Author: jottingjoan

A couple of DIY (do-it-yourself) folks live at our house. Hubby made our bed with lumber, a power saw, nails, glue and varnish. Then I stitched together a quilt, and we sleep comfortably. Our new house needed landscaping. The DIY man of the house raked the dirt yard flat and free of stones, scattered it…

    The big 4-0 creeps ever closer for my darling daughter. The calendar does not measure the big event so much as the change in her mindset. She called me this morning to say, “I am becoming my parents.” and proceeded to tell me a couple stories.     Yesterday afternoon she was headed to the…

At family gatherings little kids’ eyes search for “someone just like me.” At three, Katie found Abby, two. The two inspected each other before returning to their mothers. At four, my grandson went up to a bit taller boy at a yard sale and said, “hi!” The oldest grandson immediately gravitated to his much younger…

Around three in the afternoon, I woke up, yawned, opened the van door and wandered into the house. “Did you have a good nap?” my husband asked. “Why did you sleep out there?” “Sometimes I just need a quiet place to nap. I used to clock out at work, drive the car to a shady…

A post on Facebook said, “Tell us you have kids without saying ‘I have kids.’” My granddaughter, Lindsay, wrote, “My coffee is cold, and so is my food, I have little bruises from being jumped on. I have more stretch marks everywhere. I enjoy nap time, laundry never ends. Brushing my hair is as far…

Advice columnists, speakers and movies emphasize romantic anniversaries, birthdays or other special days for couples. They depict flowers, candy, a candlelight dinner in a fine restaurant, sweet nothings whispered or written. Every year my husband aims to have some activities on our anniversary. He fell flat on everything this year. In fact, he was laid…

Prior to my birthday, my son sent me the following comments: When I moved to Michigan, I thought I would only be involved with the redemptive work of preaching the good news of Jesus. I soon learned about other opportunities for redemptive work. In Michigan,  most soda and alcoholic beverage containers have a redemption value…

A flash from my past came as I sorted through a stack of books which included one inscribed, “Property of the Jr. Missionary Band.” As a child I belonged to a Missionary Band. Our neighbor opened her home to weekly meetings of the Missionary Band. Bit by bit she read us “Gladys Aylward, the Small…

    On the cusp of a new year, we look back on 2020 as the year we went Back to the Past.     It began with the grocery store ads, “Send us your grocery list and we will walk the aisles filling your order. All you have to do is park at the curb and…

The winners of the Christmas alphabet game called out their words for each letter. “E is for Elizabeth.” “Elizabeth! What does that have to do with Christmas?” Steve sputtered. “She was the wife of Zechariah. Gabriel the angel told him he would be the father of John. That promise came before Gabriel visited Mary,” I…

I blinked and did a double take last fall when I saw Elijah, then 13. In the few weeks since our previous visit, our chubby grandson had stretched up into a tall, thin teenager. I barely recognized him with his new haircut and body. “Wow! have you measured yourself lately? You have shot up!” I…

This pandemic has my mind in a whirl. Before school started, my daughter posted pictures of her children wearing the newest addition to their wardrobe – face masks. “Wear a mask. Go to school. Study there.” Inconvenient. Yes. Mandatory, Yes. Well, except for Katie, who is only 4. She does not have to wear a…

    A flood of Facebook pictures announced the newest pet in the family: a French beagle puppy. (Okay, it has a fancy name, but that will do for now.) Long soft ears, big paws and an eager spirit to explore the house and meet the family.     “Someone is about to get her dreams. That…

Our recent journey along the Interstate back to my husband’s home state refreshed our memory of cold and barren holiday months in the windy north. We traverse frigid states to re-kindle warm feelings among kin who live too far away for frequent visits. Unlike previous trips taken over this highway, this time we have long…

    Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten – including the exclusivity of tight knit groups. In kindergarten I watched two or three girls become best friends to the exclusion of others whom they snubbed. As an adult, I have seen the same thing happen among family, friends and co-workers.     Within one…