“Let’s clap for Mom for a wonderful meal!” Our youngest, just a baby in the high chair, joined his older siblings for an enthusiastic acclamation of my dinner. My husband started this tradition when our oldest daughter was that little diner with a food-smeared bib. She couldn’t express with words her appreciation for the food served to her. But he knew that she had learned to “patty cake” and would quickly join in to applaud her mother. Over the years, even though my children

“So, do you like it?” she asked cautiously, expecting me to offer a less-than-approving comment. “Like it? I love it!” “Well, it isn’t the nicest house in town, but we worked to get it ready for you the best we could.” I couldn’t say enough to assure the wife of the church trustee that this three-bedroom parsonage was absolutely wonderful. Compared to the apartments and, more recently, the 60-foot trailer we’d lived in during the past five years, this was a mansion! When we c