Virtual is Reality

 We are not in the Twilight Zone. We are in the 2020 zone. A year of breaking points, catalysts, and pivotal change. Globally, we have seen enough and heard enough, bled enough. Our planet is in transition, gasping and fighting back against her attackers. 

In the United States, we have seen the willfully ignorant scramble to cling to privileges they claim don't exist. They are killing people because they exist and denying that it is genocide. We have faced so many things this year alone, and now our virtual world is more real than ever. We are looking to technology to ease the burdens of our reality and our weariness. We are hoping it will keep us safe from the treats, microscopic, environmental, and violence. We are depending on each other more, though we are further apart. 

As we move into home learning for the five-year-old's step into formal education, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to homeschool. We are working on a Kindergarten/First grade hybrid learning model and things are starting to settle into an understanding, a respectful routine for learning and growing. I understand that we are blessed beyond measure, for this opportunity, for this time together.

I am also constantly aware that my safety and my blessings come with an enormous weight. The responsibility of my calling is a constant weight. A constant gnawing at my nerves. I must speak up for the voiceless. I must call out to those in power to take action and create a more equitable world. I must do all I can to serve those who are in need. 

There are more communication resources, more opportunities to enact change more power in the individual than ever before. Though, this power goes both ways. There is more power for one dark minded individual to gain a following. That means we have to be vigilant.  The director of a human-trafficking rescue program said something profound, that she is committed to "sharing as much light as we witness darkness." I love her work and her leadership, and her soul. We must act on the impulses for good, that we may be the light and ignite the lanterns of community, service, and love. Together we can drive out hate and darkness. Together we can connect with our consciousness, being virtually everywhere, while going virtually no where. 

I know that these thought of mine are not profound. They are not unique, not vital, not most eloquent nor succinct. However, if we continue to speak them, our chorus of encouragement might change one heart, buoy one spirit, spark one idea... and those are the little things that have the power to change the world.  

So, as I sit at the dining table of my friend of 22 years, listening to our 5 year-olds playing in the living room, drinking coffee and writing this, I am aware of my blessings and the great responsibility that lies ahead. 

The Warmest Place on Earth

When we go to Michigan, we stay with The Summers. 
That is my amazing sister-in-law, her husband and their five children... 
This is my reflection on their home and lives.

The Summers’ home is a place of understanding, joy, respect, and love that knows no bounds! Each time I wake up in that house, I know that I will be spending the day surrounded by family, smiles, and love.


A typical day in the Summers’ household begins around 7am. As the natives arise and thunder down the stairs, the rest of the house stirs at the noise. From there, the day is off at a dizzying pace, with mouths to feed, hands and faces to wash, teeth and hair to brush, and all sorts of urgent things that a five-child home brings.  


At the warmest place on earth, you wake up to a fantastic breakfast (even the granola is homemade and amazing!) and a great cup of coffee. You spend the day busy in various activities: there is always a game to be played, a craft to be done, a hug to be shared, a conversation to be enjoyed, and more.

As I sit in the house listening to all the activity, I wonder how they manage. I wonder if it is the coffee that keeps them going, or the adrenaline, or something that I can’t understand. I wonder if I could rise to that challenge, or if I would break under the responsibility of it all.

Then, it happens, the child runs in, wakes me from my thoughts and I am off again. That is how I get my answer: they keep going through love. They focus on something, get it done, and move on, all the time, the real focus is love and service, God, faith and family.  




And so, as the microwave beeps echo through the empty kitchen with a forgotten cup of coffee waiting inside, I can’t help but think about how the Summers Family has something much richer than the coffee that helps get them through the day: they have a beautiful God-centered marriage, five healthy and wonderfully precious children, and a great house that serves as a fantastic home.

Though their coffee may stand forgotten, they are out living life and creating memories in the minds and hearts of their children that will last for generations to come. These treasures cannot be measured except by the smiles and tears, hopes, dreams, and laughter of the memories that are yet to be considered.

They have children who are kind and loving, generous and respectful, fun and happy! When one is falls down, another helps them up. If one is upset, another prays with them that God will help them to be happy. They argue like all siblings, but they have genuine love and concern for one another.  This is not something that happens accidentally, but through the guidance of parents who are teaching their kids what love truly is.

The Summers family is rich because they discovered the secret to the meaning of life; to live each day for God and to love without question. They love with reckless abandon, living every day with the goal of serving God more wholly than the day before. God’s glory is evident in this house and His will is considered the guide for all they do.  

I think that if these walls could talk, they would not complain about the continuous noise or the repeated microwave beeps, but would call out in thanks to God for the opportunity to witness all the love, blessings and glory this family has and shares, even on the most average of days.  

The warmest place on earth is alight with the glow of God’s Love, and the joy of the amazing family that lives there.