grief

Giving Tuesday

December 1, 2017

On January 4th my father was born to another world. He was taken to heaven. Deep sadness and emotional distress penetrated my heart. I experienced an unbearable pain in my soul… I wished I was only 2 years old when he died. At least, I would not have known the beauty of life or the…
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New Suits, Bow Ties and “Standing With” Our Friends

August 3, 2017

“Right after the new year began, my wife of 14 years shared that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue with our marriage. She informed me that she “needed space” to sort through her feelings. We had just experienced a season of many difficulties: my battle with cancer in 2011; my mom’s recent battle…
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Holding On To The Things You Love

March 3, 2017

“Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love.” ~Kevin Arnold “Only a full-time caregiver would understand; when you go from caring for someone every day for many years, giving so much of yourself, it leaves you with an empty feeling, but also a feeling of satisfaction for having given your all.”…
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I Helped Her Cry

December 11, 2016

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. ~Charles Dickens Sixty tea light candles had been caringly placed in the front of the sanctuary for the annual non-denominational “Blue Christmas Service”. Each unlit candle represented a person loved, one who was absent, one who could no longer be present this…
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Remember

July 13, 2016

“To love another person is to see the face of God.” Victor Hugo (Les Miserables) “Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.” Leo Tolstoy “In my deepest wound I saw your glory, and it dazzled me.” Augustine of Hippo We…
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Chapters (Tom)

June 4, 2016

“A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.” Frank A. Clark The day was “supposed” to be one of the most meaningful days of my life—and it was—but for very different reasons than I expected. June 3, 2006. Our wedding day. It…
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It’s About Love

April 18, 2014

Sadly, last Sunday, breaking news detailed deadly shootings at two Jewish Community Centers near Kansas City, Kansas. Three people were killed. Once again, the horror of human hate and its devastation intruded into all of our lives and reminded us of the evil that lurks within us and around us. Later that day and the…
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Healing People

January 17, 2014

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend. Henry David Thoreau A special friend of ours shared with us these thoughts below, written by Kenneth Haugk, PhD, clinical psychologist, pastor and author. Dr. Haugk writes about “healing people”, what they are and how they respond to others’ grief and…
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I Did What I Had To Do

October 11, 2013

Yes there were times I’m sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew But through it all when there was doubt I ate it up and spit it out, I faced it all And I stood tall and did it my way I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried I’ve had my…
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Our Coping Tools

July 30, 2013

It’s funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools – friendships, prayer, conscience,…
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Tag: grief