Unprecedented! When you saw that word, what came to mind? I don't know about you, but I'm wearying of that term. Seems everything that's happening around us is "unprecedented" and, along with that, some not so good news follows. But something that's unprecedented that's really turning out good is my Sundays online. Some Sundays I've …
Category: God
Grief at Nineteen Months: Blindside Wipeout and Surprise Mochas
Surprises happen most days in my newish-widow life. Fun things like trying to shovel thick sheets of ice off the driveway when no amount of pushing and grunting will dislodge an inch. Or trying to get excited about making dinner when I don't yet know my way around a grocery store. Or trying to keep …
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Grief at Eighteen Months: Contemplation
“Here I sit by a fire pit at a lovely resort in Arizona contemplating...” Three years ago this month I wrote that opening to a blog post. Today I can write the same thing; I’m at the same place. But much of my personal life has changed, mostly related to the loss of my husband …
Grief at Sixteen Months: Traumatic Flashback
“I heard what happened out there,” the male nurse said, standing on my right side as I lay on a bed in the Emergency Room last week. “Is there anything I can do for you?” Sniffling and dabbing my tears, I said, “No, not really. It’s just that this is the first time I’ve been …
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Grief at Fifteen Months: How Long Has It Been?
I ran into some folks the other day who'd come to pray with Marv two days before his death. I'd not seen them in the interim. "How long has it been?" the man asked. When I said, "Nearly fifteen months," he and his wife shook their heads, as if questioning whether it could be that …
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Grace Notes #17: Grief at One Year
What was there is no longer there: Not his touch, not his words: "I prefer you without clothes" Not the intimacy, legs and arms intertwined with need Not the pillow talk, eyes searching eyes for meaning The diagnosis threatens to separate us We resist. We persist. We don't give it the power it wants. At …
Grace Notes #15: Grief at Nine Months
Ants on the bathroom counters. Kitchen cabinet door hanging loose from its top hinge. Battery dead in the Beetle in the garage. Mineral deposits on the home vaporizer rendering it almost useless. (I know I said I wasn't going to write Grace Notes anymore, but never say never. You'll see this situation requires them.) After …
Thank you, WordPress Editors and WordPress Friends!
Imagine my surprise last week when my email box showed dozens, then hundreds of notices from WordPress announcing an uptick of activity on my last blog post on my scare with breast cancer. I'm grateful to Cheri Lucas at WordPress for featuring that post under Discover, "a daily selection of the best content published on …
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Grace Notes #12: Miracle
A miracle happened while Pastor David was pouring the grape juice. Standing in front of him on the pulpit, to his right, I told myself to concentrate on the moment. Focus on his face. Focus on his words. Focus on the flowing of the juice. Today, at nearly 77, I served communion as an elder …
Grace Notes #10: Trip/Bethlehem
"Ladies and gentlemen, put your cameras away," our guide yelled into her microphone on the tour bus, followed by a louder, more urgent command, "Guys, no cameras." Such was my introduction to Bethlehem, the tranquil city I'd always sung about: Oh, little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie Above thy deep and …
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