This month’s tenet focuses on the irreplaceable role of fathers as well as building interdependent relationships with the men in our lives. I am touched not only by the gift of physical life made possible by my biological father, but his hard work to provide a living for our family. He and many others gave…
Big Ocean Women Cottage leader Fatima Njoku in Jos, Nigeria was appalled by the news she was hearing: On 12 May 2022 a Christian college student, Deborah Samuel, had been stoned and burned alive by radical Islamists for “committing blasphemy.” Then, Fatima explained, “they proceeded to start burning, looting, and attacking other Christians in the…
Most of the efforts by Big Ocean Women to help in Ukraine lately has been coordinating the sending of gathered and donated medical supplies, quilts, and bulletproof vests to those in need through the organization, Backroads Foundation. They are able to get these much-needed supplies to the hardest hit areas, including most of the smaller…
There I stood as a young girl at the age of four, sobbing as I watched my father leave again. It always felt like forever until I saw him again, and it often was forever. Most of the time he never looked back to see me, crying behind the glass door of our home. He…
Years ago, I taught a group of 11-year-old boys which included my son. They were energetic; they captured my heart. One lesson in the course focused on teaching these young men the power and value of fathers. Until I started to prepare that lesson, I had not consciously realized that in this class of about…
Over the Easter weekend, the 15th to the 17th of April 2022, the Jos, Nigeria cottage hosted a retreat for youth in their area, including orphans, displaced children, and some from under-privileged homes. They wanted to get teenagers together in an atmosphere where, cottage leader Fatima explained, they would feel free to “express themselves without…
Last month we had a “sick day” at our house, and I snuggled on the couch with my son (and his pile of more than a dozen pillows) to watch the Disney movie Encanto. We had already watched that movie about as many times as there were pillows on the couch, but the great thing…
We’re sharing this video because we do believe that Dads are so very important and irreplaceable. Enjoy!
The power of three is significant.Throughout history its significance led many to believe three was the “magic number.” In ancient Greece, three was the “perfect number,” the “number of harmony, wisdom and understanding” (Opera, W.N.). The last few months, I’ve seen the irreplaceable value of three special men in my life. My husband, my father,…
When I was a little girl, I somehow became aware of memories. I was interested in the idea of memories and how to make them. I read about how characters shared memories and how they made them. I watched movies wherein I saw people making memories. Hallie Parker in The Parent Trap comes to mind,…