The Oldest and the Youngest...

Shana has been accepted to Defiance College for next year! And she was offered the Dean's Scholarship! Congratulations, Shana!

Shana is going to college for social work, and because she has taken the College Credit Plus option while in high school, she will have her degree early and will start working on her Master's. She has a huge heart for helping others, and I know she'll do a great job. Have you ever heard the song "The Broken Ones?" Shana has loved that song ever since she was little, and it has always reminded me of her. Here are the lyrics, with the name changed to fit:

Shana came home one day with a raggedy Raggedy Ann.
She said "Mama, look what I found in the neighbors' garbage can."
It had a missing left arm, and a right button eye hanging by a thread.
She carried it gently up to her room and laid it on her bed
with her other dolls.

She loves the broken ones, the ones that need a little patchin' up
She sees the diamond in the rough and makes it shine like new.
It really doesn't take that much, a willing heart and a tender touch.
If everybody loved like she does, there'd be a lot less broken ones.

Twenty years later at a shelter on Eighteenth Avenue,
A seventeen year old girl shows up all black and blue
with needle tracks in her left arm, almost too weak to stand.
She says, "I'm lost and I need help," as Shana takes her hand
And says, "Come on in!"

She loves the broken ones, the ones that need a little patchin' up
She sees the diamond in the rough and makes it shine like new.
It really doesn't take that much, a willing heart and a tender touch.
If everybody loved like she does, there'd be a lot less broken ones.

If you call her an angel, she'd be quick to say to you
She's just doing what the One who died for her would do.

Love the broken ones, the ones that need a little patchin' up
See the diamond in the rough and make it shine like new.
It really doesn't take that much, a willing heart and a tender touch.
If everybody loved like He does, there'd be a lot less broken ones.
If everybody loved like He does, there's be a lot less broken ones.

Quintin is quite the kid. He always has to have things lined up, from his food to his toys:

This morning, Quintin was in the bathroom by the toilet paper roll, which is very tempting to a 2-year-old. I said, "Quintin, don't you dare unroll that." But he proceeded to unroll the whole thing anyway. When I looked over and saw him, he quickly tried to roll it back up, saying, "See, mom? I'm rolling it back up so you don't spank me. I'm doing it very fast. You're beautiful, mom. See? I'm rolling it up very fast. Please don't spank me. I'm putting it right back. You're so beautiful, mom." 🤣

Sweet, sleepy baby boy: