Several blogs have already been written about some of the antics of our sons Ben and Matty as they played quite a bit together while growing up. Our oldest son Erik has escaped any tales surrounding him …until today that is.

        Today Erik is a pastor and is a strong, forthright guy who is fairly unflappable in most situations. When he was just a little tyke however, such was not the case. He was easily spooked if you will by many every day occurrences. I can remember he a...

       How many of you have seen the movie “Christmas Story?” Unless you have not been part of the living, breathing world, your hand should be going up right now. Do you remember Ralphie and what he wanted for Christmas more than anything in the world? Yes, it was what every boy seems to desire and long after … it is that rite of passage for every red blooded American little boy- the prized BB gun.

    It was no different at the Hastings house. Also, what was no different at our h...

     When our family bought our house some sixteen years ago, the nice young couple that we bought it from were the original owners. They had lived in the house for five years and were quite proud of the fact that not just them, but that all of the other families on the street were also the original owners of their homes as well…the point being that everyone was obviously very satisfied and content with their home, their neighbors and the neighborhood in general. That seemed to be one of th...

Our children all tend to pull a lot of stunts while growing up, don’t they? At the Hastings home, it seemed as though those little imaginations were running wild on a daily basis dreaming up what new act that they could commit that would be forever etched in their mom’s memory. Such was the case of what I have affectionately dubbed the “Bound for Juvie” incident.

      In the history of our family, we had a period of about two years that we now refer to as the “ Patrick era .”  ...

The other day I was doing some shopping in our local mall and stopped by the food court for lunch and to sit down for a few minutes. Much to the chagrin of my daughter who thinks that the mall is her best friend and who thoroughly loves shopping,  I do not. I am the type who goes to the mall out of necessity. I get in and get out as quickly as possible. I actually think it is one reason that my husband married me. If one wants to know the truth, my hands down favorite thing to do at the mall ...