Keeping Faith When Your Miracle Doesn’t Come
Unanswered Prayers When my dad died of melanoma five years ago, I was shocked – at least the part of me that housed my faith was in disbelief. I’m basically a positive person, but in the case of my dad beating cancer, I took my faith to a new level…I was believing for a miracle no less than “total healing.” I had confidence in a miraculous outcome because I trusted in my prayers and the supernatural power of God. I was certain with all of my heart that my dad would outrun the morbid statistics that were desperately trying to swallow him up into their deadly numbers. No way. My dad...
Read MoreThe H.O.P.E. (How Our Peace Endures) Campaign
Battle of a Lifetime I have felt so inadequate in my ability to “do something” while my brother (affectionately called H) fights cancer and recovers from his brain surgery. He suffers from the same disease that took our father’s life in 2008. I couldn’t “fix” it for my dad and I can’t “fix” this for my brother; he’s in God’s adequate hands. However, I did realize that I could offer hope to H each day to help him fight a battle I know he can win! He’s a warrior; an inspiration of hope himself, but even the greatest warrior needs a strong army supporting him. My...
Read MoreMoving Forward to Your “Best”
Leaving the Past Behind I have always fallen short of the expectations I had for myself, and now I’m ready to change that. My entire life I’ve struggled to meet my own expectations, other people’s expectations and even God’s expectations (or what I thought the Creator of the Universe expected of me.) Failed attempts litter my past and for some reason lately, those failures have begun to haunt me. I’ve recently wallowed in regret of all the times I’ve wasted being selfish, naïve, contrary, rebellious, stupid, head-strong, drunk, careless, self-centered and self-defeating. I have...
Read MoreMaking Changes that Heal
Resolution of Change After careful consideration of my New Year’s resolutions and feeling the impact from recent national tragedy, I‘ve decided to make genuine changes in myself and in my life. Devastating events and grief have a way of putting our lives into perspective and pressing us to reevaluate our priorities. We all need to take the time to access the true nature of who we are and see if we’re exemplifying that in our daily lives. In these days of high technology, social media, Internet and texting, we may have slipped in the art of personal communication and face-to-face...
Read MoreTaking 3 Steps Forward and 2 Steps Back in Grief
From Positive to Negative I think of myself as an “encourager.” I truly want to help people be optimistic and see the positive side of a situation; I try to instill hope in everyday life. However, I realized recently that I am not always strong, or even optimistic; sometimes I’m downright negative. This felt like failure to me, an unacceptable flaw, to be weak, confused and completely overwhelmed, but there are times when tears come at a steady pace and I progressively feel worse in my grief. I have felt alone while surrounded by family and friends. I have been afraid, although in a...
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