Good morning... In our therapeutic community group downtown, the leader shared a quote from Victor Frankl, the author of the book we are discussing on Sunday afternoons, Man's Search for Meaning. "Between stimulus and response," she quoted Frankl, "there is a space." "Expand that space and invite the Holy Spirit into it," she encouraged us. "Pause. Breathe. Expand." [...]
Good morning... On Saturday at noon, two young men from our community were laid to final rest, following two touching memorial services in two different parts of town. Josh Patrick lived twenty-three vibrant years on this earth, and Christopher Rascoe was twenty-four years old when he took his final breath. Our youngest son is twenty-three, soon turning twenty-four, so [...]
Good morning... Before I leaving my parents' villa to visit my mom in the hospital, I looked down on their table to see two simple items. A small wooden reminder, "In all things give thanks." And a card with a butterfly, black and white, yellow and orange. I did not know if my mom, unresponsive in the ICU [...]
Good morning... Today, my friend will bury her son. Dying an untimely death at age 23, Josh was her only child, the love of her life. Her Josh and our Jeremiah were on the same wrestling team in high school, so the thought of burying her son today hits very close to home for me. Josh's obituary chronicles [...]
Good morning... We have been praying through the cancer journey of Audrey DeShetler for the past fourteen and a half years. Now, with her at nineteen years old, we have arrived at her father's powerful Facebook post from yesterday. ****** Back home / healing from above by Ben DeShetler So much has happened since I last posted and [...]
Good morning... One long day in the ER. A short night in a regular room. Two exhausting days in the ICU. Suffering seizures and diagnosed with RSV, my mom was unresponsive for three full days. We did not know what we would find when we went to the hospital on day four. We got into the ICU around [...]
Good morning... As we fell sleep at the crossroads of life and death, we had no idea if my mom would wake up in the ICU or if the path before us would veer in a different direction. The two words joining us at this crossroads were "gracious acceptance." We prayed that our family would graciously accept whatever [...]
Good morning... After a really happy Valentine's Day in Ohio with my parents, my siblings, our Norwegian exchange student and her young adult son, my mom's cough spiked a fever of 102. Filled with doses of cough medicine and Tylenol, we tucked her into bed. Later, from the guest room in my parents' villa, I heard the click, [...]
Good morning... After climbing in the back seat and exchanging happy hellos at the airport, the first thing I noticed was my mom's cough. Pesky and persistent, her cough was concerning, still our natural conversation took on its own life. We enjoyed a yummy Olive Garden take-out dinner and a relaxing evening together, but my mom's cough was [...]
Good morning... Last Sunday, our class discussed Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl. On Monday, I blogged about the beloved book in our morning message, We Suffer and Survive. On Tuesday, I got two emails, back to back, highlighting Frankl's wisdom again, encouraging us to Savor Life's Soup from the bottom of our soul. Then, on Wednesday [...]
