Sapphire Anniversary #45 – Mohlers est. 1980
Sapphire Memories – It has been 45 trips around the Sun since we pledged our love before God and it wasn’t long enough. Sometimes the days fly by. The last anniversary with Jim was 15 years ago. It has been a long time and occasionally the loneliness is unbearable. Grief is so isolating. I still…
Heart Language
Recently I went to a men’s ministry breakfast that was honoring a friend who was “retiring” from ministry. Like other faithful servants who have a call to full-time ministry, he is not really retiring. Instead, he is just letting go of full-time employment. The people I most admire don’t really retire; they walk faithfully and…
When you wrote your name of my heart!
So I did a thing. Not a big deal and I am even unsure if I will keep this post up telling about it. There are so many opinions about this topic and I do not want to be part of the conversation about whether or not it is “okay” or not. Backing up, I…
My Coda
In music a coda is the satisfying elaboration at the end of a piece of music that offers a sense of resolution. If I got the chance to have a final word, I am not sure I would have the wherewithal to come up with all the right words in the moment. But I am…
Remembered and Celebrated
I am not one who typically dwells on the past nostalgically. I have never gone to one of my high school reunions and I do not make scrapbooks. While I love sharing memories and looking at pictures, I choose not to live life looking in the rearview mirror often. I am not saying that nostalgia…
Vacation Time
I have resorted to a writing prompt about vacations!!! I don’t know who invented vacations. The internet claims it was the Romans. I don’t think I would call any of the travels in the Old Testament vacations. Pilgrimages and migrations don’t really count, and it was technically work trips taken by the explorers in the…
Chicago 2025
When Jim died we made the decision to honor his life and not his death. It seems a moot point since he died 3 days before his birthday but that is not my point. The only death we want to commemorate in an ongoing way is that of Jesus. We decided 5 years ago, however, …
My friend Everitt
A few days before I heard about Carmen’s passing, I heard from my dear Susan that her father, Everitt Shepherd, had gone home to be with Jesus. So many people I know are heading to the party that will never end. It makes me a little homesick for a place I have never been yet!…
My Friend Carmen
We landed in Chicago a few hours ago and when I turned on my phone I was greeted with the news that Carmen Elaine Trust went home to be with Jesus and Bob as she joined the great cloud of witnesses. I will miss the funeral as we are on the beginning of a family…
Grace Eddies
Grace eddies. It swirls. It makes all the difference. It changes everything. I know because I experience it constantly. I am reminded repeatedly how hints of grace keep showing up in surprising places daily. The intellectual knowledge of grace is not enough once a person has experienced the practical reality of a life shaped by…