Good morning... Three nights past the new moon, I happen upon an illuminating quote. “I always wondered why it took 'three days' for significant things to happen in the Bible," writes Barbara Brown Taylor in Learning to Walk in the Dark. "Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale, Jesus spent three days in the tomb, [...]
Good morning... Another loyal friend, a daily blog reader and longtime Northside Church member, wrote to me recently, sharing the photo above, offering a tribute to Audrey DeShetler who went to heaven in June. ****** Audrey's Race Is Won by Vilda Brennan About 10 years ago, I took a course called Soul Collage. I loved the concept of [...]
Good morning... On Saturday, July 5th, out of the blue, I received this special card in honor of Audrey DeShetler. Audrey went to heaven on Sunday, June 8th, ten hours before her twentieth birthday. Not being catholic, I was not sure what it meant to hold a Mass for a loved one who has passed. So I wrote [...]
Good morning... "Thinking about you and holding you and Tate in my heart," wrote my friend on one random morning. "I bet she is playing with my Watson. I love you." What a sweet reminder. We talk about our loved ones in heaven all the time. And they somehow sense our constant connection. This reminder helps me with [...]
Good morning... Our nine year old dog went to heaven recently, and what I learned from our choice to release Tate's spirit from her cancer-filled body helped me this week. A friend called, distraught. Their ten year old dog had inoperable tumors growing in his liver. He would happily walk their five mile route, then he would suddenly [...]
Good morning... Month after month, day by day, our written word community prayed diligently for Elizabeth, a creative mom of three, an incredible wife, and a kind friend to so many. One year ago today, Elizabeth's cancer journey invited her into her heavenly home. Revisiting her beautiful obituary helps us to remember Elizabeth's vibrant life and her bottomless [...]
Good morning... After her husband dies, 87 year old Diana composes a new dream. May He grant the dreams of your heart and see your plans through to the end (Psalm 20:4, VOICE). ...Sue...
Good morning... I send the photo above to my friend in Atlanta, exchanging a string of texts with these loving thoughts. Me: I wake this morning in the nest of the upper floor of my friend’s old home in Connecticut. Jayne is a soulmate from my graduate school days at UConn. This image greets me as I walk [...]
Good morning... Allowing our nine-year-old, cancer-riddled dog to go to sleep at the vet's office yesterday, I trusted that Tate woke up immediately in heaven. Until this image came in from my golden-retriever-loving friend, I did not feel, in my every cell my being, the full force of God's resurrection power. What joy! What intimacy! What eternal oneness [...]
Good morning... "I was just thinking,” yesterday I texted our Fab Five friend group, a group that has supported the cancer journey of the DeShetler family for the last fifteen years. “Jesus was on earth for 33 years, and, Jennifer, I wonder if our Father missed his son’s presence in heaven, like you are missing Audrey on earth.” [...]
