Terrie's Tender Touch

When I was young girl, probably about 9 years old, I remember a situation that occured about which I had no understanding until many years later. Most of you probably won't remember this store, but there was a store called White Front that was similar to Target or Walmart back in the 60's. I recall going shopping with one of my best friends, her mom, and 2 older sisters. I was fascinated at the many items they were purchasing for my friend before school started. Wow! I know I was kind of spoiled and my parents tried to make sure I had all I needed and more, but this was like nothing I had ever seen. We had so much fun that day - first they took us to eat at the little cafe that was located in the store, then the shopping began. As I said before I had never seen anything like it; they must have had at least 30 outfits for just my friend! As the day wore on, we were growing tired so my friend's mom suggested that we go and wait in the van while they stood in line to p...

I love to ride roller coasters! I remember as a teen going to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk, and riding that roller coaster - we would raise our arms and scream as we went soaring downward on the Big Dipper! My husband on the other hand is not especially a huge fan of roller coasters - he'll ride them to accompany me, but they are not his favorite. I was talking with one of my sons the other night and he was reminding me of the time I convinced him to ride on Space Mountain at Disneyland when he was just 4 years old. He didn't want to go on the ride, but I convinced him it would be a lot of fun. Well, as it turned out, this particular son takes more after his dad in the roller coaster department - and in his memory it was one of the most horrifying moments of his life! I know, you are all thinking that I was a cruel mom, forcing my young son to do something he didn't want to do, and I did feel bad that he was so frightened on the ride,(he has ridden them many times si...

Some of my fondest memories of when my children were young are of the times we spent doing the simplest things. Many times our finances determined what we were able to enjoy, but I am glad that we took the time to enjoy playing with our kids. For years we went camping because it was affordable. A few times we were able to go to Disneyland and what a time we had; and then there were many times we just went to the park to play. In any case we took the time to make fond memories together as a family.I remember one time, we were playing baseball at a park, and I slid into base and broke my youngest son's finger...I felt so bad; but when our family plays we don't mess around. We are somewhat competitive even to this day, but what fun is it to play if you're not going to play to win, right? Probably one of the most enjoyable memories of fun time was "family night." This was normally on a Friday night. I would make a dinner like hamburgers, french fries (made from re...

I am the oldest of 5 children, the only girl (and yes, I was spoiled…somewhat). I grew up going to church for most of my life, but I did not have a real relationship with the Lord until I was 27 years old…and I will explain that in a few moments. I married my high school sweetheart in 1978, the day before my 21st birthday. In 2008 we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, and I will say that I have the most wonderful husband; he is my best friend, my sweetheart, and my pastor. We have 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl. They are all married and I am very blessed and praise the Lord as I say that they are all serving the Lord. We have 11 grandchildren. Whew! Christmas is expensive, and when our family gets together it is pretty wild, but I love every chaotic moment. So, I am a Christian, wife, Mom, and grandmother, and truly I treasure what makes me what I am…my husband, my kids, and my grandkids. My most precious treasure is my salvation that I received on May 9, 1985 when I trus...

I live in California - a beautiful state. The weather is perfect, (in my city whose motto is "Climate is best by government test") the average year-round temperature is 72 degrees. Within a short drive I can go to the ocean, to mountains, to the snow (during winter of course), so we don't have to travel very far to enjoy any of the seasons and there are so many great vacation spots. We have visited Columbia several times (in California - I don't even have a passport) where there is a beautiful park with a lot of attractions like horseback riding, picnicking, candy stores, panning for gold, nice big trees, and great weather. About 20 years ago on one of our family vacations we went to Columbia to the park and we were having a great time - we had gone horseback riding, we brought our picnic lunch, we bought candy and as we were checking out the gold panning area - we were watching as people were at various stations along the water actually panning for gold. Our youngest...

Several years ago when my kids were teens we went to Disneyland for a family vacation. We had a lot of fun riding on the various rides and at the various attractions. That particular year there was a new attraction in the World of Tomorrow. It was pretty interesting and the way it worked was kind of like the Discovery Museum where you can walk around to each attraction and participate. While in that section I saw an attraction that looked fun. It was one of those simulation type of rides - it was a motorcycle with an attached pair of binoculars that viewed a screen. The screen showed the various roads, hills, and curves, and the motorcycle simulated the motion. I walked into the attraction, climbed on a motorcycle and enjoyed the ride...no big deal, right? Well, no - it was a big deal because apparently this particular ride was one for which people were waiting in line - and the attendant at the ride was supposed to make sure that every rider was safely secured on the ride. When th...

Have you ever had an experience that was so embarrasing you were mortified? I am sure that I have more than my fair share of those types of things, but I am thinking of 2 "mall" experiences. The first one didn't affect me as much because I was only in junior high. I had gone shopping with my mom (of coure she is the queen of shoppers - taking after her mom), my cousins, and one of my cousin's friends. I am not sure whose car we were in, but what I remember is that the car was a clunker, and for some reason the horn would just decide to honk as if it had a mind of its own. On this beautiful sunny day when everyone in the world is outside- we had the privilege of driving home in the clunker with horn blaring the entire way home...oh my! My cousin's friend wore her sunglasses and a hat hoping that no one would recognize her - we all had a good laugh over the situation. The second time we had an incident at a mall happened when I was a teenager - and I was with ...

When my children were babies it seemed they were continually getting ear infections. In fact, 2 of my children had to have tubes put in their ears to allow for proper drainage - and so they could hear clearly (instead of the muffled underwater sounds they were hearing). So far 2 of my granchildren have had to have the same thing done, not surprisingly they are the children of my children that had the procedure. When my youngest son was born I noticed something that looked different about his tongue when he cried - as it turned out he was what they called "tongue tied," meaning that he needed to have his frenulum clipped. This same son at the age of two fell off a big wheel and his 2 front teeth were knocked out! Then, believe it or not 2 years later when he was four, a store display cabinet fell over on him and knocked out the dentures he wore so that he would have teeth in place as he learned to talk! It sure seemed like something was going on with his mouth, and we had...

This week I had the opportunity to spend a little extra time with my daughter and her children. I have several sweet memories of this time - like when the baby (she is 14 mos. old) walked up to me, lifted her hands to be held, and then gave me a huge hug; or when my 3 year old granddaughter so proudly showed her bedroom that she had cleaned up all by herself because her mommy told her that Grammie would like to see her bedroom all clean; or when my 5 year old grandson gave me a big hug and kiss and then said, "Grammie, you'll always be my best friend." These are perhaps little things, but they sure made my day, and they continue to warm my heart, and put a smile on my face as I recall them. I have been pondering about how sometimes it is the little things that people do or say that make us feel special, or make a difference in our lives. I remember receiving a call from my husband's grandmother the day I prayed to receive the Lord as my Saviour; she was terminally i...

Have you ever had a child come up to you and babble something but have no idea what in the world they were trying to saying? And then have the same child look at you and wonder why you are not responding...only then to have their mother hear them and clearly understand exactly what they want? I love hearing children as they are just beginning to talk - it is so adorable to me as they stumble through new pronunciations, or listening to them proudly use new words. All of my children spoke relatively early and as a mom I always tried my best to understand what they were trying to communicate to me. Of course a lot of the time I would understand what they were trying to say because I had worked at teaching them to pronounce their words, and heard their attempts - so when they tried to use their new words, I knew what they were saying. I also found that they would be more willing to keep trying to learn new words if I responded to the ones they had already learned. I am picturing right now ...

Today is Grandparent’s Day. So, I guess today is my day – as I have 16 (as of July 2017) precious grandchildren. In truth, I spent a good portion of time remembering my own grandparents. I have very precious memories of my grandparents, and since I am a grandmother - I am thinking especially about the memories of my own grandmothers. I wish I could remember my Nanny – she was my dad’s mom. I know that I loved her because when I was less than 2 years old, I escaped from my home to walk down the block (and across the street) to see my Nanny. I know that she took me on outings and that we shared a special relationship. I have very fond memories of Nanna – she was actually my husband’s grandmother. She was very fun loving, and had a fiery spirit that made her such a special lady. I especially grew close to her after she was widowed and moved to the bay area to be close to her daughter (my mother-in-law). Nanna could cook and sew and had a zest for life. Nanna taught me to mak...

This past year has been a year like no other for me personally. My kids (some of them) have moved away, there have been changes in our ministry due to the current economic crisis, we moved into a smaller house, and on and on it goes. All of these changes have brought my mind to think of one word: purging. Purging feels like punishment - all the things that you know and are attached to are suddenly cut away - and that hurts severely. I have never been so "purged" - and if we're not careful we can get discouraged...really discouraged. Thankfully God explains purging in His Word. As I was pondering that fact I found myself amazed once again at God's grace, wisdom, and mercy. I was sitting on my bed praying and considering all the purging and wondering what happens next; what are you supposed to do after the purging? I then realized that I could study facts about pruning and purging and see where I could apply it to my life when the Lord brought the following tru...

Today is 9/11. I have spent a good portion of the day remembering that day. The shock, the emotion, the fear – what I was doing. It was a Tuesday morning, the beginning of the school year – and I was teaching the K-4/5 and 1st grade class. We were living a good distance from the church and I had to leave early. My parents were staying with us, and one of my sons had received a call telling him to watch the news. When we turned on the television, we couldn’t believe what we were seeing! I recall the horror I felt as the second plane crashed into the second building. I cried the whole way to work that day, and I knew that things would never be the same – my America was attacked. For some reason we always seem surprised that the day of a tragedy starts out like any other day – but we never know what a day will bring. "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of...

Several years ago I was asked to give a devotional for a young gal in our Sunday school class on the occasion of the birth of her 4th child, and only son. They named their son Zachary because it means “The Lord Remembers.” I remember sitting in my backyard, reading my Bible when the Lord gave me the Scripture I used for that devotion. The passage of Scripture is from the book of Psalms, chapter 144:1 – 3, “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me. LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!” I remember being so amazed when I read verse 3, which asks the question, “what is man, that thou takest knowledge of Him…” and thought of how God remembered their family by giving them the son they had prayed for! Every time I read that Psalm, I think of tha...

As mothers, we have an awesome responsibility. Throughout God’s Word, I find mothers doing many things, for example: Comforting, teaching, loving, training, encouraging, disciplining, nurturing, feeding, bathing and on and on it goes! Whew! The Lord very graciously placed within our hearts the desire to do all these things for our children. There is one area in particular that I have thought about this week—that is teaching. Often mothers teach their children “what,” but neglect “why.” I am not saying that you have to tell your children why they should clean their room when you tell them to, but teach them the importance of obedience in every circumstance and the consequence lack of obedience will bring. “Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. ” Proverbs 4:7 Being taught is great, but understanding is what makes a person carry out what they have learned. I recall memorizing the name, position and job for each of the 2...

Last week after church I was speaking with several of our ladies. At this time of the year - the kids go back to school, college kids that have been home for the summer leave home again, and the newly graduated ones leave for the first time. As we were talking I verbalized a question I have wondered about quite often since I have been an "empty nester." Though all of my kids have been married for several years, (my youngest celebrated his 4th wedding anniversary), this year I feel it so much more because I am not working outside the home. What I have wondered about is - why do women have to go through "the change"at the same time as she goes through the emotional changes of having her children leave home? Isn't one of those changes at a time enough? As it is, women have the joy of carrying the babies, delivering the babies (so their bodies go through those changes), why do those 2 most difficult changes happen simultaneously? Well, after I asked the questi...

The other day my husband and I were talking about how so many of the "words" we use were invented by our children or grandchildren as they were learning to talk. Some of the common words we use: "eh-d'wing?" for "what are you doing?" "oh -it's forecast" for "it looks overcast outside" "ye me yone" for "leave me alone" "bungle bees" for bumble bees "woobie" for movie All children go through the process of mispronouncing words as they learn to speak. These "words" will eventually be pronounced properly and become a memory or as in our family - a part of our family's language. Unfortunately, some parents become "hyper" about making sure their kids speak properly - even when their young mouths and tongues are not accustomed to forming new words. When you are in front of people - if your kids don't say a word exactly the right way - don't embarrass ...

One of the many joys of being a mother of grown children is the well of memories that we carry in our hearts. This morning my 4-year old granddaughter saw an American flag and said to her mother, “Mom, that is an American flag, it is also called Old Glory.” What a brilliant child (if I do say so myself). She reminds so much of her dad when he was a child. Of course that is when the “well of memories” began to flood my mind. I remember a time when he was 3 years old; he wanted a cookie, but I said “no.” A few moments later I was accosted by a Lego-gun toting villain demanding a cookie! For all of you that are wondering – he still did not get the cookie; I was amazed that he had devised the plan, made the gun, and then attempted to force me to give him what he wanted, but I did not want him to think he could get his way with a gun. I remember spending time working with my children before they went to school and of course helping them with their homework through the years. I recal...

I, (name), take you (name), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honour and cherish (and to obey – if wife); from this day forward until death do us part. My husband and I will celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary in a few weeks; and I have to say that in all these years we have been tested in every one of the vows that we made to each other on our wedding day. Through the many years I have seen (sad to say) many folks that have not weathered the difficulties and parted before death. Now, I am not trying to judge folks that have divorced, and certainly if that is you I am sure that you would not wish that on anyone you know or love. Today the percentage of marriages that end in divorce is approximately 50% and financial stress is the #1 cause! Proverbs 15:16 teaches us that “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” In ot...

I am at home enjoying a beautiful morning. The sun is shining through a light cloud cover; it is warm, but not too hot. I am adjusting to a completely different schedule in my life – or should I say trying to develop a new schedule. For the first time in many years, I am not working. Today is (for many) the first of school, but I am not there; it is a strange feeling indeed. I determined that I would try to get some things done at home that I have not been able to get to since we moved here in May. Of course, you know sorting through anything always leads to memories. I have found a “picture” box that has pictures from many years gone by…my children were so little, and I looked so much younger. My how things have changed. Changes…they are a part of life. I am reminded of the verse in Psalm 55, verse 19 which says, “…Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.” When things change we often feel insecure or even frightened, which should lead us as Christians to pray...

This morning I was out soulwinning with a sweet lady in our church. As we were walking in the beauty of the day I passed an apple tree, and the scent brought a memory to my mind. A few moments later I caught of whiff of “dirt” that reminded me of when we went camping with the kids when they were young. I was walking and just thinking about how when we smell certain things it takes us back to a place, or a time, a certain memory of something associated with that certain scent. As I was pondering the wonder of it all, I suddenly realized that the sweet lady I was with was talking; only when I looked she was all by herself. I then realized that as we left each home, she was praying that every family member would be saved. My heart was blessed, and then the Lord brought Revelation 5:8 to my mind; it says, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are th...