Browsing Tag

hope

Encouragement, Health

How to Help Your Children Cope with Grief

Grief is a challenging, confusing struggle. As adults we wrestle with it, so how much tougher must it be for children? Last week, I wrote about grief over at Defying Shadows. It occurred to me later how differently we face things as adults than children do and that I’d be remiss if I didn’t share what I know about grief and children.  

Children aren’t just “little adults.” In fact, the way they function and process are quite different than how we operate as adults.  When my children lost their father, we were all reeling from the shock and grief. I had lost both my parents by then and was no stranger to grief, but I was very much a stranger to dealing with significant loss as a child. I learned a lot from my children during this process just as I learned a lot about them. That support was absolutely vital to their healing and mine. Continue Reading

Encouragement, Life Is Beautiful

Loss of a Friend: Going Back and Going Forward

I’ve lost a friend. Four days ago I received news that one of my closest friends since childhood had left this life. My reaction surprised even myself. I gasped and my hands flew up to my face, covering it as if to shut out the information I’d just learned and somehow make it untrue.

I wanted to write. That’s what we writers often do when we’re struggling with something: we make sense of it on paper. It’s our therapy. But words didn’t come.

Lisa was a writer. This was a fact that had bonded us at an early age. We’d compare thoughts, poems, and stories. She was the only person I knew who loved writing as much as I did. “The moon is keen and I like green” was one of the most memorable stanzas from an early poem she had written. Continue Reading

Encouragement, Life Is Beautiful

Shiny New Year, Shiny New Dreams

With just a few more clicks of the clock it will be a new year, 2015. A year full of promise and adventure. That’s my new word for 2015: adventure!   

Please come back in the new year where I will offer an abundance of good words and encouragement for you, your life, and the fulfillment of your dreams. God be with you this day and every, and I look forward to a prosperous, healthy, amazing 2015!

Encouragement, Life Is Beautiful

Anxiety, Fear & Other Things I Can Leave in 2014

What if we made New Year’s resolutions that really stuck? What if we used every year as a learning experience? A launching pad into the new year, armed with all this valuable knowledge with which to make the upcoming year so much better?

With the transition into every new year comes a time of reflection. We look back on the year before. Sometimes we bid it good riddance. Sometimes we’re sad to see it go. Other times, we look back with a sense of satisfaction and an attitude that it was a solid year, had its ups and downs (but thankfully more ups), and we came away with some good thoughts and lessons learned, stronger and ready to embrace the new year. Continue Reading