Friendship Matters
Good morning... Her family is taking new form this holiday season as she experiences the two sided coin of her recent divorce. Old fears and new freedoms. Old hurts and new hopes. Old memories and new meaning. Though we are unable to gather in our living room for our weekly class, we walk and talk privately, regularly, with our dogs by our sides. I am amazed at our resilience, our mutually beneficial friendship, [...]
Tucked In Between
Good morning... Writing yesterday's blog post, Grass Isn't Always Greener, I was tucked in between two life-giving emails. Before I began writing around 4:30 am, I read the following encouragement from my eighty-seven year old friend. Sue, Thank you for including me in your blog, which cheered me up, once again in the story of our Lord's birth. There is no record of Mary's complaining in her circumstances. I can't imagine going through [...]
Grass Isn’t Always Greener
Good morning... "The grass isn't always greener on the other side," whispers my most recent Goodwill find. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of losing a job, releasing a loved one to heaven, facing life following an accident, an illness, physical diminishment. The grass isn't always greener on the other side when an alcoholic can't quit, when anxiety and depression spiral down, when divorce rears its head to ravage a [...]
Craving Yes. Getting No.
Good morning... She said, "I'm relating more keenly to Mary and Joseph this COVID Christmas." She went on to explain her line of thinking. After a long, uncomfortable, cross country trek, jostling on a donkey nine months pregnant, Mary and Joseph finally arrived at the inn. Their stopping place. The end to their grueling journey. Relieved to have arrived, finally they would be able to rest, to catch their breath, to prepare for [...]
The Ugliest Necklace
Good morning... At Goodwill, pre-pandemic, I was drawn to the ugliest necklace I have ever seen. Gaudy and overcrowded. Heavy and weighed down. Haphazardly strung together and hanging on by a thread. As I picked up the necklace, examining the creation more closely, I admired the individual stones. Natural, God-made gems. Each gemstone was unique, size, shape, and color. If they did not need to compete on the same crowded strand, might these [...]
Give Heartfelt Gifts
Good morning... The three of us get together each Advent to share a meal and exchange heartfelt gifts. Creatively continuing our tradition during COVID, she decorated her garage with red bows, calming light, wide open doors, and a beautifully dressed table beside a space heater. The atmosphere was warm and exquisite, enhancing the homemade food and our long, loving friendship. It has been a challenging year. One friend recently lost her father and [...]
We Are Thriving
Good morning... “If you were a pancake,” the interviewer asked my daughter over the phone, “where would you be on the stack? Top. Middle. Bottom. Why?” This quirky question sparked a creative conversation around our family's dinner table before it seeped out to saturate our online community. Look at the answers piling up from yesterday's blog post One Quirky Question. Top “I’d be the top pancake, because I would soak in all the [...]
One Quirky Question
Good morning... "If you were a pancake," the interviewer asked over the phone, "where would you be on the stack? Top? Middle? Bottom? Why?" Seriously. Our daughter, interviewing for a public relations position, was asked this quirky question. With your brain scrambling to speak your own truth, "What would be your answer?" Once you have your own intuitive answer, I'll tell you the different responses from around our dinner table. Right [...]
Unwrapping the Gift Of Grief
Good morning... As I shared with you earlier, this week I enjoyed the privilege of recording a podcast on grief with Ginna MacFarling, seasoned hospice nurse, and James Johnson, our lively and talented Adult Discipleship Director at Northside Church. James edited down our voices into bite sized segments, entitling our life-giving conversation Unwrapping the Gift of Grief: Grief, Pandemics, and Garbanzo Beans. The entire podcast lasts an hour and ten minutes. Curl up [...]
Start By Starting
Good morning... Picking up medicine at the CVS pharmacy, I passed by the notebook aisle and saw the journal above. "Start by Starting," encouraged the cover. I felt drawn to it, the nudging words, the golden rings, the waves of pink, peach, purple. I picked it up and tacked it onto my purchase. I didn't think another thing about it until I read her email following yesterday's post, Refuel. Rebuild. Repair. "Beautiful – [...]
Refuel. Rebuild. Repair.
Good morning... "I just feel disconnected," she said as we walked and talked. She recently buried a beloved family member, her dear dog passed away, and, like many of us over these COVID holidays, she has lost the ability to safely gather with extended family and large groups of fun friends. Cut off from many of her dependable sources of comfort, she also really misses warm hugs, close contact, and unmasked bonding smiles. [...]
Grieving Without Hugs
Good morning... This morning, I have the privilege of taping a podcast on grief with nurse practitioner, Ginna MacFarling, and Northside Church's Director of Adult Discipleship, James Johnson. Having walked beside many through the grieving process, twice Ginna has helped to lead our well-loved six-week series, "Living Fully - Dying Well." Preparing for our podcast, Ginna gathered some of her favorite quotes on grief, and, to put my finger on the pulse of [...]