Seasonal
December 24, 2011
What’s so Merry About Christmas?
What is Christmas for you? Is it stressful shopping trips to the mall, complete with elevated crime, bumper to bumper traffic, parking nightmares, and impatient, pushy crowds? Perhaps it is pulling down boxes of decorations that you dread putting back away in a few weeks. There's always the overblown spending issue, racking your brain about what to get your distant family that you really don’t want to see right now. Christmas could mean you are expected to add a ton of extra things to your already overloaded plate. Speaking of plates, it gets to be quite the job to resist the ever appearing plate of sweets. For many, it is a reminder of how much you miss a loved one or wish you were not still single, barren or spending another holiday in a painful marriage pretending “it’s all good” again this year. You look around at all the glitter and happy facades and you’re reminded of a void that just gets illuminated in your heart over the holidays. Maybe you are thinking about v
December 19, 2011
2011: A Year In Review
It’s hard not to start a 2011 letter with the cancer diagnosis, but there was life before July 1, 2011: It started off as an excellent year; I was convinced it would be one of the best years in recent history. In February I set off for my annual breakaway to Denver, where I attend the Christian Writers Guild’s, Writing for the Soul conference and where I heard clear direction from the Lord about my writing. Ever since He revealed my gift, and called me to this ministry, I have been trying to beat the system, jump into the big league without paying my dues. That is a huge leap for a girl who coasted through school on her personality and neglected some pretty rudimentary education as a result of serious, undiagnosed ADD. However, the Lord’s message was sharp for me, it was time for a change, personality alone was not what He what He had in mind, He called me out of my comfort zone. I was to go back to the basics wit h my writing and start from square one, with the promise that
July 14, 2011
My 1st Oncology Appointment
gripped my tears, like hands on the middle of a rock wall, scared but safe. The room was packed with people who were all there for the same reason, no one else was crying. The waiting room was full of individuals with varying degrees of hair loss; every shape, size and color made up the diverse crowd, but we all had one thing in common, cancer. I could hear two people discussing their pain. “My legs started to hurt and then …” said one tattoo laden, healthy looking guy, who was younger then me. It’s amazing how private and ashamed I was to have blood in stool and suddenly I’m comfortable telling the world. (PS If you have blood coming out of you, when and where it doesn’t belong, it’s a red flag, alternative or not, get it checked out! The sooner the better.)
May 10, 2011
Mother’s Day, Not What I Expected
I hate to admit this, but there were years that I was actually disappointed by Mother's Day. I had expectations, and they were never met. "If it’s Mother's Day, how come I'm the one ...(fill in the blank)?" I am horrified to admit how selfish I was, and yet I know I am not alone. It wasn't only on Mother's Day where my expectations would be unmet; it was birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays too. At one point or another I would feel let down when other people did not do what I thought they should (with regards to the occasion, that was in some way designed to honor me). We all have ways that we think things should go, or expectations of how other people should respond to life and somehow our ideas and opinions quite often differ from those around us. We can easily hold other people captive to our expectations; and the result is often disappointment.
February 5, 2011
Valentines Ideas for HER
The most romantic thing ever was receiving a handwritten invitation in the mail, inviting me to be ready at a certain time, on a certain date, in formal attire. It was clear my kids were taken care of and I could just get dolled up and go.
