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What is Your Worth?
Early morning on the 4th of September, 16 years ago, my mother entered her heavenly home. Mum was the letter-writer in our family. And I mean actual handwritten letters. So neatly and beautifully scripted – a letter came faithfully every week, almost until the month before she entered the Lord’s presence in 2008. I would wait for those letters. She would fill page upon page (front and back) on her letterhead stationery with news, advice, encouragement, bible verses and prayers. I was rearranging my cupboard recently and among all the girls’ treasures that I had saved, I found the box in which I had saved many of mum’s letters. The…
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From generation to generation…
Note: Considering ‘worry’ has been my default button (especially where my children are concerned), for as long as I can remember, I always have to pause and remind myself of God’s truths, so many times, every single day. Where I was or am insufficient, He is more than enough. And He is called “Faithful & True”. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Psalm 22:6 This is a devotional (below), written by Becca, our oldest daughter. Yes, He’s the Faithful One… from generation to generation! You’ll find that I am my mother’s daughter. We share a…
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A new bride & an extreme phobia = ?
Now I’ve always been a storyteller, and some stories from my memory bank have over the years become family lore. It is always with great joy (and “glee” of course, if the story is to the embarrassment of another family member) that I regale the extended family with these stories during get-togethers and holidays. Here’s one such nugget from the time I was a new bride some 38+ years ago. It’s hard now to even imagine that at the age of 23, having known my husband for barely 3 weeks, I moved to Bahrain and into a home with my husband’s family – his parents, brother and sister. New husband,…
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*Kids say the darndest things!!
I remember very clearly (in fact, I will not forget), the year face-cleansing sponges came to the U.A.E. Though I do not remember the brand that brought it in, I recollect the big ad campaigns that took over all the supermarkets. Of course I was curious about it, but didn’t think it was something I particularly needed – and so ignored all the hype. We lived in Sharjah at the time and one Friday morning (our weekend), I found, along with our newspaper, a bag that had a small pack of complimentary face sponges. “Oh that’s fantastic! I’ll check it out right away,” I thought. Now our oldest daughter Becca…
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Holding Loosely
I have learned to hold all things loosely, so God will not have to pry them out of my hands. ~ Corrie Ten Boom As a family, it’s been tradition to make a celebration out of the evening set aside for Christmas decorating – and it’s usually around mid-November. Carols blare loudly, hot chocolate flows, and there’s happy talk, laughter, and friendly arguments as to who gets to put up the angel tree topper. However, over the past 17 years, there have been so many changes happening in quick succession, with moving to a new country, losing a parent each, our older girls getting married, leaving home and having babies,…
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*As long as I’m living… my baby you’ll be
A few days ago, I was trying to find a picture of my mother and myself, and as always with pictures, it took me for a walk, way down nostalgia lane. I can spend hours there, rambling through long-forgotten memories… wistfully remembering times that went by far too soon! With all the pictures and albums on the floor around me, I came across one of Becca holding Sol, our first grandchild, with me sitting beside her. It was labelled, “Two mothers and two babies.” Two babies? I had to look again. Yes. There were actually TWO babies in that picture. And that thought triggered a memory, from 36+ years ago……
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Out of the mouth of babes…
I used to journal a lot, and the joy I find in journaling is being able to go back in time… before the Instagram and Facebook era. This happened about 31 years ago… when our oldest daughter Becca was about 4 years old, and we had moved to Sharjah, an emirate of the UAE. We lived in a small apartment building next to the souq (a market place lined with beautiful small shops and restaurants), in a town called Rolla, and Becca was ecstatic to find that the apartment next to us had twins her age – twin girls named Ammu & Binu. The three of them soon became inseparable…
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“Our” Father’s Heart
So, we as a family, have just been through a difficult time… when clinging to the Lord in tears, was all I was able to do. For someone who always likes to be in control, calling these past few weeks ‘hard’ is an understatement! Two weeks ago, I was sitting with my Bible, early one morning, but my mind was not on the text. It was with my child who had been admitted to the hospital the previous evening – after months of being unwell and in pain. It was hard not being there with her. And harder still that I could do nothing. My mind wandered to the time…
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Summer 2021 was for…
Climbing trees 60th birthday celebrations with my family, near and far Visits to parks, spray parks and sunflower fields Sleepovers & lazy days Family dinners Impromptu late evening soccer games And the cherry on the cake… three whole weeks with my 92-year-old dad, who travelled from Calgary to celebrate this special birthday with me. This kind of summer sums up my life. You see, simple pleasures give me the greatest joy. Looking back down six decades, I would say some days definitely were long and hard, but days of joy have always spilled over one into the other… and for that, I give thanks! To God be the glory for…
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Exchanges
Our 2nd daughter Debbie has always been petite, and when her younger sister was born, she was 6 years old and pint-sized. Now Debbie was very unhappy with the newcomer and made her displeasure known very loudly by slamming doors when the baby was sleeping, and generally being a brat. So to appease this child of mine, when Abi received a gift of baby stuff that was tucked into a humongous baby bottle that was also a ‘piggy’ bank, I took out all the baby stuff, put a few silver dirhams (UAE currency) in, and gave it to her – a gift from the baby. Without exaggeration, the bottle and…
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Remember, the “can’t waits” add up to years
Now over the past year and some, grandsons #1 & #3 have been attempting to bolster their weight to get to the 40 lb mark – because it’s their goal in life to get out of child car seat and into a booster seat. And whenever I visit or they come over, I’m regaled with stories of what they ate to get to that milestone weight marker, and I’m given the task of taking their weight, and recording it. The other day, I watched one of those mandatory ads on YouTube of a baby in a mother’s arms transformed into a toddler taking her first steps, to a little girl,…
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The Saturday of Waiting
After a whole year of waiting, I was finally able to spend some time with all our grandkids, last week. And the funny thing is that all three of the older ones remember promises I made over a year ago. “You promised to take us to see all the jeeps, Gaga. We’re waiting.” “You promised the four of us a sleepover. We’re waiting.” And waiting seems to be the word of the season! All of us are waiting for the pandemic to be over; waiting for the vaccine; waiting to be able to move around freely; waiting for life to get back to some semblance of normalcy. But, pandemic or…
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Raising ‘Stars’!
I have coordinated a prayer ministry for almost 20 years now, and I find that a majority of prayer requests I receive (for personal prayer and to add to the prayer chain list) are for our children. And when I hear a parent’s heart as they struggle for their child or grandchild, I can empathize, sympathize, and pray with a burden for that need because I’ve been through (and am going through) many of those struggles too. I was at a bookstore the other day, and noticed that there were books galore on raising kids. It was second only to “How to get rich quick” books!! 🙂 As parents (and…
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Toasted White Bread
I woke up with a nagging sinus headache on a stormy, rainy day [very unlike the usual misty rain we have here all year round], a couple of weeks ago, and all I could think of as I opened my eyes was toasted white bread… dripping condensed milk!! Okay. Before you throw up your hands in horror and get all judgmental, let me explain the root of this weird craving. Now, in the sixties and the seventies, we grew up on traditional south Indian cuisine that definitely did not include bread. So bread (and there was only white bread) was a treat when one was sick. And sometimes, on rare…
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Epic Mum Fail!
So I was chatting with a friend this morning about mothering techniques and we were laughing about the mistakes we’ve made over the years, when I remembered the horror of this… epic mum fail! 🥴 To give you a background history: my girls must’ve been 13, 8 and 2 around the time of my story, and Debbie used to fight with her older sister Becca all the time. It drove me crazy!! Though Becca was older by 5 years, Debbie was crazy competitive. So you see problems brewing immediately, right? Everything her older sister did/played/took/ate/watched/wore was the exact thing she wanted to do at that very moment. And you have…
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…he’s my brother! (part 2)
So, of all the roles in life that I’ve either gained by default, or taken on voluntarily, the one that tops them all and gives me the greatest joy is the title of “grandmother” (or ‘Gaga’ to my grandkids). And when we had 4 grandsons, almost one after the other, I was over the moon! Hence, it cannot be any surprise to anyone, that this post is solely to introduce you to grandsons #2 and #4. Though they are just 5 and 2, I’ve learned everything there is to know about dinosaurs and superheroes in these past 5 years. And having raised three very girlie girls, I truly did not…
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…he’s my brother! (part 1)
They don’t sit still for a minute. Grandsons #1 and #3 are 7 and 5. From the minute I see them, all I hear is, “I’m taller than you. No. I’m taller than you.” Or “I can run faster than you. No. I can run faster than you.” And this goes on and on. Until of course the claim that cannot be disputed comes up…”I’m older than you”. However, competition is at its peak when they’re at a bike park. Everything #1 does, has to be challenged and tried by #3. And so up and down hills and valleys and bumps they go until their little legs are finally tired…