Do you know what to do if you’re on an airplane and there’s a sudden loss of cabin pressure? Scream? Pray? Scream prayers? All good suggestions, but if you had paid attention to the flight attendant before takeoff, you would know to “secure your own oxygen mask first before you help others.” If you …
Category: families
Apr 04
“I refuse to be robbed of peace…”
Have you ever met someone and been amazed at the JOY and PEACE exuding from that person? Did simply being in their presence make you feel better about yourself and your world? I’d like to introduce you to one of those kind of people: my friend, Bola Montoya Taylor. Bola was a Filipino jazz …
Mar 07
Helping Kids Cope with Cancer and Celebrating One Boy’s CURE
One of our church’s pastors, Matt, and his wife Carrie have been living in the shadow of cancer since December 2009, when their oldest child, Ian, was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at the age of 3 ½ . Matt vividly recalls the moment the doctor gave them the diagnosis. “Acute leukemia were not …
Sep 06
Come sit in the E.R. with me
These halls are quiet on a Sunday morning with only the sound of monitors to echo in the silence of large emergency room. Not this again. I am tired of this place. It’s been a while since I’ve stood here, and yet it comes right back as if it …
Aug 16
Is Jesus REALLY Enough?
My cancer diagnosis in 1990 was especially upsetting to my husband because he had lost his first wife nearly 20 years before to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) while they were still newlyweds. To watch me then face a life-threatening illness and an uncertain future was more than he felt he …
Apr 26
How to Be Good to Yourself so You Can Be Better for Someone Else
So what’s the gauge reading on your emotional tank today? Getting low and searching for a fill-up? Half-empty and still draining? On fumes and slowly coasting downhill? I want to encourage caregivers today because the focus is so much on the patient that those standing by them often get forgotten. (If your’re …
Mar 15
Is Heaven on Your Mind?
How much do you think about Heaven? A lot? A little? Not at all? Whether your earthly life is close to it’s end or you have many decades still in front of you, I hope your thoughts turn often to Heaven because that eternal perspective lifts the weariness we all face. One …
Mar 08
A Boy, a Dad and Some Pizza
My 4-year-old grandson Benjamin may look more like his mother, but he is a total Daddy’s boy—as in, the best time of day is when Daddy comes home and the worst time is when he leaves. So it wasn’t surprising when we were all at a local pizza buffet restaurant recently …
Dec 07
Missing Someone at Christmas
I thought it wouldn’t. But it did. It happened again this year. Kenny G was belting out jazzy, holiday cheer. A burning candle wafted a delicious candy cane scent. I was home by myself happily decorating our house for Christmas. I pulled a yellowed and torn rectangular box out of the …
May 18
Losing Your Faith?
Have the trials of life caused you to lose your faith in God? Or are the doubts starting to pile up and you’re wondering if you’re on the verge of turning your back on Him? Oh, you still believe God exists, but you don’t feel like you can or want to trust Him anymore. …