Send in the Replacements

Posted on June 4, 2026 by dinahoverlien

“We don’t stop loving a person when they are hurt or sick.
No, we grow stronger so they can lean on us.”*
The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah

My brother had hip replacement surgery this week.
A few years ago he had both knees replaced—at the same time.
Then a hip.
Then a shoulder.
And now, the other hip.
All those new joints should keep him pain-free for a long time.

I spent a couple days with him this week.
I filled his water bottle.
I replenished his bird feeders.
I ran his errands.
I waited on him.
Just like old times.

It’s amazing what modern medicine can do.
The doctor removed a diseased bone structure
and swapped it out for an artificial one.

It’s amazing what modern medicine can’t do.
The doctor couldn’t create a new, living joint
just like the one my brother traded in.

It’s astounding what God can do.
He can take a hard, sick heart
and replace it
with a soft, healthy heart
and throw in a new spirit, too.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26

*Quote from Grandpa Dan’s daily emails “Think Great Thoughts—Live Great Lives”

If We Knew Then

Posted on April 30, 2026 by dinahoverlien

Look at us.

So young and full of hope.

When the camera shutter opened and captured this moment,
there were so many things we didn’t know.

We didn’t know that—

four children would fill our hearts and our home.
our four children would marry four other children and produce 12 more children.
we would spend agonizing weeks in pediatric ICU.
hours would be spent at baseball/basketball/softball/volleyball games, to our delight.
musicals, plays and concerts would be our chief entertainment and joy.
there would be many trips to the ER for stitches and broken bones.
gallons of Kool-Aid and millions of chocolate chip cookies would be consumed.
one heart would need three bypasses.
six different houses would become home.
hundreds of sermons would be preached and thousands of songs would be sung.

If we knew then what we know now—
we’d do it all again.

The Boys Are Back

Posted on March 26, 2026 by dinahoverlien

As a kid I wasn’t much of an athlete, although I tried.

In fifth grade I joined the girl’s summer softball team. The coach put me in when we were getting creamed and there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth and it was getting late and he needed a sure out. Thus ended my softball career.

In junior high, I went out for basketball. I made a basket once. For the other team. I cried my eyes out in the locker room, even though we lost by twenty points. So I hung up my sneakers for good.

In high school, I ran in the 440 relay. My real reason for going out for track was because my voice teacher told me running would be good for my singing. It was. I lost every race but got the lead in the musical.

When I had kids of my own who showed an interest in sports,
I finally found my true calling.
I am a great fan.

That’s why today is such a banner day.
I get to use my gift for the next 187 days of the MLB season.
So, rap that apple, boys.
Throw the yakker, Miz.
Let’s see some oppo tacos, Yeli.

Today I will send my sons a meme from The Sandlot.

Today I will tune in to watch the first pitch.

Today I will wear my Brewer T-shirt.

Today I will eat a hotdog.

Because that’s my calling.

One More Thing

Posted on December 31, 2025 by dinahoverlien

Never in my blogging life of 16 years have I ever posted twice in one day.
Just had to sneak this one in before the clock strikes twelve.
I’ll leave you alone until next Thursday.
Promise.

Here are my twelve tribes in all their pajama glory.
#12 got lots of love from his cousins.

Three big boys.
Three big girls.
Three little girls.
Three little boys.
I couldn’t have come up with a more symmetrical arrangement.

We forced one more Nativity scene and I expect it will be our last.
What else were we to do with a 10-day-old in our midst?
He was the star of the show.
If you’re counting, we are short one sheep.
The 6-year-old refused to put on a silly costume and join the fun,
even though Opa bribed him with suckers.
I like his spunk.

God bless us, every one!

Until next year!

Introducing Beau

Posted on December 20, 2025 by dinahoverlien

Allow me to introduce you to my brand new grandson, Beau Andrew.
Isn’t he amazing?
I can’t stop staring at him.

December 17, 2025
7 lbs. 8 oz.
20 inches

Our Twelve Tribes are complete.

Christmas Eyes

Posted on December 11, 2025 by dinahoverlien

Something about Christmas brings out the kid in all of us.
PB’s natural fun-loving personality really shines during the holidays.
He brings home all kinds of goodies. Every day. They are piling up.

Bags of Farm & Fleet Tootsie Roll Pops are a staple around here. In December, though, the stash is considerably expanded. After all, there are Christmas programs and dance recitals and extra church services. The demand rises dramatically, so PB keeps his pockets jammed full of suckers to pass out when the kids’ start to wiggle.

One year, PB brought home a yodeling pickle ornament. It’s motion sensitive, which means when I get up at 5:30 a.m. and tiptoe out to the kitchen, a shrill voice coming from a dark corner scares the Charles Dickens out of me. So fun!

It’s not all candy and toys for PB. He also goes in for a good game to play with the grandkids. This one is sure to be a hit with the 6-year-old and 8-year-old grandsons. We need to give them more reasons to talk about butts.

Of all PB’s fun finds, these get my seal of approval.
They don’t cause cavities,
they don’t yodel,
and they have nothing to do with butts.

These flimsy “glasses” transform the Christmas tree lights into fun shapes. We have glasses that create snowmen, reindeer, trees, candy canes and gingerbread men. These magical specs cost $1.69 each, which is the best deal in town.

See what I mean?
The glasses help you see something that nobody else sees.
It’s magic.

I’m wondering if Simeon had a special pair of glasses.

In Luke 2, when Joseph and Mary brought their 8-day-old baby boy to the temple, Simeon saw something that nobody else saw. The elderly gentleman took baby Jesus in his arms and declared, “My eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:30)

Everyone else in the temple saw a baby.
Simeon saw salvation.
He must have had Holy-Spirit-glasses.
Oh, for eyes to see like Simeon.

We Got Robbed

Posted on November 13, 2025 by dinahoverlien

Many years ago, PB and I drove to Winona, Minnesota for a Keith Green concert. We arrived early, so we left our car in the empty parking ramp and slipped into the auditorium to listen to the sound checks.

Keith Green was a radical-hippie-Jesus-lover. He had crazy piano skills and wrote songs that brought worship to a new level. I’d never heard anyone sing with so much conviction and passion. The lyrics to his songs were raw and deeply honest. It was a thrill to be able to hear him live. We sat in the front row.

After the concert, we walked back to the parking ramp and discovered our car had been broken into. The window had been smashed and our bags torn apart. We were poor college students at the time, so the robbers didn’t find anything worth stealing. It was a cold ride home to LaCrosse that night, but it could have been worse and we were thankful.

A year after we heard Keith Green perform, he died in a plane crash. He was 28 years old. I remember hearing the news on the radio, sitting on the stairs in our townhouse apartment, and weeping.

I recalled this memory because of a quote I read this week by another old dead guy, Matthew Henry. He was a preacher in the 1700’s and was attacked one night by robbers on the streets of London. Reflecting on his unsettling experience he said:

“I am thankful first because I have never been robbed before.
Second, although they took my money, they did not take my life.
Third, they took everything, but it wasn’t much.
Fourth, I am thankful that it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.“

As we count our many blessings,
let’s be thankful for all the disasters that didn’t happen,
for all the close calls that were avoided,
for all the near misses that were thwarted.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip.
The Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121

Kansas City, Here I Come

Posted on November 6, 2025 by dinahoverlien

When PB asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I was ready with an answer.

“I want to go to Kansas City and visit the Charles Spurgeon Library on the campus of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.”

Not your typical birthday request, I know. Even PB raised his eyebrows at that one, but he’s always game for a road-trip-adventure. And I promised him some KC barbeque.

As we crossed the state line into Missouri, we played “Kansas City, Here I Come” by Wilbert Harrison, recorded in 1959, which seemed appropriate since it was my birthday trip and that’s my birth year.

See? I wasn’t making it up. Not every old dead guy gets his own library.

Spurgeon had a 12,000-volume personal library. After he died, half of his books were sold and ended up in America. They sat in boxes for 100 years in a basement. Then Midwestern Baptist rescued them and someone donated several million dollars to build a library to house and display them. Everything you ever wanted to know about Charles Spurgeon is there. We spent three hours soaking up every bit of it.

PB was a trooper.
Down deep, I think he loved seeing everything as much as I did.

This is the pew Charles was sitting on when he came to saving faith in Jesus.
He was 15 years old.
He started preaching at 17 and had his first church when he was 19.