I want to start off by telling everyone I am still here even though I have not written a little while. I have started a new job and trying to do some other things. I know many of you know I have been writing a book about Mari’s life and the grief journey that followed. The book is done. However, here is where the problem lies. I have found an editor that I believe will be perfect for this book. Unfortunately, the price is quite high for me to pay her. I need to raise about $8,000 to … [Read more...]
Not again…
Well, today started off as a decent day. I had to be to work at 7am (no fun by the way). Outside was cold but I didn’t realize just how cold. Even when I started my car to warm it up I still didn’t know. It wasn’t until I got back in my car and heading to work that the temperature gauge in my car showing how cold it was outside at a balmy 3 degrees Fahrenheit outside. When I get to work I park my car on the GM side of Walmart but the doors there were not open yet. So I had to walk to the … [Read more...]
Rules aren’t meant to be followed right?!?!
I just love it when people completely disregard the rules. NOT! Keith and I live here in Kentucky. He is stationed at Fort Knox. It is pretty chilly outside right now with our highs around 20 to 30 degrees and the wind chills even colder. You’ve got to love it when things are below freezing (not really lol). Well, most of you know I work at Walmart by now. Many of you may not know, however, that I have pretty bad asthma and unfortunately for me, my lungs happen to be super sensitive … [Read more...]
Seeing Mari again
I want to share a passage of the Bible that was recently shown to me: 2 Samuel 12:15-23 15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth[a] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. … [Read more...]
Writing through tragedy
Recently things have been good. I have not been overly sad. I mean, I miss Mari but I am doing good. I sit here in church again. I am glad we have started going to church on a regular basis. It is important for the two of us and our marriage. My hope is it only makes us stronger and helps us to get through the loss of Mari. I know through God anything can happen. I know some people might say, “How could you believe in a God who would do this?” My response is God knows more than I … [Read more...]
Missing the imporant moments
December 13, 2010 I am driving in my car this morning and the roads are kind of nasty from the snow we got yesterday. I finally plug in my iPhone so I can listen to my iPod. Last night on the way home from work I decided to play Steven Curtis Chapman’s CD “Beauty Will Rise.” This CD was written and created after the tragic death of his youngest daughter Maria. Maria passed away on May 21, 2008, only a little less than 2 months before Mari did. His CD is one of the ways he dealt with … [Read more...]
“Out of these ashes beauty will rise”
Steven Curtis Chapman has a song that talks about “Out of these ashes beauty will rise.” The ashes represent the tragedy his family endured the day their daughter Maria died. The “beauty [that] will rise” is representative of God’s grace and love that even though something as terrible as losing a child, God is still there through it all. He is seeing you through. I can say I do love this song and the hope it brings. However, my life doesn’t seem to have found the Beauty of it all. I … [Read more...]
The struggles of life…
The struggles of life, there always seem to be a never ending supply of them. Some of them seem simple and easy to overcome. Some seem out of the ordinary but we learn to deal with them anyway. Then some are simply unbearable and hard to imagine what the light at the end of the tunnel even looks like. That last one is the one that can describe, or at least try to, as to what it’s like for a parent to have lost a child. When it happens, the second it happens, there is no light. It feels … [Read more...]
Meeting Someone New
It’s always interesting to meet someone new. You don’t know what type of person s/he is. You don’t know what to expect from him/her. You don’t know how s/he will react to different situations. In a way, getting to know this new person is like solving a mystery. Will you like this person? Do you have the same ideals? Do you have the same beliefs? And the list just goes on and on. Ultimately, curiosity kills the cat and we must find out more about this person. Do you want to get to know … [Read more...]
Julie and Sylvia
Sylvia, I want you to know how much of a dear friend you have become to me. I mean, don't get me wrong, you were such a help to Keith and I when we were still living in DeKalb. Every Sunday morning you enabled us to be able to attend church service while you were taking care of our beloved angel during children’s church. You enabled her to participate and be around other kids her own age. You have such a gift and you were a God send as you have the speech background that could ultimately … [Read more...]
