This picture showed up as a Time Hop photo on Facebook recently. When I saw it, I felt joyous and sad at the same time. Joyous to be blessed with such wonderful friends, and sad to be missing the two friends in the back row with me, who went home to be with Jesus in […]
Author Archive | sjking
When Cancer Strikes
My husband’s brother Doug has a brain tumor. He had surgery right before Christmas to remove half of the softball-sized mass, which doctors are calling stage 4 glioblastoma. He began radiation and chemotherapy treatments this week. Doug is 59 years old. He has a lovely wife Betty and three precious daughters, Stacey, Stephanie, and Sally. […]
God’s Perfect Design
Our family loves dogs. Between all of us, we have 4 distinctly different canines in our family. We got to enjoy all of them this past Christmas season as our children came to visit. David and I own a very mellow, 8-year-old golden retriever named Grace. Extremely gentle and sweet, she also stays close and […]
Letting Our Light Shine
We got a new artificial Christmas tree this year. We retired the old one because it had several broken branches and a splintered stand that left it looking wobbly and forlorn. Once the new tree arrived, I spent hours unfolding and separating each branch. Then, I began the intricate process of attaching stringed lights to […]
The Renovation Process
About 20 months ago, my husband David and I bought a little “fixer-upper” house in the mountains. We hope to transform it into a getaway place where we can rest and be restored. Last weekend, David, I, our daughter Emily, and David’s friend Greg went up to the house to do some major demolition so […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving from me and my family to you and yours! Here are some scriptures on thankfulness and some self-reflection questions that can help you cultivate an attitude of gratitude. (All scriptures quoted are from the New American Standard Bible.) “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”—1 […]
Putting the Puzzle Together
My grandson Landon has developed a fascination with puzzles lately—well, mostly carrying around the pieces and depositing them where he likes. I thought I would help cultivate this interest and skill by purchasing him a new puzzle, so I looked on Amazon and ordered him one. It was a chunky wooden block puzzle for […]
Helping Others in the Race
My husband David and daughter Sarah completed an Ironman competition last weekend in Panama City Beach, Florida. The full-day event involved swimming 2.4 miles in the ocean, biking 112 miles, and running a marathon (26.2 miles). Sarah started doing the Ironman competition with her dad 4 years ago, and David has been participating in the […]
The Fabric of Our Hearts
My daughter Sarah got married recently. Before her wedding day, she took some of the lace from my mother’s wedding dress, the same dress I wore for my wedding, and she sewed it into her dress in the shape of a heart. She surprised both of us with it on the day she got married. […]
What I Learned from Some Autistic Young Adults
My son Patrick recently was asked to serve on a panel that discussed the experiences and advice of young adults with autism. The three young men and one young woman spoke to a room full of parents and caregivers at the monthly meeting of the Rowan County Chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina. […]