Cactus Flower

Springs of Life, 1994 I first met Byron Atha in the summer of 1982. I was working at the Springs of Life Camp that summer as a nanny for the new camp director's two little boys. Byron was just in from Brazil and on his way to Piedmont Bible College in the fall.  He was the BMOC (big man of the camp) for the two weeks he was there that summer. Mom and Dad's Famous Memorial Day picnic, 1994 When I made it to college in 1983 wouldn't you know I met up with Mr. Atha again. He sat beside me in chapel where the seating was assigned and alphabetical! Atha, Beckner.... He didn't seem to remember me from camp the year before, but I remembered him and thought he was sort of cute. By the end of my freshmen year we were dating and the rest is history. Ohio, Deputation, 1993 Happy Anniversary to my Love at first Sight... May 30, 1987 - May 30, 2013

My dog is so happy.   She's content to lay at my feet while I work on the computer or wash dishes.   She can hear me when I get up in the morning and waits for me excitedly at the kitchen door. She comes wagging that wild tale when we get home from church or a retreat.   She only hangs her head when she can't come in the house for some reason. I guess she has no real worries.  Her food bowl is rarely empty and her water bowl is almost always full.  She has companions, toys, and a blanket.  She's well cared for and loved. So why can't people just be happy like dogs? I'd really like to know? Ah, but I do. The center of my dog's happiness is in pleasing her master. She's happy when I'm around but when the master of the house comes home, she falls all over herself to get out the door and greet him properly. Could it be that the center of a person's happiness is not in all the things around them, not in all the problems and...

Well, meet one! Brazil, 2007 Many know her as Mrs. B but only 6 boys can call her Grandma. All six live far away from her little house on a country road in Virginia with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. But Grandma and Grandaddy do their best to keep up with all of their boys no matter where they travel or how far they are from "home." Read on to learn more about Grandma B, TCK's and long distance grandparenting... "When a child is born, so are grandmothers." Judith Levy What is a  TCK? David Pollack and several other authors began using this abbreviation to describe children who were living outside of their parents home culture. All of Mrs. B's three grandsons by her daughter were born and mostly raised in Brazil. Her other three grandbabies also have lived outside of the States for several years. In the photo below my boys are soaking their feet. We had to do this often when they were little to get out hookworms. Only one boy on the day ...