This morning our dear friends, Pastor Danny and Calley Reed (and their nine children) lost their home and belongings to a horrific fire. Their home was built in the 1800s and they had been diligently working restoring it, little by little.  What a tragic loss. Dw, the kids and I were there 2.5 years ago…

Two weeks ago Dw drove to another city with two of our sons on a very important mission. It’s a long story and as they left that city they thought the mission had been accomplished. Imagine our surprise when five days later we received a letter that the mission had been rejected and it was…

I’ll be honest I hesitated to write this post.  I’ve actually vacillated back and forth all day long.  Why?  Because I think with loss many probably think, “Oh just get over it.  It was a long time ago, no one died and you should be all done with grief.” But honestly friends grief sneaks up…

Did you ever experience something that is so over-the-top-astonishing that you just know you will talk about it for the rest of your life?  Today is the anniversary of this very personal story and although I have shared this a few times before … I am compelled to tell the story again.     **********************************…

Each summer we head to New York on our annual journey to the old home place where Dw and his three brothers grew up. The early 1900s-something white farmhouse (with its delightful front and back porches) will forever hold countless memories for all of us.  We are incredibly grateful his brother Dan bought it when…

Happy New Year precious friends!! Don’t know about you, but we were thankful to see 2019 end.  Personally speaking it was a hard one for our family. Of course there were many highlights of joy but for real – there were some real doozies too.  I was telling one of our friends the other day…

It was probably about March of 2008, just months after bringing Isaiah home, that we caught a glimpse of her precious face. That was it – we were undone and our world would never be the same again. Reading through her file we found enough information that we knew she would likely be our first…

There is not much more wonderful to this Mimi and Boppa than having one or more of our grands sitting at the breakfast counter.  And of course, “sugar cereal” is a rare, but exciting, treat!   Recently Emma, Teddy and sweet little Lincoln came for an appointment.   It was only Emma’s third time home in seven…

What would it look like? Seriously friends….what would it look like if The Gem didn’t exist? Well for starters seventy little ones with special needs would not know the beauty of unconditional love, the feeling of safety, the pleasure of healthy nutritious meals, the little-known comfort of a comfortable bed, sweet-endless joy, lessons from the…