Sanders' World Changing

     Our house on Sugar Maple Leaf Farm sat nearly a half mile off the road. I would trek to the school bus at quarter past six each morning. Down the small hill, around the corner and then straight past the garden, gas pumps, owner's house and alpaca field. One particularly cold winter morning, as I headed out the door, my father reminded me to check the pen on my way through as one of the babies were due any time.        A quick glance in the direction of the animals confirmed that one of the babies was indeed born, perhaps only minutes prior. As I moved in for a closer look, I could see steam rising from the snow. A cria (newborn alpaca) laid alone, abandoned by its mother. I quickly alerted my father and we scooped the baby from the freezing snow bed and hustled inside the nearby house. Unlike the mama alpaca, our instincts kicked in. Dad and I knew if the alpaca was to live he needed to be warmed. He would need to eat at some point, but his ...

When I was maybe 7 or 8, old enough to read but still small enough to fit into the little kid rocking chair in my grandmothers front room, I chose to read the Bible. After a spell, she entered the room and asked what I was reading. I told her I had read Pee-Salms and was now looking at Pro-verbs, which is fitting because I now fully realize my grandmother was the epitome of a Proverbs 31 woman. As she looked over my shoulder, I told her I had no idea how someone could read the whole thing. The print in her Bible was so tiny, there were so many pages and there were NO pictures! I figured this made her chuckle because she was a librarian and I anticipated she would say what most people would say, “start at the beginning’, but she didn’t. Grammie said, “start at Matthew”. Start at Matthew, I did, but it would be years before I fully understood what that truly meant. Grammie didn't sit down and explain the gospel to me. She simply pointed me in the right direction, and the Truth met ...

One summer, when I was probably only about 10 or so, I went to Pennsylvania to visit some family. They were all registered for a race that weekend (my aunt a marathon, the girls a 2 miler) and they wanted me to enter, too. I said I had never run before, but I would. It was a straight out and back run almost all uphill for the first half. As I rounded the cone at the turn, I could see how far I had come, but I could also see that there was no one behind me. I was in last place and I had half the run remaining. I still had so far to go, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other until the end. When it was time for the awards to be given out I listened to the voice over the loud speaker said, “in third place in the under 11 age division, Carrie Grey”. What? Yes, I got 3rd in my age group even though I came in dead last. When I returned to Dover, I told Grammie about it and she asked to see my trophy. I told her it was silly because "I didn’t deserve it". Not everyone des...

One-day Grammie said I could have milk and cookies. As I walked to the kitchen she said “be careful pouring the milk” …. Well, you know what happened next, I spilled the milk. I spilled the milk all over her kitchen carpet. CARPET in the kitchen, I am so glad that trend is over, but anyway… I thought for sure she would be so upset with me that I frantically tried to clean the milk myself. On my hands and knees in the kitchen, a dozen paper towels laid out I froze when I saw her feet just a few paces away. I looked up and prepared for the “I told you to be careful” speech but Grammie didn’t say a word, she simply crouched down next to me and helped me clean it up. She taught me that when you see a need you don’t ask if they need help, you just figure out a way and help.

     My grandparents built their home in the 1950s. A Sears catalog kit home, originally about 1500 square feet, that cost about $5,000. It was a one-story, three-bedroom home that sat on the corner, at the bottom of Nellie Hill. I lived there a few times when I was very young in between moves or at a time when my mother just needed a little help from her parents. When I didn't reside there, you could still find me there every morning before school and each day after school while my mother worked.  I moved eight or ten times before I graduated high school, but my grandparents’ house was always home. The building itself was nothing special, but the memories that made this house a home, made it remarkable.           My grandfather passed away over 5 years ago and my Grammie joined him in heaven last week. (The two of them were legacy leavers and their stories are for another series of posts.) The past seve...

Super heroes in comics, movies and on tv do amazing things for the good of society. They have cool powers like strength to stop a racing freight train, the ability to fly like a plane or even to shoot spider webs out of their wrists. Well, as you know the only thing that would fly out of my Grammie’s wrist were Kleenex. She always had one if you needed it. But if you ask anyone who ever darkened the doorway to one of my grandmother’s classrooms or libraries you would know she did have a super power. She could actually emit an atomic energy of epic proportions through her pointer finger. It began with what we might call a finger snap, but she was really conjuring up a subatomic life whip and when it hit you, you felt it in your heart. You straightened up. She never had to snap twice. Some of you are shuttering about it right now. When looking back at all the lessons she taught me however, Grammie didn’t need to use her subatomic snap lasso of truth, she simply directed you in the way...

A story based on real events: Molly's first ever heart break. She and our friends' son Chris developed crushes on one another this spring. We were NOT ready for Molly to have this interest, but we knew that we had to navigate this prayerfully because how we responded in those moments would set us up for all future conversations on the topic of boys, love, etc. So--I met with the boy's mom and we agreed to let them talk on a one on one boy-to-girl level. Nothing private, controlled, overseen, but still, we allowed it to move forward. The boy is incredible. He is a God lover, intelligent kid with true passion and commitment. He sets the bar high. For the past 7 or 8 months we have fostered their friendship and led them as best we could. His mom and I have become truly amazing friends. It is like God gave me her when He gave Molly this first boyfriend. --- well, then they moved away and we visited, but distance stinks and long distance relationships are always hard...especi...