Nothing can prepare you for that moment when your perfect world is shattered into 1000’s of little pieces. When you receive that phone call to say that a part of your heart ‘”didn’t make it”… My sister, first team swimmer had drowned in a freak accident, walking around our pool, having a seizure, falling in and waking up in the arms of Jesus. Lauren and I were more than just sisters, we were the [...]
Grief is such a huge and too often taboo topic, possibly because different people grieve in different ways and so it is often hard to know what to say or do when someone has lost someone they love. We have already looked at some powerful stories from people who have lost a baby and those who have lost a child, but what about someone who has lost a person who has been in their life [...]
When I started thinking about having children and even long before.. I would never have guessed that the word abortion would ever be part of my vocabulary. I am definitely pro-life, and have been an active advocate against abortions, even doing speeches and presentations on the matter. I always thought that it was a black and white issue, and I am sure that for most people it still might be… I kind of wish that [...]
Costa & Lorraine Mitchell. Married 3rd April 1971, both of us 21 years old at the time. We both think that we have had it very good in marriage. Obviously, this is a gift for which God is to be praised, and parents thanked, and we don’t take it lightly. It helps that God was strong in forming and informing our choices at the time we met. It helps hugely that we both came from parents [...]
A little eight-year-old girl was asked what she thought love was. She cocked her head and thought for a little bit. Then she replied, "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over to paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis. That's what love is." [pg 159, Getting Naked Later] And with that excerpt, i begin the book review of this most [...]
DAY 19ish As we start a new week, let us continue to really spend some time each day observing the Lent period leading up to Easter as we prepare for the reminder of what Jesus' death and resurrection means to our day to day lives. Task: Read through and meditate on the lyrics of this Tim Hughes worship song [featuring Brooke Fraser] and then give it a listen, remembering a time [it may be now] [...]
We met at UCT in 1975, followers of Christ and both students. Already - two keys to a long-lasting relationship - our Christian faith has held us in good times and difficulties; our keenness to learn and be curious about life, has kept our relationship interesting. After completing our degrees in Education and Librarianship , we decided to work for a year before making a firm choice to get married. So we had actually been [...]
DAY 15ish received this in an email from someone i don't really know so well on the book of faces and figured it was a good reflection to have on this day: Task: Join with me in praying this Lent Prayer “Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.” JOHN 11 Jesus then said, "I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even [...]
We read the story of Jade and Sean as part of the Marriage Year 4 posts and Jade was so inspired by taking time to reflect on her marriage that she invited her folks to do the same and so we have this stunning post by her mom, Shelley. Deon and I were married on August 30 1986, which means we have been married for 28 years this year. I would love to say it [...]
The death of a baby or child is forever life changing in every way that you can imagine, or maybe you can not imagine. I must have heard this a million times, “I can not image how you handle this; I would not be able to handle it.” Who wants to imagine the death of their baby or child, No one I know and neither did I. But I found myself in that very real [...]