April 1st will mark six months since my son passed away.  As I approach this date it is hard to imagine it has been half of a year.  I have a lot of emotions about this. One thing I know for sure is that I am forever changed. The loss of my son has changed me in profound ways.  As I move through the shock and try to make sense of what has happened, I realize I am never going to be the same.  As I move through the process of trying to accept this loss I realize that I have a new relationship with God. It is almost as if my son has made a formal introduction,  “Mom,  this is  God. God, this is my mom.” I was already acquainted with Him.  But this is a new type of relationship.  I feel as if I have have had a peek behind the curtain. The experience of losing a child has been a stripping away of everything that I thought life was about.  Life was something that happened in the...

If you had asked me when I was 9 years old what I wanted to be when I grew up, baton twirler would have been my top choice.  It was the only thing I knew how to do well at that time.  As I have become more mature, I realize that the question shouldn’t be, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”.  The questions should be “What is it that makes you, You?  How are you going to let your light shine?  What are your gifts and talents? How are you going to shine a light on Christ?” In Matthew 5:13-16,  Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. ” He also says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and hide it under...

“For richer for poorer, in sickness, and in health.” On the happiest day of their lives, a beautiful couple make these vows in front of witnesses.  The happiness is so magical even the witnesses can’t imagine that there will ever be the poorer and in sickness part.  All in attendance pray that adversity will never show up in this marriage. When adversity of any kind strikes, whether that be financial, health, or the loss of a child, the couple is now faced with honoring their vows.  Severe adversity tends to intensify the kind of relationship a couple already had before adversity knocked on their door.  A marriage already in trouble can flounder.  It is in times like this the couple can become closer or move apart. In the case of the loss of a child, even when grieving the same loss, the husband may grieve differently than the wife.  One may be able to articulate how...

A Steel Magnolia is a woman who exemplifies both traditional femininity as well as uncommon fortitude. (Wikionary).   The term Steel Magnolia is usually used to describe a woman who has faced adversity full on with grace, poise, and dignity. I have seen the movie, Steel Magnolias, many times.  I originally saw it in the theater when it debuted  in 1989 with my mom and my aunts, all Steel Magnolias.  When I was a child and young woman, I watched each of them face an assortment of adversities and show me how it was done. They probably had no idea that I was watching them.  They didn’t whine about their problems; they just handled their problems.  It is such a gift to a girl to have strong female role models. When my grandmother had a heart attack, I saw them take shifts at the hospital for three weeks.  When she passed away early on Christmas morning, I watched my mom leave to meet...