Jul 31
In those nerve-wracking few days between my diagnosis and my surgery, I announced to my husband, “We need a pastor—and I don’t mean you!” I think he could tell by the distraught look on my face that I was serious, so he called our good friend David Dunn, pastor of a sister church in …
Jun 05
My husband has a serious problem. And what’s worse is the fact he doesn’t even think he has a problem. I have no doubt that when I tell you what his problem is, you’ll be pretty shocked. But perhaps my talking about it in front of hundreds and hundreds of people will help him see …
Mar 27
Tens of millions of people around the country filled out online brackets for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, including twelve in our family. We seven adults are true sports fans and the five grandkids in our group are being properly schooled in bracket lingo, including the art of choosing a cool team name. Heading into …
Nov 07
In honor of November being National Family Caregivers Month, I’d like to offer some special encouragement to all the weary folks who faithfully attend to the needs of loved ones. You’re physically tired. Probably emotionally exhausted. Maybe even running on spiritual fumes. Been there…done that. Way too many times. I’ve cared for relatives with dementia, others …
Sep 05
Imagine someone takes you to a party. You see a few friends there, enjoy a couple of good conversations, a little laughter, and some decent appetizers. The party’s all right, but you keep hoping it will get better. Give it another hour, and maybe it will. Suddenly, your friend says, “I need to take you …
Jul 18
Isn’t it amazing the impact our thoughts can have on our bodies? Back in 1990, I got chemo every Wednesday and that evening we would take our girls to Shoney’s Restaurant for supper because kids 12 and under (of which we had three!) were free. I was always pretty nauseous, so while my family enjoyed the …
Jul 11
There are certain “encouraging” phrases spoken to people going through difficulties which drive me nuts. “It’s all gonna work out.” (So you have a crystal ball and can see my future?) “I’m sure everything’s going to be fine.” (Because nothing bad ever happens to nice people?!) “Just take it one day at a time.” (Thanks, I’d rather …
Jul 04
My husband and I celebrate two anniversaries every year–not because we married twice, but because God gave us a second chance at life together. We have celebrated December 29 for the past 44 years as the day two starry-eyed twenty-somethings said “I do” without realizing, of course, what they really were going to have …
May 16
This To Kill a Mockingbird snippet of advice comes from Harper Lee’s fictional character Atticus Finch, a white attorney defending a black man falsely accused of rape in a racist 1930s southern community. Finch is adamant that his own children learn to treat everyone with compassion, regardless of their outward differences and admonishes them to try to …
Apr 25
Ever feel like you need a vacation from cancer, dementia, ALS, heart disease or whatever health trial you’re facing? You probably do—at least a mental one and maybe a physical one as well. Believe it or not the chemo room at Dr. Marc Hirsh’s office, where I worked as a patient advocate for nearly 20 …
