Being a volunteer. Do we really know what our time means to someone else when volunteer our time? Sometimes I think we take for granted what some people do. Not that we do it on purpose, but we all get busy with our own lives. Things happen. For example, think of all the people it takes to run a single church. There are only a few paid positions. The pastor. The church secretary. Maybe one or two associate pastors. If the church is big enough, a youth pastor. But that might be about it. Think … [Read more...]
Day 121: Life Rafts
Life rafts can come to mean so many different things to different people. For me, my life rafts come from my Heavenly Father. He knows when I’m about to drown. It’s in these moments He gives me a life raft, in other words, He carries me through whatever is happening in my life at that time. When Mari got sick and we started on our very long sixteen day journey that felt like the worst roller coast I’d ever been on, and I love roller coasters. It’s like I couldn’t wait for the terrible ride to … [Read more...]
Taxes, Oh What Fun
I meant to get this written back on April 15 but with the move to Alaska things have been a little bit busy. Almost two years ago my husband and I took full legal guardianship of our niece Athena and our nephew Trevin. Trevin came to us on July 17, 2011 and Athena came on August 2, 2011. And guess when the cut off time for being able to claim them on our taxes? That right, June 30, 2011. My brother was fine with us claiming them because we spent a lot of money to not only get them here with … [Read more...]
“Oh that won’t happen to me”
I think there is an old saying that when something happens to others we always say something like, “I’m so sorry it happened to them but thank goodness it didn't happen to me. We’re human and selfish by nature. I think it is natural that we think this way because no one in their right mind would actually say, “Oh I wish it had been me,” when something terrible happens. I know every one of those parents from yesterday who were able to bring their little ones home were so thankful their kids … [Read more...]
Memory, the good, the bad, and the bittersweet
Memory. What’s in a memory? For some it can make them relish in the excitement of looking back on a day that brought them great happiness such as the day someone gets married or the birth of a child. For others, it can make them cower to the horrific images they are left with over a terrible event. For others, their memories are neither good nor are they bad. They view themselves as having a boring life and not much to think back on. And then for some their memories are bittersweet as they … [Read more...]
Hitting “The Mark”
I went and visited a website of someone I knew in our grief group back in Chicago today. The reason I visited it was because on the old blogger site I had started this one on (which is technically still up and running, don’t ask me why, it does redirect people to here however :) ) I have this woman’s website listed under Blogs of Importance. Under the listing, it shows a title of the most recent blog post. This one was labeled, “Letting go.” I thought that meant she was letting go of her … [Read more...]
You just never know…
Well, I took a pregnancy test today. Now, before you get excited, it was negative. With today technology age and the Smart Phone, there are so many kewl things you can do. Well, I have the iPhone 4. I started with the 3g. I love my phone other than the keyboard is a touch screen instead of an actually keyboard. I mess up texting more times than I can count because I can’t actually touch the screen. Back to the reason I bring up my phone. As they say, “There’s an app for that.” Yes, there … [Read more...]
What do we have to be thankful for?
I know that this question is not normally asked at this time year. We always attribute it to Thanksgiving Day. But shouldn’t we always be asking ourselves this? For some it is really easy to answer. To those looking from the outside it looks like they have truly had a blessed life. A life filled with hope and happiness and no terrible tragedy to speak of. People who have died have done so because they have gotten older. But for so many this is not the case. I look at the tornadoes that … [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...]
Talking from the heart…
Today I sit here thinking about how life can turn out so differently than you could have expected. Keith and I went to church this morning like we have started to do on a more regular basis since the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We decided to just try Sunday School since I haven't been able to handle going to church service at that point. That very first Sunday going to our brand new class I broke down and told everyone about Mari. It's the Sunday before Thanksgiving so you can imagine what … [Read more...]
