My friend Katie Ganshert is celebrating the release of her novel Wildflowers from Winter. The premise is that God can take our pain and turn it into beauty — sometimes unexpected. And I’m thrilled to add that her publisher will send a copy of her debut novel to one of the commenters, so be sure to let me know how …
Four Years Ago
Four Years Ago today was the day of our first miscarriage. So much has happened since then. Grieving. Healing. More grieving. And seeing how God has used our tragedies for His glory. I am so grateful for that. I’m also grateful that this year the anniversary hasn’t been paralyzing. We have two children in heaven. Two children I will one …
Heaven is for Real
Curious about the book Heaven is for Real? The author Todd Burpo spoke at my parents’ church yesterday. Listen to the stories. Read the book. Judge for yourself. I read the book in an afternoon. And my ten-year-old read it in two nights. Heaven is for Real. Just like Christ is real. The chapter that meant the most to me …
Thin Places…
Thin Places. Mary DeMuth calls those the places in our life that Jesus creeps into no matter how bleak. No matter how dark. For a snatch of time or moment we “sense God intersecting our world in tangible, unmistakable ways. They are aha moments, beautiful realizations, when the Son of God bursts through the hazy fog of our monotony and …
Heartbreak
I’m on a quest to restore my heart. The miscarriages have cause a piece of my heart to break. And while I want to grieve fully and completely — and some would tell you a tad too much — I don’t want to live with heartbreak. I want to live where the sight of a pregnant woman doesn’t remind me …
Real Life on Pages
What happens when real life bleeds on to the pages of our books? Sometimes it happens. I know, you never expected that, right? Some of my writer friends have talked about whether they feel more exposed in fiction or nonfiction. Now my onl y non fiction book is on business law. Very academic if approachable. I definitely feel more exposed …
When nothing else remains..
Have you ever noticed how exhaustion takes the edges off? We can no longer hide from ourselves or God when we are too tired to hold the mask or shield up. That happened to me at ACFW. I was poured out. Everything I had to offer was wrung out of me by Saturday at lunch. In July I traveled to …
Handling Grief Part Four
Here’s my last thought on this… at least for now 🙂 Please acknowledge the pain. Even though you may not understand what the mother is going through, please acknowledge that she’s had a loss and that her pain is real. Little hurts more than having the loss seemingly ignored. So if you don’t know what to say, just say you’re …
Handling Grief Part Three: Resources
Here are some resources that I wish I’d found in the days and weeks after my first miscarriage. Grieving the Child I Never Knew: A Devotional Companion for Comfort in the Loss of Your Unborn or Newly Born By Kathe Wunnenberg Grieving the Child I Never Knew offers comfort and the reassurance of God’s presence as you grieve the loss …
Handling Grief Part Two
Did I mention that men and women are different? Boy are they! On one level it makes sense. The women is the one who knows that her body is hard at work protecting and supporting this developing life. She’s already imagined what’s coming for the next nine months and beyond. To a man, it may be exciting but it’s still …