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

 Today is a big day.  For 2 people I love very much, they are reconciled to a big change.  a new normal.  Life as they know it will change very soon.  They are moving on.  My heart is full of sadness and pride....and I am in wonder because how can those 2 feelings exist in the same place?  I guess the answer lies in the human-ness....and the knowing them.      One of my loved ones has had highs and lows and acceptance and rejection and a hint of something bigger....and this beautiful soul has agonized with the tension of who they are and what they deserve....I can't be more specific because it would be a betrayal to a beautiful soul.  Because I love this person I am biased for sure.  More than anything, mental health and a sense of contentment in who we are is a priority for me....so I have been a more aggressive version of myself to advocate.  I would do it every day.  That's what love does.  For this one...we a...

 Matthew 13:44-46     "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.  When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."     I listened to a devo recently about the treasure hidden in the field.  It happened that as I was listening in my car, I was noticing the beauty of the fields.  In the midwest, we are in harvest season so the fields are busy and changing.  As I drive around the county for my work, I notice the fields and the changing seasons daily.  I appreciate the seasons of planting, growing, harvesting and the winter season of rest.  I value the work being done here, to grow and harvest and feed the world with what our farmers know and grow and what our fields produce.   ...

 Recently I was in the car with one of my kids.  We were talking about how warm and dry the weather has been.  I brought up global warming and she asked what that meant so I tried to describe it in my motherly way which was probably not very scientific.  She was satisfied with my answer.  I went on to say that we as a human species are using up our resources and at some point there won't be any left...but that when Jesus returns he will create a new heaven and a new earth for us....so because we are believers, we will be ok.       I told her that the bible tells us that Jesus will return and when he does there will be an end to all the hurting and sin and misery and ugliness.....but until he comes back we need to just keep doing our best every day to endure the hard things.       This kiddo has struggled lately and it has felt like lots of days are hard.  Feeling rejected, left out, frustrated and unseen is a hard way...

 As the seasons change we see evidence of summer ending and the start of fall.  Pretty little yellow leaves lay on the green grass.  Grasshoppers and crickets and late-summer cicadas are moving around.  The trees are beginning to change colors.....what has been green for months is starting to get a kiss of yellow, orange and red behind the heavy branches......and I am thinking about trees.       Yesterday a co-worker and I were leaving a home visit.  We delighted in noticing a particular tree on our country road that had a big horse shoe shape.  It had been cut into a "u" intentionally for a power line path....but the integrity of the tree was preserved and it was full and healthy and waving at us in the breeze that always seems to blow in Iowa.  She told me she loved trees, all kinds of trees and especially the Weeping Willow trees that look so magical.  I shared her delight but also brought to mind one weeping willow tree I d...

 There are 2 places that are really hard for me to be when another one of my birdies leaves the nest.  Sunday church row and my dinner table.  Jeremiah left about 10 days ago and he is the third to leave the rhythm of my home.  I knew it was coming but it was still really hard to go to church and sit in our row and not have him there.  Palpably, achingly hard.  But this is the way this goes.  They grow up, they graduate from high school and they do what they do.  Claire and Isaac both chose to go to school right here in town but that still didn't change the way the row at church felt.....or the way I set the table for dinner each night.   Ironically, or may be not, 2 of the hardest tasks for me as a mom has been to get everyone up and dressed and to church on time week after week, and secondly, the mad rush to get dinner on the table to feed my family.  When they were all really young it was chaos and crying and struggle....and when...

 Roger suggested that maybe I should do another blog.....something more focused.  I'm considering this.  I have worked with moms and babies for over 20 years which is literally a generation.  I love this work and I have learned some important truths...and still continue to learn as time goes on.  I definitely don't have all the answers and if we are honest, who really does?  There are some things that I know that I know that I know.   Babies and children overall need lots of love and attention.  They need to be seen and heard and known. Babies and children need to have someone delight in them.  They need time and they need intention.  The people who care for babies and children overall also need lots of love and attention.  The adults who care for children need to be seen and heard and known.  They need time and they need intention because growing up kids is a lot. Parents and caregivers need a space to breathe.   Bot...

 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...