Ever had one of these “Oh crap” moments? You sit, innocently watching Joseph’s soccer game and Kaitlyn’s mom says, casually as if not dropping a conversational bomb, “I wasn’t here last week because my mom died.” “Oh crap.” You’re not alone… most people bungle conversations like this because they’re not prepared, having no information or meaningful…
You know what’s crazy? People who say to someone in grief, “Call me if you need anything.” Why so crazy? Because there’s almost ZERO chance we’re going to call. Why? Lots of possible reasons …. So, to recap the problem. People offer us help, and we actually need help. But the “help” is never received because we don’t call…
It all started when my dog chewed a golf-ball size hole in the living room rug. It’s hard to believe this little guy could do something so dastardly right? Look at him. I covered the hole with the heaviest book handy, The Action Bible, to keep him from making it bigger. Everyone in the family stepped…
Hard Things Are Inevitable So Get Comfortable Saying “I Need Help” Somehow I missed the fact that my daughter had turned YELLOW. She’d been deathly pale (from what we thought was a stomach bug) for a few days so when her color started to change, I thought that was a sign of improvement. But after…
Last week I stayed up late too many nights. I should’ve caught up on my sleep over the weekend but there was too much to do and for some reason I added cleaning behind the fridge to the list . Anyway, now it’s a new week and I’m thinking about all the things I’m trying to…
The day my son died, I fed him his early morning feeding at 5:30am and he went back to sleep. I was transitioning back to full-time at work so I had to wake him up at 7:30am and “top him off” before leaving to go to the sitter’s house. Since he had eaten at 5:30am…
“Oh no you won’t,” he said. I was driving past the child support office muttering to myself, “I’m going to go in there and get them to start collecting all that unpaid medical support.” That’s when God set me straight, “Oh no you won’t.” It wasn’t an audible voice of course. But the thought came…
“He’s gotten an attitude lately. He’s talking back and acting surly every time I ask him to do anything. His favorite word is ‘Well …’ and he says it in a huff and with an eye roll.” Does this sound like your teenager? Yeah, mine too. If you are wondering why, living in the new…
Since the presidential election there has been a firestorm of articles, social media posts, and heated comments and replies back and forth from extremely unhappy voters and those who feel compelled to try and change other people’s minds. What an exercise in futility. Yet here I sit, feeling frustrated and thinking maybe I can enter…
The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home. (Confucius) In today’s society, many words that once had positive connotations now have negative connotations … religion, morals, Christian, conservative. A word that has come up recently in our family is integrity. I think this word still has a positive meaning even in…
“The bone is infected and you’ll probably lose your leg.” I’d taken my dad for a “routine” doctor visit and instead we were sent directly to the hospital with this dire prognosis. Normally there would have been a number of people to help out with hospital duty but not this time. My mom had pneumonia…
Last week I survived the 13th anniversary of my son’s death. Even after 13 years, the dreaded day comes and it’s painful. In fact, the days and weeks leading up to the anniversary date are extremely emotional and anxious and heart-wrenching. Those who have not experienced this kind of loss are probably surprised and confused…
