joyce

Today turned out to be the most wonderful day of the year for my youngest daughter and I. No, it’s not Christmas.  It isn’t even either one of our birthdays. It was “spring” cleaning and the truth is, it was anything but wonderful. I found that my daughter had stuff collecting everywhere imaginable. It was a hot mess! But,

I remember when my children were infants, there were moments they seemed inconsolable. Whether they were in physical pain or something had upset them, the tears flowed incessantly and their cries were excruciatingly loud. Such moments were heart breaking. That is, until their Daddy said their name, gently stroked their head or cradled them in

I don’t know what the teen years were like for you, but mine were not memorable. I was quite insecure and completely disliked being a teenager. Needless to say, telling others about God or thoughts about God’s plan for my life were not anywhere in the forefront of my mind. In fact, I always thought

Do you ever feel like your circumstances have IMPOSSIBLE written all over them? That’s how my husband and I felt when we decided to move from New York to Texas. The decision seemed monumental within itself that we had no idea what the hurdles were going to be like ahead of us. Although he had a

During the decade prior to our move to Texas, my husband sang and led praise and worship in our church and also, with the band he was a part of. He was passionate about using this gift and he used it well. Our daughter Kayla was born at the tail end of that period and while

A few of my favorite things include a great book to curl up with, a cozy blanket, a warm cup of coffee and CHOCOLATE :) You can only imagine how excited I was when our family embarked on the Hershey’s Chocolate Tour while on vacation a few weeks ago. Imagine our surprise when we learned

I had the privilege of visiting Ellis Island last week and it amazed me to hear about immigrants’ experiences in their journey to the United States. It caused me to reflect on my own parents’ stories, especially about both my father and my husband’s father. Each one left their native Kerala as a young man

While my family and I were recently on a flight to New York, I was seated next to an older gentleman. As we introduced ourselves, we discussed what was taking us to the Big Apple. I said we were going to visit family and friends. Then, he shared that he was going to attend his

Is there a need you have been praying about for a LONG time? Maybe there are days you feel as if you may not receive the answer any day soon. Perhaps all of the waiting is choking any hope you have left. I think that’s what my husband may have felt like in the early years

Encouraging thoughts from our friend ~ Susan Varghese: I was in the kitchen slicing up some cucumbers to make a popular Indian salad called raita.  It was going to be perfect paired with the biriyani I had cooking in the oven.  This time I even pulled out one of my fancy ceramic dishes to bake