Only God can change tragedy into beauty. And it is only because of Him we can give thanks in everything, and by doing so find joy. I first met her 2 years ago when she became my neighbor. I’m really not the bold and brazen type who randomly knocks on a door. And I’m certainly not a door-to-door evangelist, but […]
3 Steps For When Your Heart Faces the Pain, Brokenness, and Devastation of Divorce :: Sermon on the Mount {Week 15}
No matter what, divorce is painful. It hurts. And its consequences never really end. I know—because twelve years ago I got divorced. I know first-hand the pain and its consequences, especially when adultery is involved. And while I’ll share those details with you another time, suffice it to say, God hates divorce from the spouse […]
Gratitude in Grief {When Giving Thanks Brings Joy}
Is it possible to have gratitude in grief? I watch them enter with grace and take their seat in the front row: the son and daughter and husband who miss her so. The granddaughter and grandson. The sister and great-grandchildren, and all the family and friends–all of them here to remember. I see the flowers […]
For When Your Heart Aches…
Do I really dare to write the ways my heart aches—the ways I feel bare and exposed? How do I give words to the dull underlying feeling that seems to be inevitable in this life? I drive to work as the sun begins to rise, and the song plays. And its refrain undoes me. I ache at the […]
Oh How He Loves Us So {Even in our Troubled and Suffering Days}
I have my share of weary and troubled days–times where I just want to “clock out” and say I’m done. Days when the house is a mess, no one behaves, tasks aren’t getting done, and discouragement sets in like a hovering cloud. Days when every little thing irritates me and I just can’t seem to make […]
For When You Need to Know that God is Close to Your Broken Heart {And You are Not Alone}
Well, last Friday I didn’t have internet access because I was on an island in the Bahamas, enjoying the sunshine. And this week when I checked-in to read about last Friday’s Five-Minute-Friday-community, I just couldn’t resist joining in. It’s because I believe in the word she chose–a word I long to be true of this place. I […]
On the Certainty of Suffering {And our Promise of Hope}
Photo credit: Daves Portfolio, Flickr Creative Commons My patient held her baby today, like every mama here does … except her baby had only lived for 16 weeks and could be held in one of her hands. We took pictures and gave mementos. And the family was there and the chaplain came. And I continue […]
I Can Still Remember, and I Give Thanks
I can still remember as I sat on the couch that day, tears streaming in an unrelenting flow and I will never forget that day in May…the very day that would have been my 9th wedding anniversary of my previous marriage. Me having been divorced…and now remarried. Me experiencing, that day, the first of my […]
What a Day that Will Be
Today I’m joining Lisa-Jo over at her site to take five minutes and just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. The challenge is to write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing, with the prompt she gives. And today, her prompt: Full…. GO! Grandpa Joe had lived a good […]
You are God and I am not
The day wasn’t supposed to end like this… A volunteer priest, a giving photographer capturing pictures, and her two little girls coming to see. She had arrived at the hospital that St. Patrick’s Day morning with a gleam in her eyes, and a hope-filled heart, ripe with anticipation…now a boy after two sweet girls. The day […]
