It was a morning ritual.
Lunch boxes and brown bags were lined up along the kitchen island.
I often thought that it must have looked like Lucy and Ethel in the candy factory.
I had my own production line but no quota to make or speed to keep in check.

It was easier to make lunches that way.
It wasn’t five lunches duplicated and placed in the appropriate place.
It was five different lunches, as I considered each child’s preferences.
Some may say I was being ridiculous; I say I was being me.

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My youngest daughter is packing to go back to college.
I blinked and May turned into August.
This is the time of year the bins get pulled from the basement.
That is the way we pack and it seems very efficient.

Clothes get taken off the closet rack still on their hangars, folded, and placed in the bins.
When we get to her college dorm room, she simply lifts them out of the bins and hangs them up.
We have moved five children this way.
It doesn’t make it any easier.

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Whispers of His Movement will not be published again until next week since my son is getting married in a few days. This is another special time for our family. It is another time of joy and celebration. Pray for my son and his future wife as the Lord brings them to mind. God willing, […]

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I remember the day I saw it happen.
Boys in school long ago thought they were being funny.
As a girl sat down in her desk chair, they pulled the chair ever so slightly backwards.
The girl fell on the floor.

I remember her being embarrassed.
I remember she tried not to cry but it hurt.
I remember walking her down to the bathroom so she could compose herself.
I remember the slight limp she had as she walked down the hallway.

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Whispers of His Movement will not be published again until next week since my daughter is getting married in a few days. This is a special time for our family. It is a time of joy and celebration. Pray for my daughter and her future husband as the Lord brings them to mind. God willing, […]

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The first word each of us ever say…
Dada, says it all.
A lifetime wrapped inside those sounds.
The first of many calls.

It’s time, she says, It’s finally here,
After a nine month wait.
The car keys ready, suitcase in hand.
The man who is never late.

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There is hallowed ground that is closer than you think.
It is ground that you have already trod.
It is ground that you may remember from your childhood.
It is ground on which you have journeyed with your own children.

You do not need a passport to travel there.
You do not need any luggage.
It will not cost you anything but a little time.
However, the dividends are immeasurable.

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I just made two batches of brownies.
One batch is for us.
The other batch is for a special boy who is celebrating his 10th birthday.
Both batches are cooling on a rack in the kitchen.

The house has that delectable brownie smell wafting through it.
It is the aroma that used to welcome my children home from school.
I made the delicious brownies with the dark chocolate chips inside.
It is the batter that my children loved to lick on a spoon.

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It has been established that grilling cannot be done in the Gallagher house.
It cannot be done until the baby birds in a nest are able to fly away on their own.
That nest is perfectly built and strategically placed inside our grill.
How anyone can say they don’t believe in God after seeing this miracle is beyond me.

I have been watching the baby bird’s growth each day.
They went from pink skinned with eye buds to feathers with wings in a week’s time.
I have not touched the nest but I have opened the lid of the grill each day to see their progress.
Watching the mother bird has been sheer pleasure as I am at my kitchen sink.

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I never knew what color my refrigerator was when my children were little.
I think it was an ivory color, at least that is the color we chose.
The color could not be seen because other things covered it up.
The other things were important; they were masterpieces, really.

My refrigerator served dual purposes.
It kept all the perishable food cold.
It made ice cubes and kept all the frozen things, frozen.
The other purpose of my refrigerator was much more important.

My refrigerator was an art gallery.

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