Real Life Reflections

Empty-nesters - that's what my husband and I are. For years, we giggled with glee as visions of empty-nesthood danced  before us: the utter freedom and abundance of time that would be ours when we reached that promised land; the friendships we'd finally have time to renew, the books we'd have time to read, the vacations, and on and on! Our children would be adults, on there own, responsible for their own schedules, decisions, and life. We would never have to worry about them again! Ha! The things no one tells you. We love our children. We loved raising them and having them at home with us, but honestly, the child-rearing years are stressful. I suppose it doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of parents who simply allow their children to co-exist in the same house, but for those who pro-actively mold their children's characters, teach them, work with them, attempt to be a vital influence in their life in hopes that somehow their influence will be stronger t

They say that the first step in any healing process is the admission of the problem. Here's mine: I'm a Pharisee. Pharisees don't need God because they're so good at serving Him all by themselves. God, of course, knew I was a Pharisee before I did, and like a parent who tells their child to go to their room and think about what they'd just done, He recently put me in a time-out. I had shingles in my eye and on my face and head. It hurt so badly at times that I couldn't even watch the Cards play all their division series games (now that's pain!). I couldn't read, not only because of the pain, but because I could barely see. All I could do was lie on the sofa with either ice or a warm compress held over my eye and forehead. I was in time-out from life. This all began the first night of our vacation (and getting shingles on vacation was not our worst vacation ever. Someday I'll tell you about March, 1993). On our way home, after I'd