Finding hope in the mourning
Our minds were reeling with the news of Justin’s accident. The sheriff’s office patiently walked us through our next steps as we tried to process this horrific loss. They asked us if we had any clergy that could come and be with us. I called a friend and incoherently told her that we needed to get ahold of one of our pastors.
I was trying to look at our current plight as an “adventure”. In actuality, my 10-year old world was topsy-turvy. Our family of five was living in a cheap motel all crammed together and irritable after being abruptly evicted from a rental home. The days…
It was our first Sunday back to church since the accident. We purposefully sat near the back in case we needed to make a quick getaway. My senses were heightened as I watched people with a new set of eyes. I numbly observed my brother’s…
I remember when our nine-year-old Sammy was just a baby. There was quite an age gap from Sarah to Sammy and I was trying to adjust to having a little one again. One Sunday after church, someone asked me if I thought we’d have any…
Last year, I fear that if I had read the verse in the book of Ecclesiastes that stated sorrow is better than laughter, I most definitely would have thought it an oddity. Today, however, I am living its truth. Sorrow is better than laughter, for…
It was an early Sunday morning when we were awakened by the doorbell ringing. Tim went down and answered the door, both of us were thinking that Justin must have locked himself out of the house. I stood at the top of the stairs waiting…
I have found that going to the grocery store is one of the most difficult of my tasks to complete. I try to prepare myself as I drive down the familiar road and listen to encouraging songs on the radio. I pull into a parking…
I was in despair. My weight was completely out of control and I had no idea how in the world I was going to climb out of a very deep pit. My body physically hurt, I was exhausted, and very discouraged. One morning, I woke…
Today, I opened my journal to its first entry dated April 3, 2017. It read, “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8) Please help me…
Life can change in the blink of an eye. One minute I was telling Justin to be careful and that I loved him. The next minute (or hours later) we were being awakened by the sheriff’s office telling us something no parent ever dreams of…