It was the start of a hard Christmas season. There are pieces missing from my life now which were all comfortably settled in place just two years ago.
Pieces Go Missing
I was reminded this morning that tomorrow, December 1, marks the day of an accident two years ago that took a beloved and friend and mentor from this earth. It was the start of a hard Christmas season. One where tears held their own against the joy and the laughter. It was the start of a year of sorrow followed […]
Nothing is Wasted: Redux
Over a year ago, I posted the lyrics to Jason Gray’s song “Nothing is Wasted” on this blog. I wrote: This has become a theme of my week – not because I’m going through anything particular, but simply the truth of it – and its applicability to past and future events. Its been, for lack of a more somber word, […]
“There Will be Butterflies.”
I came across the line on the airplane. I had decided only days before the conference to read the book, and here I was, on my way, with half of it left to go. Ah, well, I’d thought. If I don’t finish, I don’t finish. No one will be upset with me. But then I started reading, and words and […]
Grief and Birth
I’ve been trying to figure out if, and if so how, I should add my voice to the many speaking out regarding the proposed name change for Philadelphia Biblical University that was announced this week. On the one hand, everyone is hearing my voice, because I’ve been a part of the team crafting emails, blog posts, and responses to comments […]
A Bewildering Reality
Every few hours I find myself clicking this link, and staring at the page, thinking, “Is it really real?” As one of my coworkers put it today, we’re just dealing with her absence, not with the loss; it hasn’t sunk in yet. We keep expecting to see her. And while I don’t want it to be real, I don’t want […]
When change and tears are past
This past week or so have been difficult. My Grandma Givens was in the hospital. She’s out now, and back in the skilled care area of the village where she lives, but we know she’s not well and we don’t know if she’ll be with us ten more days or ten more years. There’s not much more wrong with her […]
Missing Uncle Sam
O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight. “Christmas is a time of joy,” my boss said yesterday. “I have to keep reminding myself of that.” It is. A joy tinged with sorrow, as the Man of Sorrows left his throne and […]
Nothing is Wasted
This has become a theme of my week – not because I’m going through anything particular, but simply the truth of it – and its applicability to past and future events. Its been, for lack of a more somber word, “refreshing” to remember that Christ redeems sorrow and pain. The hurt that broke your heartLeft you trembling in the darkFeeling […]
Elephants
I’ve always admired elephants. It’s a little complicated to explain to people (they always jump to “that’s weird” before they hear the whole reason), but if I were able to choose an animal to be, it would be an elephant. I love that they remember things; that they commemorate them. I do that as much as I can, but I’m […]