wednesday, May 31, 2023 Quote of the week

“Each moment is a place you’ve never been.”

Mark Stand

Every morning, I begin the day reading devotions. The pings of emails and the Breaking News sound bites are not welcome. Instead, I search for a mindset, a direction for the day, that centers me for what will come.

Throughout the fourteen years I taught English Language Arts, I am amazed at how I interpret the recurring poems, novels, and short stories differently. Each passing year changed me; I evolved. I have read from the same devotionals for years, yet I still resonate with them differently! I think, How did I not see this before? Because of my experiences from the past 365 days, a deeper and more enhanced understanding I gain.

If I can evolve after the passing of my loved ones, there is hope. The power of something greater is with us always whether we take the time to meditate, pray, and reflect on that miracle or not. That same power specifically tailors lessons for us to learn. Some are agonizing, others are difficult, while others are joyous! Whatever they are, they are gifts.

Author, Sarah Young, believes that, “when you view your life this way, the most reasonable response is to be thankful.” All of God’s gifts, whether painful or joyful, are God’s intention. In the book of Colossians, it is written that we are to be “strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Gratitude wins!

My conversations with God have also evolved since losing Jim. I used to feel cheated of the time we didn’t get, and I expressed His unfairness rather harshly. Although recently, I have been giving thanks for the time we had. I am grateful we had nearly fourteen years instead of three years his diagnosis claimed. I am grateful I have been taught that everything, except love and joy, is temporary.

Accepting our losses does not condone them; it’s just that we no longer deny reality. It is simply what it is. Leo Tolstoy quotes that we ought to “seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved. That is the only reality in the world.” Love…always!

Be free to continue and to be purposeful for what will come. Be willing to pursue knowledge and to learn over and over again what is needed in order to deepen the ways in which God intends.

wednesday, May 17, 2023 Quote of the week

“Your current location does not impact your destination.”

Chris Stefanick

Doesn’t it seem at times that life is like a loose thread? One gentle tug and everything completely unravels. I was thinking about this analogy when I was switching out my winter wardrobe for my summer shorts and t-shirts. One of my favorite shirts indeed had a thread loose, and when I pulled, nearly the entire seamed ripped. Alanis Morissette's song, “Ironic,” came to mind…”well isn’t this nice.”

When we begin to move away from grieving, a loose thread can be detrimental. A few months after Jim passed, I went to the eye doctor. There was a mishap with the scheduling, and I was not able to be seen. I burst into tears to the dismay of the doctor. “I’m just trying to do something normal. My husband just died, and I just want to do something normal,” I blubbered.

If I had not recently suffered his passing, this situation would have barely impacted my day. It was definitely the thread that ripped apart my soul. I simply wasn’t ready, but it doesn’t mean that I wasn’t going somewhere. Gandhi stated that, “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” When we attempt to move forward out from the sludge of grief and loss to move forward, it can often feel as though we are merely treading water…but we are not sinking either.

When we rise every morning, we are taking the step. We are saying yes, maybe without the passion and vigor, but it is still a yes. With every forward motion, we are walking away from the life once led, to a new one especially designed for us to continue. Joseph Campbell, a prolific American writer, said, “we must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

There truly is something more waiting. Even if you can’t see it yet, it’s like faith…it is there!

May you have faith in your next step.

wednesday, May 10, 2023 Quote of the week

“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.”

Linda Wooten

During this past Lenten season, my daughter, Jessica, called me and posed an astonishing insight:

Mary, Jesus’s mother, knew her son’s fate. Mary knew He would suffer a tortuous death but incredulously accepted God’s will. She dedicated her life to loving and raising her son. Mary committed to God that she would guide Jesus into the direction of His Father’s intended purpose. Stunned at this realization, Jessica staggered, “Knowing he was going to die, how could she have done that?!”

Motherhood is like a tug-of-war game. Pulling your children in close, smothering them with kisses and hugs fills your heart. You tug them over avoiding the sharp edge of a table, or push them back and away from the campfire. Before too long, children begin to push away to discover the world on their own. Ultimately, they will venture out into the world that is especially designed just for them. And then…Mom let’s go.

There is no job harder, yet no joy greater than being a mother. Motherhood teaches to hold then release, hold and release, and hold and release again. The object of the tug-of-war game is knowing how long and how tight to grip and when and how much to loosen it.

Mary said yes to God even though she knew the outcome. We all belong to God, the Source, the Light, and because we do, then we all belong to each other. But we belonged to Him first. We are not given a glimpse into the future, but we do have hope and a trust in a dimension much higher.

Watching my own children grow and become the product of God’s intention has been one of life’s tremendous blessings. Happy Mother’s Day to all the strong women who said yes.

Happy Heavenly Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you.

wednesday, May 3, 2023 Quote of the week

“Art is in the process of redefining our relationships to each other.”

Ruby Dee

I am learning to loosen the grip of grief that has held me so tightly for the last few years. Faith comforts me knowing Jim is safely home and not suffering. I would rather have him in God’s arms than in mine knowing he is no longer plagued with his disease and the plethora of side effects he experienced. Although I still grieve his absence, there is still even more I mourn. The grief now is not necessarily life without him; I grieve what might have been.

Poet, John Greenleaf Whittier penned that, “for all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, ‘it might have been.’” I grieve the holiday gatherings with ruckus, noise, mess, and laughter. I grieve double dating with friends, and I grieve not grandparenting with him. I grieve the relationships that are forever changed, and the beautiful memories that might have been.

Grief represents that final piece in a Jenga game; a tremendous loss can tumble relationships. Some will be rebuilt, while others may remain in a messy pile. Anderson Cooper said that it is “never too late to change your relationship with somebody in your life.” It may take years to redefine, but the work towards rebuilding is always worth the wait. It takes time, patience, listening, and of course love.

The quote by Ruby Dee further elaborates the possibility of hope when she stated that, “the creative minds are bubbling, and I know the soup that’s coming up next time is going to feed a lot more of us.” As time progresses, pain changes from a rapid boil to a slow simmer. Time allows our relationships to change and manifest into something brand new.

Richard Martin Stern makes an excellent point: “You must never regret what might have been. The past that did not happen is as hidden from us as the future we cannot see.”

Storylight A transformational journey SHARON M WIBLE

wednesday, May 31, 2023 Quote of the week

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wednesday, May 3, 2023 Quote of the week

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