Happy 2nd Anniversary!
Dear Connor and Emily, The Lord intended for us to remember! He set up holidays and celebrations to become traditions because he knows how forgetful we are. Even the 5th commandment to remember the Sabbath is an opportunity, not for us to amuse (which literally means to not ponder) ourselves but to refresh and restore…
Clayton at 21~
Dear Clayton, You are officially an adult in the eyes of the law. I think about what I hope for you as you finish college and become a independent and godly man. You are more amazing than you know. That is partly due to your own choices, partly due to your heritage and all a…
Life as Thank You 55
Laureen, In honor of your birthday last week and as a gift to one of my favorite gifts, I thought I would tell you how thankful I am for you. We have been sisters now for over 36 years. I am grateful for our relationship that has been an encouragement for most of my life.…
Life as Thank You 54
Sarah Noelle. It is your birthday this week! And I wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you are my niece. I am so proud of you; you are smart and talented and genuine. Even more than that I am grateful that you have chosen to lean into God every day and are…
Life as Thank You 51
Dear Brian and Susan, Sometimes I am overwhelmed by God’s grace and goodness in my life. This is one of those moments as I reflect on you both and your role in my life. I am working on increasing gratitude in my life and one of the ways I am doing so is writing old-fashioned…
Life as Thank You 50
Dear Tammie, I am writing old-school thank you notes this year to express my gratitude. I am sure this will not be the last note I write to you nor will it be exhaustive, but I wanted to let you know that I love you. I am so glad that we are related, even if…
Life as Thank You 49
Dear Debbie and Steve, I am taking this opportunity to let you know how grateful I am that you are in my life. When we first started attending EvFree I had a really hard time connecting in the service and was really homesick for Christ Church in Illinois. Then we found the Encounter service and…
Life as Thank You 48
This is the only posthumous thank you note I am writing this year for obvious reasons; you can’t actually tell someone “thank you” after they are dead, so bless them while you have the opportunity. Having said that, I can’t help but thank the man who shared my life for over 30 years and in…
My lessons of Grief So Far
6 years ago I began a new journey as a widow through the valley of the shadow of death. I have learned a great deal about grief and death since then and I know I have a long way to go in that journey, but here are some of my thoughts so far. Death is…