by Deb Kalmbach | alcohol, drinking and driving, teens
My friend shared her concerns on Facebook. The other night, a carload of teens sped past her house. Kids hung out the car windows, obviously drinking. My heart sank. Of course, with graduation coming up and the end of another school year, who doesn’t want to...
by Deb Kalmbach | children, encouragement, life, moms, Mother's Day, women
I just spent the past several weeks with my hero, my mom. Diagnosed with colon cancer in December, she chose to have the surgical procedure–difficult under any circumstances, but especially at age 90. As her surgical team prepped her on that early Tuesday a.m.,...
by Deb Kalmbach | acceptance, aging parents, change, encouragement, faith, God's faithfulness, life
Change is something I’ve always resisted. From the time I was 13- years old and my dad announced we were moving from my small Midwestern hometown to a quaint “village” in Pennsylvania, to all the current changes, including retiring from my day job....
by Deb Kalmbach | aging parents, children, comfort, compassion, dads, encouragement, gratitude, loss, sandwich generation
It won’t be long ’til we say hello to our baby granddaughter! I learned today that I’m part of the Club Sandwich generation. According to Wikipedia, we’re typically in our 50’s or 60’s sandwiched between aging parents, adult...
by Deb Kalmbach | encouragement, goal setting, life, personal growth
It’s hard to believe 2017 is right around the corner. It seems like I blinked and now it’s mid-November. Approaching year’s-end gets me thinking about what I’ve accomplished during the previous 12 months. Goal-setting has always been...
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by Deb Kalmbach | blessings, encouragement, faith, friendship, gratitude, loving others
A couple of months ago, Randy and I traveled to Austin, Texas for a reunion of the 15th TRS (Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron) which was stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. We had an amazing time reconnecting with old friends. Most we hadn’t seen in...
by Deb Kalmbach | compassion, encouragement, faith, forgiveness, grace, loving others, Uncategorized
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like social media conversations are often lacking in compassion. There doesn’t seem to be much restraint as people are quick to vent their emotions online. The result is a nasty, mean comment that hurts! I recently read a...
by Deb Kalmbach | addiction, alcoholism, comfort, Easter, encouragement, faith, forgiveness, freedom, God's faithfulness, grace, hope, love, peace, reconciliation, recovery, substance abuse, surrender, Uncategorized
In 1992, artist Thomas Blackshear II, painted a picture titled Forgiven. It took my breath away the first time I saw it. The image is a contemporary man wearing a T-shirt and dirty jeans, holding a mallet in one hand and a nail in the other. The expression on his face...
by Deb Kalmbach | difficult relationships, faith, marriage, Uncategorized
Yesterday my husband Randy and I traveled to Wenatchee, our nearest “big” city–only two hours away. I had an appointment with the endodontist (dentists who specialize in root canals) and found out I need to return to have the troublesome tooth...
by Deb Kalmbach | Christmas, love, moms
The other day when I was looking at our grandchildren’s Christmas gift lists, I couldn’t help but remember the Christmas our sons were 7 and 4-years old. Randy and I had been sent to Okinawa, Japan for a 3-year military assignment. An eternity, I thought!...
