He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

 Transitions are happening which has made my blog posts a bit quiet.  It is hard to write about moving things.  Where is the pause button where we look back, look ahead and be fully present in a season of transition?  When do we know when transition has completed?  It is a weird word and an uncomfortable season.   Jeremiah is done with high school.  He has finished baseball and officially signed off on all of it.  He is looking ahead to college at SDSU and we are starting to talk about what to bring to Brookings!  Isaac is on vacation with his sweetie in Mexico and will come back to work a few weeks, then move out of our house and back on campus at Dordt.  Claire and Jonah have moved to Sioux Falls and she is figuring out adulthood and married life there, and will start her Masters classes online in August.  She texts me once in awhile for recipes when she is cooking dinner.   Late summer seems to beat a drum of trans...

 It's the last day of June and the last hour of the day...and I think maybe I have one more post left about Father's Day to find words for.  Let's see how it goes.  I wrote about my husband who, in my opinion, is the role model for dads.  I have 3 sons and they could have no better example to aspire to if they choose to have children.  I wrote about my own dad and how this is my first year to experience Father's Day this June without him because he died this year.  I have another group of dads I want to consider.  These are the guys who show up and do dad stuff for boys that are not theirs.  These are the dad-figures that do all the things that a dad would do for a kiddo who doesn't have a dad around.  On this last little bit of the last of June, I want to remember these guys. Boys are born into the world needing mamas FOR  SURE.  They also need daddies.  They need daddies who will sing to them and jiggle them to sleep when mom...

 Father's Day weekend is here.  It's a hard one for me.  It always has been, actually.  My dad and I were not close when I was growing up but in the last few years we came to a place of mutual understanding and respect....and then he got really sick really fast and now he is gone.       This is my first Father's day without a father.  I've talked to my older kids this week and mentioned Father's day.  They asked "are we doing anything?"  My answer was something like, well, I don't know.  I don't have a dad anymore so I don't really feel like it's my job to plan something for Father's Day.      I wish I could tell my kids we were going to my dad's to visit and grill and hang out at the lake for the day.  I wish I could go shopping at the local greenhouse and buy something landscape-ish that he would like, or go to the bakery and get a bag full of Dutch treats.....that's what I have done the last few years for...

 Last weekend I let the kids know I would be going out of town for a conference in Des Moines for a couple of days this week.  I was invited to attend a conference by a colleague who not only plans this conference each year on caring for kids with trauma, but who also offered me a scholarship to attend.  It was an offer I couldn't pass up.  Jeremiah took it in stride because, well, he is 18 and is mostly independent.  He also remembers that mom does this.  Precious and Josiah don't remember.  I haven't done work conferences in person since pre-pandemic....nor have I travelled anywhere away from my home or family for business  for several years.  They had concerns.  Roger's work has been very intense for the past several years and he has not been around and available less and I have been around and available more.  Recently, that has shifted a bit as I have increased to full-time work and the kids are old enough to not need so much d...

 You know what you don't see at a sub-state soccer game?  You don't see the mom of a senior and the wife of the opposing team's head coach find eachother for a hug mid-game because they are friends and they need to find eachother and remember that they know that one will end up winning and the other will not and they both love their guys and they both love soccer.  They remind each other that while it is just a game it also matters to not just their guys but to them because it just does.  So they don't just hug once but two or three times.       You don't see how cold all the spectators are because although it is late May the rain is cold and the wind is blowing and everyone is shivering but won't leave because we are cheering for our favorite teams and in Iowa we are not wimps.  We show up and brave the weather and we cheer.     You don't see 2 athletic directors stomp out shoulder to shoulder, in step, united when things get heate...

 As I woke up this morning my waking thoughts turned to prayer.  Immediately I began to ask God for some very specific things....beg him even.  He is pretty used to how this goes for us.  Eventually in the day I can get to the place of reading scripture, prayers of thankfulnes, of worship and quiet listening and meditation, but my first waking moments are usually those first things that are the deepest needs.  Lord, help.  If today is going to go well, then please help with this part.....and the list goes on and on.  Eventually I get out of bed and start to do my part. As I was praying in bed, and going through my list, God brought to mind a photo I took yesterday in the afternoon.  We had a crazy busy day yesterday and today will be the same.  Tomorrow and the next day and the next day will be just as crazy and to be quite honest I cannot see a day on the calender that looks quiet for quite a while.....so I am really grateful for this little...

 I have a friend named Jen.  She has been my friend for a long, long time.  We have done a lot of life together.....and I mean a lot.  We have transcended friendship and become family for several reasons....one reason is because neither of us had a sister and we both could have used one with the lives we were given.  So we became "sisters from another mister".  Another reason we became family is because we don't really like all of the same kinds of things or have the same interests so staying friends could have been a lot of work....but it's different when you are family.  Family sticks together.  Here is an example.  I don't like to decorate or remodel things.  I don't like to go shopping or look for good deals.  I would rather just buy something and move on.  I also don't have money to just do things like that when it is time to do it.  God blessed me and my family with Auntie Jen.  She floats in and makes things be...