wednesday, March 12, 2025 Quote of the week

“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”

Max Lucado

Three years ago, I began planning life after retirement. I read, listened to podcasts, and circulated with people to find new opportunities. Most everywhere I’d go, I’d think, “I could work here!” Volunteer programs such as PreventEd and the International Institute are also ones that piqued my interest. A year ago, I was hired as a literacy coach at Dyslexia St. Louis, which I plan on working at well into my retirement. Retiring is not stopping; for me, it’s finding a new purpose.

My plan now certainly has deviated from the original my husband and I had envisioned. We planned on traveling, possibly moving to the California coast, grandparenting, and growing old together. Now that I am no longer an us, and now a me, I had to recalibrate and discern what it is I alone still need to do.

Although we had plans, God’s plans ultimately prevail. In Romans 8:28, it is written that, “All things work together for good for those who love God.” I will never understand His ways, but all I can do is trust it. Even though we will all endure loss, we can create something new and beautiful from what we have left. In spirit, our loved ones accompany us along in our new journey. This honors the lives we’ve shared together as well as restoring our own sense of purpose.

Psalm 46:10 reminds us to “Be still…” and continue to manifest serenity into each day. In doing so, we will be able to discern our next steps in life’s adventure. Just as nature is wiggling her toes and fingers in the early spring, we too, will slowly feel the vibrancy of life through the light of unexpected circumstances and opportunities. Mother Teresa suggested we focus more on vocation rather than career, for that is where we find our true purpose. Imagine a blank canvas, an empty flower bed, or the blinking cursor on your laptop. The world is blooming for you to create something new!

My new plan is coming to fruition; however, I trust the plan God has intended for me, so I am working on letting go and allowing Him to guide me. Horatio Spafford wrote “It Is Well With My Soul”, which is a moving poem proclaiming faith and hope. We are not meant to understand God’s intentions, but as Psalm says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”

We all have something to give no matter how small. May faith, peace, and love accompany your way.

wednesday, March 5, 2025 Quote of the week

Nature gives to every time and season some beauty of its own.”

Charles Dickens

Wintering is a time for stillness. Winter allows us to nurture our insides with creamy soups and warm herbal tea and our outsides enveloped in cozy flannel. We devour books that have been piling up on our nightstands, and we binge watch documentaries. Winter grants us time as well to reacquaint with family and friends. Spontaneous game nights and themed dinners crop up around the dinner table. Oscar Wilde wrote that, “wisdom comes with winter.” Winter gives us permission to reflect and pause.

Although Old Man Winter is sure to rear his head once again, there is an obvious shift occurring as we step into March. A few seconds more of sunlight each day lingers a bit longer in the evening. The breeze is not as biting, and the birds are beginning to busy themselves. Mother Nature is stretching and wiggling her toes with the warming of each day. Journalist Hal Borland wrote that, “no winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” Winter is necessary for us to know spring.

As we ponder the loss of our loved ones, we experience wintering. Death's demand is to recalibrate this extraordinary shift from what was to what is. By not allowing this time to grieve, we cannot rise from it. “Flowers don’t worry about how they are going to bloom,” Jim Carry wrote, “ they just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.” We don’t have to figure everything out; we just need the time to honor our healing. Just as the seed buried in the earth will soon reach for the sun, we too will awaken with new light.

We have faith that the light of spring will arrive after winter, just as we have faith that the pangs of will loss will gradually subside. Henry David Thoreau wrote that, “We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake,...by an infinite expectation of the dawn.”

“O wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?” Mary Bysshe Shelley

Look for the beauty in your light.

Storylight A transformational journey SHARON M WIBLE

wednesday, March 12, 2025 Quote of the week

wednesday, March 5, 2025 Quote of the week

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