Category: families

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 …

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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 not a caregiver right …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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. …

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Entrusting Our Loved Ones to God’s Care

  When cancer hits someone in a family, it’s as if the whole family “has” the disease because it disrupts our lifestyle and affects everyone in the home. We wish we could prevent its impact, but it’s not possible. Those of us who have been diagnosed with cancer may even soberly imagine what life would …

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Telling Children about Cancer in the Family

I know what a great deal of courage it takes to talk to children about cancer in the family. When I was diagnosed, our daughters were 8, 10 and 12, and we wanted to protect them from cancer’s assault on me. So, we decided we would tell them I was going to have surgery, but …

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