Hometown…doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Hometown conjures up memories of the place where we grew up, playgrounds and schools where we spent many years with our childhood friends and classmates, neighborhoods where most of our relatives lived within a few blocks of us, and home is where our old house probably still stands. Going “back home” sounds good, doesn’t it? It just feels right. Home has a special place in my heart and it always will.

To this day, visits to my home town are loaded with memories. Driving around my small hometown in Ohio my mind is instantly transported back in time to when I first rode my Schwinn bike down that long hill to the grocery for my mom. I vividly remember the time I fell and knocked out my front tooth during 2nd grade recess. Friday nights were my favorite when my girlfriends and I would all pile in one car to go bowling. (It was not that we liked bowling so much as there would be boys there, and we liked boys.)

Hometown is where my brother and I braved the freezing cold of the north in order to build snow tunnels. We refused to come inside until our [Read more…]

Years ago, I posted a sign in my mind that read: “Thank you, God, for the final straw.”

Without the final straw, we would not be able to:
*write those books we have within us
*leave that unhealthy relationship that was over a long time ago
*draw much needed boundaries with that abusive family member
*take that last drink
*smoke that final cigarette
*go to rehab
*move to that new city
*paint that picture
*take that photo
*ask him out
*be grateful for what we have left
*breathe in the beauty of the trees
*be thankful for the simple things
*appreciate that hug
*hold that hand a little longer
*stand on top of that mountain
*join that gym
*walk into that church
*answer that voice mail
*kiss those sweet baby feet
*bury the hatchet
*forgive that grudge
*linger in the stillness of life for one more moment

No, I have learned to thank God for the final straw…no matter who hands it to me.

Do you invite pain and view it as your friend?

Do you avoid pain and view it as your enemy?

Or would you say that pain is neither your friend nor your foe, but you choose to remain neutral about pain; and view it as just a part of life?

Pain as your friend… Perpetual pain that does or doesn’t show gradual signs of improvement is sometimes perceived as a form of temporary and beneficial training. This understanding of pain can lead to increased physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength.

Pain as your enemy… [Read more…]

He was an exceptional father. The kind of dad that most of us wished we would have had growing up. He adored his girls the way every father should. The love he had for them was powerful. You could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, and tangibly feel it when you were around him.

From the moment he laid his eyes on them, they had him wrapped around their little fingers. He was spell bound. When they were young, Mike used to tell me he needed to “practice” saying NO to them so that he would not spoil them. I didn’t think that love could spoil a child, but if it could… they were definitely spoiled.

On this fourth Father’s Day since my husband went to heaven [Read more…]