Author: Anne Rauth

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Mom of Boys
Mom of Boys

When you are the mom of only boys, you don’t get tea parties or nail painting. Nope. You get “I have a break from school and I want to go fishing and camping.”

So, if this post is a day late, it’s because I didn’t have Internet and my hot spot was not “hot”. (I got the dreaded Red X—no connections available. Nuts.)

Or that I froze to death.

r that a venomous snake came out of hibernation and got me.

Sweet dreams everyone…..


Camping to me is at minimum a cheap hotel. A quaint cabin perhaps.


Camping to me means there’s running water. 


Camping to me is a requirement because I’m a boy mom. 


Please believe me, I do want our boys to respect the land and always honor it.
But the thought of snakes, and various other wild creatures makes me a little nervous. 


I do remember the time that I took our youngest on his first campout at a Boy Scout Campsite, while he was only a Cub Scout. I was told, “Do not worry. Snakes don’t like people and they will stay away from all the campers.”
HA! Bald face liars. 


I can still see that huge black snake slithering across our path! He was so big that some of the older scouts “captured” him to put him on display so others could see him for the rest of the camping season. 


And, yes, for those of you who are “snake savvy”, it was a black snake, and I guess they are the good kind. But again, let me repeat, he was big and slimy and slithering along my path. 


Say a little prayer for campers everywhere…

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The Lord Be With You

Lord Be With You
Lord Be With You

In a book in the Bible called Ruth there is a good guy named Boaz. He greeted his workers in his field (I think he was pretty wealthy) with “The Lord be with you.” And they all answer him “The Lord bless you.” (Ruth 2)

I wonder what would happen if we greeted people today with “The Lord be with you”.

They might say, “And also with you”. (Which you might hear in church)

They might give you a puzzled look.

They might say “thanks”.


Who knows? Should we be bold this week and try it? 


Maybe we should do it at our work, since Boaz was greeting people that worked for him. Remember, Boaz modeled this behavior for us and he was successful in business. 


Right now there are so many people silently hurting all over. In your church. At your place of employment. Living on the street. And who knows, maybe these five little words could change a person’s day. 


Consider three things:
1. If you don’t believe that saying these words or another similar greeting might be a difference maker, don’t do it.


2. If you are fearful of doing it, remember what angels told Mary in the Bible, “Fear not”. Or what Franklin Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” 


3. Going outside your comfort zone is okay. 


I heard a great quote last night that I’m paraphrasing: We need to turn our Sunday behavior into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…..
Little by little, let’s live it!

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What’s In Your Hand?

In my hand I held a hammer

In my mind I held a dream. 

To hammer in a nail at a women’s nail driving contest

Never successful in this endeavor

Never chosen as a finalist.

Never good enough.

But this year would be different

In my hand I held a hammer

In my mind I held a dream

To once, just once, be a winner

First heat:  winner

Hand is shaking but I go again.

 In my hand I held a hammer

In my mind I held a dream.

All the dreams are lost

But wait….other women’s nails aren’t going in.

Can it be?

I’m not the only one with loose nails in my hand?

Apparently so

Heat Two:  I think I AM a winner

A tie for second place!

I’ll take it!  We’ll take our picture

And we’ll be happy.

No, I’ll be thrilled!

Today I held a hammer and my mind held a dream!

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The Summons

I got a fairly official piece of paper in the mail today.  When I opened it up, it was official:  I am summoned for jury duty!

A week long jury duty.  Let that one sink in:  week long.

I can’t bring my cell phone.

I can’t bring any electronic equipment.

And, no concealed weapons or knives.  (That one is painful.)

I love America.  I may not love everything happening in America, but truly it still is the greatest country in the world. And I’m grateful to God that I live here.

I do love especially my freedom of speech, so here goes…. I really don’t like jury duty.

I have never actually been picked to sit on a jury, but I have gone every time I was called. I have been questioned by the attorneys, but was not selected.

I was just fine with that.

However, I have always wondered what would happen if I was selected to be on a jury?  Could I sit there and potentially sentence someone to a life in prison?

I honestly don’t know.  And, so I hope when I call that number listed on my official letter they will have settled whatever the case is out of court and my services aren’t required.

This official piece of paper has made me stop and think.  At the top, by the official seal, it says “The US Constitution guarantees all people the right to trial by an impartial jury.”   It does say that and so I will go if I’m asked to serve.

Micah 6:8 in The Bible says to “Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”  This is going to be my reminder if I am called to serve.  It should be my call to serve every day, not just when I’m on a jury.

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4 Restoration Hacks For Bringing New Life To An Old Property

For the past two weekends, I’ve been in the small town where I grew up getting my childhood home ready for a renter.  It’s been emotionally and physically hard, but now that I have a renter bringing life to the house I grew up in, I feel better.  Guess a house needs some new blood every fifty years or so, right?

One reason that it was made easier is that my lifelong friend is a real estate agent who taught me some life “hacks” that I wanted to share with everyone in case you are trying to do a “Quick Fix” on a piece of property.

Life Hack #1:  Clorox with bleach:  I’ve always been afraid of bleach.  No more sisters.  This substance is amazing!  Did I wear gloves?  Did I test it before I did a large area?  Yes and Yes!  Would I use it again?  Absolutely.  Don’t use Clorox bleach on anything delicate, honestly, but the cleaning power is amazing.

Life Hack #2:  Spray Paint.   Could you spray paint an entire house?  Of course not!  But, when we had several little touch ups, especially outside, I was amazed at how little effort it took, as an example, to get a light pole shining again.  WOW.

Life Hack #3:  Mr. Clean Magic Erasers:  They actually live up to their brand name of “magic”.  I honestly don’t know how they got some of the spots out that they did on the walls, but they did.  Buy the big box and thank me later.

Life hack #4:  Gorilla Glue.  When I went to a local store, the woman was emphatic that this product was what I needed.   I had some tile that had been knocked down  and needed to be quickly replaced as the edges were rough.  She was right.  Gorilla Glue also lives up to its name.

But there’s one truth in life that is not a life hack.  This was the person I needed most to help me get through this emotional challenge of getting a house ready for someone else to live in.  That person is Jesus, and he is not a hack, but very real.

Jesus and I had many talks during the weekends that I was cleaning and preparing the house.  He knew deep down that this was not something emotionally that I wanted to do but he also knew that financially I needed to do it.  And, just when I would tell him, I had had enough, I’d get some encouragement.

Like the time I found a box of poems that my mom and I had put together to read at monthly meetings. I had looked for a copy of that for over 30 years.

Or the time I found the birdfeeder my dad built.  It may not be squirrel proof or fancy, but it’s going up in my back yard!

Looking back on these weekends of preparation, I could have done it without the life hacks, but not without Jesus.  He saw me through.