Dr. Suess once said,” Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.” I would have used the word imagination, but basically, think the same thing. Just think, many of the stories that Jesus told were parables that would have his followers imagining themselves in the situation that Jesus was describing and explaining. This allowed them to…

As the night started, we all filled the room with our own expectations. Our wants, likely in line with God’s will, but yet so out of reach filled our minds. Many of us expected someone with far greater experience in the room to stand up and create miracles. Yet, as God tends to do, He…

I recently read about a 3-year rule in grief. I think, while this rule can be helpful, it is too simplified. The rule is: Year 1, you are processing. Year 2, you are adjusting and Year 3 you are growing. While this can be true, it’s also a lie. Grief and anything that alters your…

This is a more recent photo of the pool of Bethesda. When we are suffering, it is hard to be joyous. Our focus is on ourselves or how to get out of the pain. We start to lose hope usually because we’ve taken our focus off God. However, there are also times when we pray…

In 2023, when I did this last time, my second post for joy was about pain being the opposite of joy. In some ways that is true but truly whatever robs you of joy is your opposite. Which means just about any emotion, experience or person could be the opposite of joy for you.  Let…

Welcome to week 3, Joy. When we look at joy, we need to first understand what joy really is. Many of us use the words joy and happiness interchangeably. First, what is happiness? Britannica.com defines happiness as “a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences.” In other words, it is an emotion that happens…

Another repost from 2023. While everything still holds true, I think some music has the ability to create multiple emotions, sometimes all at once. There are days that a song will cause me to fondly look back at a memory and smile, but the same song the next time I hear it could cause sadness.…

With the news full of shootings, wars, high cost of living and so much negativity, peace seems impossible. Good thing we follow a God who specializes in the impossible. All throughout the Bible, war is discussed and experienced. Every person in the Bible had multiple times of troubles. However, every time we see that God…

It’s odd how this 2nd Christmas without Chris has felt harder than the 1st. I would guess because the numbness that covered the 1st year has been loosening its grip on my head and heart. Don’t get me wrong, emotions and numbness are constants in grief and you never know which are going to be…

Some of you may have noticed that I didn’t post an Advent blog post yesterday. That was not intentional. I had planned to write something or at least repost something from 2023. Yet when I went to post something, I fell asleep. Actually I slept for several hours, woke up and thought about posting something…