Good morning... Her son, Finn, was born on 9/11/04, three years after so many innocent people lost their lives on one horrible day. Finn himself died on 8/14/21, taking his own life. Sharing a poem yesterday, on would have been Finn's 18th birthday, this grieving mom embodies the art of being with someone who is gone. ****** A [...]
Good morning... I was delighted to receive the photo above from LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids, a vibrant non-profit in downtown Atlanta. "Let the ladies know THEY blessed her greatly," LaTonya texted yesterday from Krakow, Poland, where our written word ministry helped support her trip to deliver Crates for Ukraine. Last Saturday, before LaTonya left [...]
Good morning... For the first time since the pandemic began, four out of five of us caught up face to face. Having met many years ago in our living room during a Friday morning Bible study, we call ourselves the "Fab Five friends." Constantly connected, we love supporting our friend whose daughter, Audrey, has been fighting cancer off [...]
Good morning... "This meditation from yesterday really speaks to me, and I think it will speak to you too," she texted me yesterday after a really hard ten days. "Happy Saturday as I enjoy the lake and mountains before the boat traffic starts." ****** Love Is the Only Solution by Richard Rohr, July 22, 2022 Father Richard’s Franciscan [...]
Good morning... Deeply moved... He went into his private room and wept there (Genesis 43:30, NIV). When we are deeply moved, might we also give ourselves the gift of private tears? You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one [...]
Good morning... A longtime friend has also had a loved one fighting for life in the ICU this month. We have been exchanging private prayers and texting one another updates most every day. She wrote me an email after this week's blog post My Mom's Bumpy Ride Home, a post which ended with a music video of Willie [...]
Good morning... Look at that smile! When my father texted this photo of my mom back home at their senior living community, her pure joy made me smile. What a contrast from the image seared on my mind from eleven days before. My mom was hooked up to a ventilator, heavily sedated, laying unresponsive in the ICU. Now, [...]
Good morning... "I am happy to hear that your mom is progressing," texted my friend from across the street. "One thing that could be really great for her is music. Music is the only thing that we use both sides of our brain for." She sent the music video below as a form of encouragement. This morning, I [...]
Good morning... Many of you continue to ask about my mom's condition since last week's post My Mom Is In The ICU. Together as a written word community we have experienced the potent power of prayer. Connected to tons of life-saving machines, there was no medical explanation for my mother opening her eyes to greet the sound of [...]
Good morning... Waking after a full night's sleep, I cozy up on the couch and think, "Healing is happening." God invites me forward from yesterday's post, My Unexpected Grief. I return to the wise book sustaining me very personally during this season of Lent, Paula D'Arcy's Winter of the Heart: Finding Your Way Through the Mystery of Grief. [...]
