Jen has some pretty awesome titles for each one of her chapters in this book. Today we were asked to read chapter 3. Title: "Codependency That Doesn't Require Therapy". The subtitle is "Learning to Lean on the Holy Spirit." Now isn't her title very fitting but adds a cute dimension to it. On page 40 she asks, "Would you believe that you already have everything you need to study the Bible with discernment?" If you're anything like me, you're shaking your head at that one because studying the … [Read more...]
Week 1 Day 2 (my journey continues…)
I like what Jen Hatmaker had to say in chapter 2, page 26, "...the truth is, we approach God's Word without any strategies to make it come alive." When I first read this I realized just how true that statement is. I've always look at the Bible as something, obviously, very important. I knew God had given it to all of us as sort of a manual for how to live our lives, how we should treat ourselves as well as others, to know how to get to know Him more. It's a book like no other out there today. … [Read more...]
Week 1 Day 1 (On my journey…)
Today there were some really great insights the author, Jen Hatmaker, made in chapter 1 of her book A Modern Girl's Guide to Bible Study. On page 16, "God never intended for His Word to be tidy, hands-off package with crisp edges and a wealth of mysteries that we set aside until Sunday morning." And on page 14, "The insights of the Bible are not reserved for pastors, their wives, and Billy Graham." Psalm 119:130 NIV "The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday Mariana. You’re 15 Today (or you would’ve been :( ) #acfw #lossofchild
I think back to 15 years ago today and my world was about to permanently change. Right now it’s 10:15 a.m., Alaskan time, but in the Chicago area it’s one fifteen in the afternoon. At this point, the doctor had started the Pitocin and I was about three hours into delivering Mariana. I was a little less than six hours away from giving birth to her. She took us from being a two to a three. Our little miracle was coming into the world. Little did we know that only eight-and-a-half short years later … [Read more...]
Was or Is?
I sit here thinking of Mari today. Time is moving one step at a time closer to the six year mark for Mari being gone. Can you believe it’s been six years already? I think back on all the times I wrote about time after she passed, especially that first year or so. The fact is that time continued its ever present trek forward no matter how much we’d rather have had it go backward for either more time with our little girl or for us to somehow change the outcome. Yet, we all know that’s not … [Read more...]
L is for Laughter
Laughter can be infectious. Laughter can be so much fun. Laughter can change the mood in an instant. When I think of laughter, my daughter's image often comes to mind. She'd be sitting in her high chair eating whatever it was (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack) and I'd be doing whatever (think like cleaning or something else) and out of nowhere this laughter would fill the room. For no apparent reason at all Mari sat there just laughing. You'd stand there watching her and you couldn't help but … [Read more...]
H is for Hugs
For about the first five years of Mari's life she wasn't one to openly give a hug. It really wasn't her thing. We all know why. It was due to her autism. We all understood that. Then I became a customer of this wellness company and after a couple of years I started to give Mari an antioxidant that this company sells. Approximately within two weeks from the time she started to take this antioxidant Mari's started to change. She was able to concentrate for longer periods of time. She gave better … [Read more...]
Deadlines
I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever had a job where I had constant deadlines for things. Don't get me wrong, for obvious reasons you will always have deadlines in any job you do it's just how many you might have. However, I'm hoping that will change very soon as I continue to write my novels and working my way to be published where the publisher will have deadlines for when editing must be done and the different things that will be required to get a book out for publication. In a way, I'm … [Read more...]
Day 155: Telling Family Secrets
I think of books out there like A Child Called It or Go Ask Alice and how either the person who wrote it, how'd they do it knowing family secrets would be revealed or how did the person who allowed Alice's journal to be published how they felt about revealing all this girl's most private thoughts when she was alive. They probably did it for the same reason as I'm telling Mari's story that by sharing their most intimate details of what happened in that person's life that somehow maybe they might … [Read more...]
Day 149: The DVD in Your Head
Whether you are a writer or not have you ever had an idea that just goes round and round in your head until you do something about it. As a writer, it might be your story and your characters constantly talking to you. Or maybe a scene that is playing out before you. For me, I've relieved what happened to Mari in the hospital more times than I can remember. It's something that's always there and can easily be brought to mind. I think it's because it will forever be apart of me and is embedded … [Read more...]
