If you are just now joining me, let me introduce this mini-series within the Hope series. As part of my legacy and just because I want to, I am blogging about each of the Saturday Sisters. For over twenty years, we have met together – usually monthly – to eat lunch, talk about our families …
For over twenty years, we have met together – usually monthly – to eat lunch, talk about our families and prayer requests, to do life together. We have watched our children grow up, shared the joys of weddings and the sorrow of funerals. Phone calls, emails and texts help us stay connected, but it is …
Clearly, I am not a patient person. I quickly tire of struggles. The length of this particular trial seems longer to me than others I have managed to muddle through. I want it to end, to be resolved. God…can we be finished with this? Can my son experience healing and return to work? Can we …
For many years, I accompanied soloists and choral groups with piano, organ or keyboard. It was a fun time and a growing experience in my musical journey. The art of accompaniment includes several techniques: The accompanist follows rather than leads. A good accompanist adds to the performance and does not overshadow the soloist. To accompany …
When I worked for a national organization of chaplains, we often talked about the ministry of presence. As people struggle with grief and face challenges, they need someone to show up and be with them. To be present. Henri Nouwen eloquently explained this ministry of presence, “I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t …
A national magazine asked me to write an article about becoming emotionally overwhelmed. So I hammered out 1600+ words. Yet, even as I wrote, another reminder of self-care interrupted my busy life. It has taken me so many years to write this truth and believe it: Self-Care is a spiritual discipline. Somehow we think if …
Today is the day I have been dreading, yet looking forward to its arrival. July 16. One year since my friend Deb stepped into eternity. I have dreaded this date because of the following: Memories will unavoidably reoccur—scenes from the ICU, holding her hand even as it grew colder, wishing and praying she could wake …
Sometimes it takes only one change to find hope. One of my friends made one change in her diet. She stopped drinking soda and lost ten pounds. One change gave her a healthier body. For writers, if we change one thing in the narrative, we can affect the entire story. For example, if the Wizard …
Throughout the years, she has been pictured as the “not enough” woman. Not enough faith, not enough like her sister, not enough commitment to stop everything and listen to Jesus. Yet, I like her. Martha. Legend says she was a wealthy widow, and it was her home in Bethany where she cared for her …
The visual was perfect. For each grief experienced, the group leader added another Lego to the crystal bowl. Griefs piled up as various women listed them: miscarriage, deaths, loss of a dream, divorce, infertility, unemployment, sexual assault, moving, rejection, feeling misunderstood, loneliness, the aging process, a husband’s infidelity, the illness of a child, et cetera. …