A few years ago when my grandson Ben was only 3, we chatted while browsing my wedding album from 1973. ME: Do you know who that is? BEN: Grandma. ME: That’s right. Grandma when I was young. BEN: Why you turn out not young anymore? ME: That’s the same thing I’ve been wondering. “Where …
Category: courage
Apr 26
The Goodness of God and the “Badness” of Life
The other morning as I listened to CeCe Winans belt out the song “The Goodness of God,” I suddenly had flashbacks of “bad” things I’ve experienced in my nearly seven decades of living. A Mother’s Day miscarriage. A life-threatening cancer diagnosis. Untimely deaths of dear friends. Painful turmoil in churches. Addiction crises ending in suicides. …
Mar 28
Are you in control or out of it?
For me, the best part of playing FreeCell Solitaire is that every single game is winnable because I can use CRTL-Z! You know what CTRL stands for, right? CONTROL! I’m in control and if the game gets out-of-control and I might lose, I simply undo some of my moves until everything turns out the way I …
Feb 14
Shock, Despair, Peace and Hope
Last year when my friend Carolyn took ornaments off the Christmas tree, she wondered what changes would come to her family before she unpacked them again. Never could she have imagined what 2022 would bring. But neither could she have foreseen what God was going to supply for one of the most difficult years of …
Oct 25
Are you a Titus? Or do you need one?
I remember so well the first cancer support group meeting I attended at our community hospital. It was the summer of 1990. I was a 36-year-old reporter for a York, PA, newspaper and recently had interviewed Mary Flinner, the new group’s facilitator. When I showed up at a support group meeting a few weeks after my story …
Oct 12
Two Women (Make that Three) Defying the Odds
This is the story of two women God brought together more than two decades ago, forging a faith-filled friendship which has seen them through incredibly scary diagnoses. Chris’s ordeal began in July 1999 when at the age of 36 she suffered a grand mal seizure while sleeping. “My husband thought I fell out of bed,” she …
Sep 28
Five Cancers Can’t Stop their Joy
Bill and Pat Shifflet have faced five cancers in their 80+ years–some cured, others not–but please don’t feel sorry for them. The very happy couple doesn’t spend time bemoaning their own struggles; they’re too busy helping others. “Everyday I pray ‘God, show me a need’,” explains, 82-year-old Pat, who loves to pray for people, send …
Sep 13
Contentment: My Oncologist Has Cancer (Part 9)
If you’re tired of hearing good news about people with little-to-no medical hope who are amazing doctors by how well they are doing, don’t even bother to read this. Okay, because you’re still here, I could not be more happy–and thankful to God–to tell you that my oncologist and dear friend, Dr. Marc Hirsh, had …
May 31
Does Following Jesus Make Everything OK?
*I have not seen clear statistical evidence that fewer Christians die of cancer than nonbelievers, or that they are immune in greater degree from the diseases that afflict the human race. Some of the kindest, most selfless persons I know have had more than their share of bad health. The fact that they belonged …
May 17
The Power of “Even If”
This past weekend my husband and I traveled to western New York for my first in-person speaking engagements since the pandemic began. (I’ve only been doing Zoom events so it was a little more work figuring out what pair of nice pants to wear 🙂 ) While in the area, we had the joy of …