I love to read and am always looking for a good book. I grabbed my phone and jotted down some titles that sounded interesting. When the guest got to the recommendations for younger readers,…

Houston we have a problem…

How have we come to this…Part 2

If you missed Part 1, you can read it here. I was 28 years old when I lost my mom suddenly. She wasn’t sick so it was totally out of the blue and to say it was a shock is an understatement. At the time, I only knew one other person who had lost their…

How have we come to this…Part 1

I’m going to start this post with a statistic…The Trevor Project estimates that at least one LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13-24 attempts suicide every 45 seconds in the U.S. I will come back to this later. I’m pretty sure I’ve shared with you before that I have the craziest dreams. I mean there…

Let’s talk about Pray Away…

“I was asked ‘What do you think about the blood on your hands?’ Right now all I know is I’m afraid to look down at my hands.” Randy Thomas, former executive vice president of Exodus International. I heard a story on the Today show on Sunday that caught my ear. It was part of their…

A part of us…

Oh my goodness! I recently sent some VCR tapes to a company that can transfer them to something from this decade (smile). I haven’t had a VCR in years so it’s been quite some time since I’ve watched these gems. So. Many. Emotions. I’ve been watching the first one over the last couple of days…

Love you this much…

It’s funny the quirky things that are passed down through generations of families. My grandmother sang songs to us that my mom then sang to my kids. Things like that. When we were toddlers, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, would ask, “How big is Lesa (or whomever they were talking to)?” We would lift our arms…

Taking for granted…

I’m at the beach this week and oh what a difference a year makes. This time last year we were still in the beginning stages of the pandemic. Of course, at the time we didn’t know it would take so long for life to start to get back to normal. We still aren’t there yet,…

What if…

It was 3 days after my 15th birthday. My friends and I were walking around the neighborhood like we did every day after dinner. It was a hot July evening, and as usual we ended up at the little park in our neighborhood. It had a baseball field, basketball courts, and a large swing set.…

Plop, plop…fizz, fizz…oh what a year it’s been!

If you are old enough, you will remember this catchy jingle to Alka Seltzer. It was the kind that you could get stuck in your head. “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!” Oh what a relief it is to say goodbye to 2020! I know not everything will magically get better…

Color matters…

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite summer time activities was coloring.  My grandmother watched my sister and me while our parents worked.  She didn’t have air conditioning so coloring was a good activity to stay cool. I can still remember getting a new set of crayons for the summer.  The jackpot…

A little Pride sent your way…

I usually do a post about my experience with Pride.  This year Pride events have either been cancelled or postponed until the fall.  Since we can’t all be together this Pride month, here is a little project I participated in to bring Pride right into your home. Remember…you are loved, you are worthy, you are…

Be patient…we’re working on it…

I woke up the other day to a memory from when I was a 10 year old girl.  It was strange because the dream I was having before I woke up had nothing to do with the memory, but there it was nonetheless. I was in the 5th grade.  A boy in my class was…

Soul sisters…

I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve stopped by here.  Life has been busy.  Time is flying by at the speed of light.  Seriously…how is it the end of January already?!   I like the “memories” feature on Facebook for this reason.  It gives me a chance to relive some moments that have gone by…

Houston we have a problem…

Being an empathic person has made things difficult lately. After the news of the shooting at the 4th of July parade in Highland Park, my body has literally felt like it’s been vibrating. It breaks my heart because I just can’t imagine what the survivors go through afterwards. I know how hard it was getting…

Just one is too many…

Sometimes songs just hit you right in the heart…especially when sung on a Sunday morning during worship time at church.  For me, there is something special about being with a big group of people all singing along.  This past Sunday for Easter that song was Worth by Anthony Brown and Group.  We had the added…

Love listens…

You would have to be living under a rock to miss all of the bickering going on these days…especially on social media.  Everyone has an opinion about everything.  Now don’t get me wrong…having opinions is not a bad thing.  However, how we express those opinions or how we treat each other when expressing them is…

How many tears…how many lives…

My kiddos are 19 months apart.  Man was it hard at first, but it worked out because they are the best of friends and have a lot in common since they are close in age. Towards the end of my pregnancy with McKensie, I would take Kyle to McDonald’s on Fridays for breakfast.  He loved…

Do you have a before and after story…

I am totally and completely OBSESSED with the house flipping/house make-over shows.  Lucky for me there are SO MANY to choose from (smile).  I watch any and all that I can find and I have HGTV and the DIY channel to feed my obsession.  I love me a good before and after story.  If I…

Are you listening…

I can remember when I was in middle school (late seventies, early eighties), there was a big to do about rock music.  Being in Catholic school, we were told that rock music was evil.  In fact, there were even rumors that if you played your records backwards you would hear satanic messages.  No joke.  Well…

Love matters now more than ever…

I wanted to reblog this post as a reminder of those who lost their lives in the Pulse shooting. Also as a reminder of what it means to show love to the LGBTQ community.

Why I stay…

Recently I wrote a post about the difference between welcoming and affirming churches.  You might be surprised to know that the church I go to is not affirming.  I get A LOT of questions as to why I stay.  It’s easy to talk about in person, but much more difficult to answer when chatting with…

Wow…ten years…

I got to see my great-nephew this week.  He was born in Belgium and my niece and her husband just moved back to Maryland.  I was able to see him briefly when they were here for the holidays when he was just a few months old.  Boy has he gotten big!  It was so much…

A time to be brave…

Have you ever been stunned by something that you witnessed?  I would imagine the answer to that question for you is probably a resounding yes.  And more than likely it has happened on more than one occasion.  If not, I’d say you might need to get out a little more often (wink). The first time…

Apples and oranges…

Mondays are my Target days.  I try to get there as soon as they open so it’s not too crowded and I get what I need for the week…and maybe things I didn’t expect to get.  If you are a Target shopper, you know what I mean (smile).  This past Monday I walked past the…

Radical love…

What do you say when your kids ask you “Why does our world lack empathy?” “Why don’t people care that kids are being killed in their schools?” “Why do people care more about having guns then the safety of others?” What do you say when your kids tell you that they don’t see any good…

THIS is the gay lifestyle…

This whole week I’ve been walking around thinking and chanting to myself, “I’ve had the radish!”  It’s a Vermont saying (well at least that’s what my friend from Vermont told me).  I explain it here, but it pretty much means I’m fed up.  Apparently I was feeling the same way two years ago.  I wrote…

A sacred space…

When I was little, I loved books.  I couldn’t WAIT until I could actually read one.  Things back then were different then when my kids were in school.  They were reading in kindergarten.  I don’t remember reading until the 2nd grade and even then it was SO painful.  Those darn Dick and Jane books.  So…

There’s more than one way…

Two weeks ago I went to a conference in Baltimore called “Our Shared Humanity.”  It was a conference about a couple of things, but the main focus was racism in the church and what the church can do about it.  Yep…racism in the church.  Just doesn’t seem like the church should have that problem…but sadly…

Boo boo bunnies…

When my kids were little, there were three types of injuries that occurred.  The first being the I’m not really hurt, but I’m mad because I fell down or tripped.  There would be tears, but no real injuries.  In these cases, I would “spank” the offender (usually the sidewalk).  Yes I looked like a crazy…

For tomorrow is not promised…

I learned this important lesson at a young age… I first learned it when heart disease took my grandfather when I was 16 years old. I was reminded of it again when cancer took my grandmother when I was 17 years old. Again when my uncle died of a blood clot when I was 18…

Be a place of rest…

Back in the day, getting together with a group of my girl friends was quite the undertaking.  It didn’t matter where we were going.  There was always one crucial question we asked each other:  What are you going to wear?  Now imagine five girls heading out together.  It didn’t matter where we were going.  It…

Cha cha cha changes….

Change.  For some people this is a four letter word.  Me…sometimes change is easy for me and other times not so much. When I was younger, I changed schools several times.  This was hard for me.  I made friends at each school and it was really hard to say goodbye to those friendships.  Then there…

It’s all about the poop…wait…what?!

Last October Mike and I went to Cape May, NJ for our 28th wedding anniversary.  It was the first time we had ever been there and we LOVED it.  I may have loved it a little more because I would move there tomorrow if the opportunity presented itself.  It has a beautiful beach, cute shops,…

Hidden entrance…

I would often see these “Hidden Entrance” signs while driving in the car with my parents when I was young.  For the longest time I thought it meant that spies lived there.  I mean why else would there be a hidden entrance right??  If you are a spy, you don’t want people discovering you. So…

You don’t know what you don’t know…

But when you know you do better… Lord help me.  I do not want to write this post.  I will get flack no matter what I type here. Some will think I’m coming across too strong…others will think not strong enough.  I know I will simply not make everyone happy.  I’m ok with that because…

Gone…but certainly not forgotten

I got the text about two weeks ago.  I was sitting at my desk at work when it came through.  I picked up my phone and it read, “Mom just had a stroke.  She’s on her way to the hospital in an ambulance.”  I dropped everything and headed out to the hospital. Now…this was not…

Faith is a journey…

At the end of spring, my son’s friend Nicole spent about two weeks with us.  She’s an art student and on one of their many outings, she took this amazing picture. I found this tree to be both somewhat ugly and hauntingly beautiful.  I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind ever…

Send your light out into the world…

I know it’s unusual to hear from me twice in one week…but this hasn’t been an ordinary week.  I’m having a hard time being silent.  I figure you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to (smile).  I’ve been reflecting this morning on an experience I had last night, and I’d like to…

For he’s a jolly good fella…

It’s been a sad couple of weeks.  There have been some suicides, some of my friends have lost their moms and their dads, a friend lost his sister, our county lost two officers in the line of duty.  There have been many tears shed.  There have been funerals.  One of the officers was killed right…

Happy New Year 2016!

As Mike and I were preparing for friends to come over yesterday to ring in the new year, I had a memory surface from my childhood.  Growing up my parents would get all gussied up for new year’s.  They would get together with friends and family for dinner and dancing.  There was one year in…

I wish I could tell you…

There was the cutest little boy that came trick-or-treating this Halloween.  He couldn’t have been more than 3 and he was dressed as a dinosaur.  His mom was carrying him as it was a lot of walking.  She put him down at the end of our neighbor’s driveway and started to follow him to the…

Breakfast pastry woes…

When my kids were little, toaster strudel breakfast pastries were my nemesis.  Yep…that’s right.  Those toasted, flaky, pockets of deliciousness were the bane of my existence on school day mornings.  Why you ask?  Those darn icing packets! You see…the icing couldn’t just be drizzled over the top of the pastry.  Oh no!  That was a…

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I am thankful for many things, but the thing I am most thankful for is this journey that God has placed me on.  It has changed me for the better.  Praying for all of my friends who can not go home to be with their families because of their rejection of them.…

A mother’s heart…

I’m a mom.  A mother to two beautiful children.  The day these two were born was the day my heart grew legs and started walking around outside of my body.  Every day that they are out in the world…my heart is out there with them.  If you hurt them, you hurt my heart. They are…

No turning back…

Last fall my husband and kids participated in the Tough Mudder (Want to know what a tough mudder is?  You can read more about it in my post “Proud of My Tough Mudders.”)  The very last obstacle was a doozy. There were wires hanging down in an area that you had to run through.  Some of the…

This little light of mine…

I am so tired and worn out from the last few weeks that I would be lucky if I could put two words together let alone write a full sentence (smile).  So instead of writing a post, I thought I’d share this with you:   You are not meant for hiding.  I love that.  Invites…

Extreme heat, no food, and wild hair…oh my!

I’m changing things up a little with this post.  I haven’t had a decent night sleep since December 11th when my husband Mike herniated a disc and with his recent surgery it’s been 14 days of even less sleep.  So, I am going to share a story that my friends have been telling me I…

You’re going to be okay…

“If you really want to do this, you will need to pass my test.”  Words to me from my dad. “You need to swim from this end of the pool all the way to the other end – without taking a break.”  We were at our yearly family reunion and this was a public pool…

Fresh start….

I have a confession to make…I LOVE going to the dentist.  It’s true.  I know you think I’m weird now, but I don’t care (smile). I hear people complaining all the time that they have a dentist appointment and deep down inside I’m thinking “lucky”.  Why do I like it so much?  First…I have a…

Imprints on the human heart…

I’ve been working on a difficult post and decided to take a break from it to share a verse I rediscovered this week.  I have this verse taped to the cabinet of my desk at work.  You know how something is so familiar in your space that you don’t see it anymore?  Well that’s how…

Proud of my Tough Mudders…

So proud of my family!  This weekend they participated in a Tough Mudder event.  What’s a tough mudder? Here’s what their website states: Tough Mudder events are hardcore obstacle courses designed to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie. With the most innovative courses, over one million inspiring participants worldwide to date,…

Keeping it real…

I was asked a question the other day and thought maybe others are wondering the same thing.  The way I have my blog set up – I have to approve comments from someone at least two times before they are automatically posted.  I did this because on other blogs that I have read regarding this…

Four eyes are better than two…

When I was a little girl, I ran into things a lot.  My mom was always telling me to watch where I was going and my response was always “I didn’t see it.” Turns out my vision was poor, my depth perception was off, and I had to start wearing glasses when I was four.…

Perfection is over-rated…

I thought I’d post a little earlier than I usually do to talk about my wedding since today is my 25th wedding anniversary (I got married when I was 10)…well not really (smile).  When I was a little girl, I knew that I wanted to grow up and get married some day.  Now I wasn’t…

So I have a blog…now what?

Has God ever whispered something to you?  Something that made you stop and say, “Are you sure??”  That’s how I felt when I heard God whisper…start a blog.  What exactly is a blog…what do you do with it?  My first thought was “I don’t know nothing about birthin’ no blog.”  And then there was “Ain’t…