family

Sixteen Tears

| Laura Lee Bonde

You haven’t heard much from me lately because I’ve been giving all my attention to my kids the past few days to prepare for Carolyn’s sixteenth birthday and just “be there” for her, which was much needed.

For the past two years, Carolyn’s thrown a birthday party, and for the past two years, no one from school has shown up, and when your young (or old), that tends to wear on you.

Her party was for two of clock in the afternoon until whenever. She’d hoped to hang out, play basketball and football, play games, and sit around the fire pit with her friends. Well, you can imagine her disappointment. Continue reading →

Tag, You’re It!

| Laura Lee Bonde

One of the things we look forward to as a family at Christmas time is buying our tree because more goes into it than just money.

When we get our Christmas tree, we spend an hour at the lot, so the kids can play tag throughout the trees. They do it every year. The funny part is, this year, we had to go twice! Continue reading →

“Past Ammunition”

| Laura Lee Bonde

I love it how the past
doesn’t really matter
the only power it has
is what I give it

the past is a weapon
mixed with Jesus
to defeat darkness
not hurl me into it

some things I remember
the kids don’t
some things they remember
I don’t

God has a way of restoring all

The Outcast

| Laura Lee Bonde

Yesterday, Carolyn had her last band competition in LA, which was too far for me to travel: I didn’t have the money or the gas, so we both knew I wouldn’t’ve been able to make it, and since we’ve been bonding a lot lately, that was hard on both of us.

She was supposed to arrive back at the school at 1:00 AM, so before I went to bed, I set my alarm, and before I did that, I sent her a text of how I loved her.

After ten, she responded with what a hard day it had been. She’d endured it with pain and tears. She was tired and couldn’t wait to be home, and in her text, she put, “Mom, you don’t even know,” so I knew there was more to her day than just pain. Continue reading →

All in One

| Laura Lee Bonde

I love the title God gave me for this because it’s not what you think it is, and that makes me smile.

Lately, grocery shopping has been a luxury…buying meat has been a splurge. It’s just the way it’s been. We do with what we have and buy only what we need. We haven’t been eating fruits and vegetables and stuff because those are “extras.” This isn’t a pitty-potty post. It’s reality sometimes for some people, but the other day, for a moment, all of that changed.

I was sitting with a friend, and she asked me if we had food, so I explained our situation, and to my surprise, she gave me $40.00 to buy something good to make for the kids for dinner. You have no idea what that did to a mommy who loves to cook for her kids.

It opened a door. Continue reading →