Gentle Hands

This is dedicated to my mother. She is a small woman, standing just 5'3". But her soul is large and her heart enormous! I sometimes wonder how it all fits into her cute little body! :) She often lives in the shadow of my father who is tall, handsome, wise, and receives much attention. Deservedly so, he is a great person. But, so is my mother, who often serves quietly, diligently, and tirelessly behind the scenes. I once heard someone say that God will just look at our hands and be able to tell the kind of person we are. My mother will go to heaven with beautifully worn out hands! She'll have scars from needle pokes and pricks as she mends torn clothes and sews brand new ones. She'll surely have flour and dough stuck to her fingers from all the homemade bread and rolls she bakes. Her hands will be worn from the many years of serving others; cleaning, working, washing, fixing. Mostly they will be soft, warm hands from all the love and giving. 

Gentle Hands

By: Kristen Rhead Sweeney

Gentle hands always Serving

Working, Weeding, Sewing, Stirring

Never shouting words of fame

No awards, applause, acclaim

But still Serving, Loving, Working...

Just the same


Gentle hands always Giving
Mending, Kneading, Helping, Healing
Never shouting words of fame
No awards, applause, acclaim
But still Playing, Sharing, Feeling...
Just the same

Boy or Girl?

I have had five children. Ultra sounds were just becoming popular when I was having my babies. But most Doctors only performed an ultrasound if there was a problem. I never found out the sex of my baby. Even with my last two, when some women were doing so. I never wanted to know. I liked the fun surprise. Besides, women have been having babies for thousands of years without knowing the sex! Why do we need to know now? 

But this new generation likes to know and wants to know! My grown children, who are having babies now, all anxiously await the doctor visit for the ultrasound that will provide this exciting news.

Last year while visiting my pregnant daughter, she scheduled her Doctor’s appointment so I could go. It was so fun. We heard the heart beat and the Doctor confirmed again that Ashley was in perfect health.

Then, our little bubbles of excitement and anticipation were burst when the Dr. announced  he didn’t have time to do an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby. Well, that will never do in 2012! We were bound and determined to find out whether this baby was a boy or a girl. We wanted to know and we wanted to know now!

So we drove straight to the Mall to this funny little lab that does ultrasounds for pregnant women. Ashley & Mike have been feeling like she was having a boy. After all, the Pencil Test said she would have a boy first! 

You know the “Pencil Test”, right? Oh boy! Swing the pencil over your wrist: vertical means a boy, horizontal means a girl. “The Pencil Test is never wrong!” So says the gypsy women with dangling earrings and colorful scarves. J 

But we wanted proof. It was so cool to watch the ultrasound. This time with my daughter. The young technician gently rolled the probe over Ashley’s round belly. It’s been a long time for me but I could tell what everything was. Look! A leg… the head…  the heart - look at it beating! It’s so incredible and wonderful to see that there really is a little baby inside. An arm, a hand, another leg… two legs… a bottom and…  look- it’s a girl! Wait, a girl? “Are you sure?” Ashley and Mike both asked. We looked again… the spine, a leg, another leg, a bottom and…  “Yep! It’s a girl.” How can the Pencil Test not be true? Our faith has been shaken! (hee hee) 

It was a strange feeling for Ashley & Mike who had been imagining a boy all this time. Admittedly, they were a bit disappointed. However, as soon as we were finished we went straight to Baby Gap and found the most darling little girl dresses and bloomers and bows. Ashley quickly decided it was going to be very fun to have a girl! Thank goodness for modern technology! And for Baby Gap.J

And this is that sweet baby girl