“Compassion has a price. It does not come without a cost, the least of which is the pain that pierces our own hearts as we accompany one who is suffering.” Joyce Rupp, The Cup of Our Lives: A Guide for Spiritual Growth.
Saturday morning. Dappled sunshine, clouds scudding across the sky at a good clip, temperatures […]
I’m sitting on the deck of an A-frame cottage on the shores of Silver Lake, Michigan. It is windy, and it’s a good thing the orange sun umbrella on the edge of the deck is tied down tight. It twists and turns in the stiff breeze, looking as if wants nothing more than to fly […]
Have you ever given birth? Remember the stage of labor called “transition”?
Transition: “A period during childbirth that precedes the expulsive phase of labor, characterized by strong uterine contractions and nearly complete cervical dilation.”
Ouch!
I’m 57, soon to turn 58. It may be physically impossible, but here I am, in the throes of transition. No, I’m […]
We moved Joel in to Safe Haven Farms yesterday. He was fairly agitated the first 90 minutes, while Wally and I worked in his bedroom, making his bed, hanging pictures, putting away clothes, etc. With one of the staff, Laura, following him, Joel ran from the barn to the pond to the office, and […]
“It’s can’t be much different than getting a kid ready to go to college!” I’ve heard that comment numerous times as I’ve prepared our 25-year-old son, Joel, for his move into his new home, Safe Haven Farms, a farming community for adults with autism located in Butler County.
Wrong. Sure, we all shed a few tears […]
“…(Jesus) said to Simon, “Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.” Simon said, “Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.” It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining […]
“The most frequent commandment given in scripture is so simple, so plain: ‘do not be afraid.’ And it is so hard to practice, so hard to model, so hard to live.”
Thom Shuman, Occasional Sightings of the Gospel
I am most likely to shed my well-worn cloak of fear over Joel’s future when I take […]
I can’t believe it—the sun is shining! Have you ever taken sunlight for granted until it disappeared for weeks on end? I have, but no more. Today I’m praising God for Monday morning sunlight in the middle of January!
This weekend we had dinner with two other Safe Haven families. How I needed the intimacy of […]
In my prayer group last week, we spent time in Lectio Divina on Isaiah 43:1-7. The verses that spoke to my life circumstances were these: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the […]
Recuperating from the chaos that was Christmas 2009, I can’t help but smile as I look back at what ended up being the calm at the eye of the storm.
The day before Christmas Eve I had worked myself into a tizzy (aka panic mode) because I had waited until the last minute to make […]