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Why

Today I will attend the funeral of a classmate. One gone too young finally free of the suffering a hard fought battle with cancer brings. We will celebrate the gift of her life & be happy for her. We will also mourn deeply the loss her children, husband, parents, siblings, family & friends will now carry. I didn't expect when I began the year blogging about Kathy, that Amy would be home in heaven with her this soon. Nor was I prepared for the layer of grief that would surface hearing the news of her passing. Even with terminal illness, we are never ready. The priceless gift of life is cannot be not fully appreciated. When our numbered days here are over the wish for one more weighs heavily. Amy had a loving, sweet spirit and was beautiful inside and out. Her laughter was contagious and echoed joy. She was a devoted mother. Today stories will be shared that can be treasured forever. The blessing of her life will shine brightly and in doing so bring comfort to
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Glue & Other Ties that Bind

Blogging grew out of a compulsion I've had to write and share the amazing things God has done for us. I am convinced the power of prayer is what has bridged the gap for us. The comfort and strength we have found did not come from within. God is so faithful! He has taken care of the big things and little details every day since my husband Paul died very unexpectedly. We have been overwhelmed by the love and support that has been poured over us. The women of our church were having a retreat when Paul died and they prayed as a group for us. Meals came from the church and the school. The porch was filled with groceries from a still unknown giver. The cards and personal notes we received are like hugs from God himself. My husband traveled with 'Up with People' years ago and shared an incredible bond with his cast mates. Their support from around the world has been a huge encouragement. One of them happened to be in Israel the week he died and prayed for us at the wa
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True Love

I was born with the incredible blessing of being in a loving Christian family. Our faith was central to our lives. My mom is a great cook & she enjoyed having our clergy for dinner. That personal contact added a lot to my growing faith. I really didn't know much about other denominations except that they had a lot of misconceptions about Catholics. We all fear the unknown and to me the vast array of protestant churches was perplexing. A church from my hometown was exposed for all sorts of false teaching and worse on Donahue so I was very content to stick with what I knew. That changed however when I met my future husband & visited his Lutheran church. There I got a glimpse of how big the body of Christ is. I became thirsty to learn more about the bible through personal study. Hearing their confirmation youth speak about their faith challenged me to dig deeper. God has a way of opening doors and leading us to the resources we need. He gave me a huge surprise at
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Friendship & Daisies

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer Friendship has been key to my journey finding God and learning to see the world in a positive light. Kathy's dad says we were soul sisters, from the very beginning something just clicked. My dearest friends are the ones who can provide a listening ear and allow me to vent. They also intuitively know when I need truth more than empathy. Equally important, they help restore my sense of humor when I'm not yet ready to laugh at some of the crazy predicaments I find myself in. Kathy & I read each other well and switched gears easily in our friendship providing a dependable shelter of encouragement. After her initial diagnosis but before we knew her cancer would be terminal, Kathy gave me a card with this quote: “If you have one true friend you hav
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