It was New Year’s Day 2017. It was wintry and blustery outside the ICU in that hospital in Peoria, Illinois. Inside, the world was collapsing around me. I had just watched my 51-year-old son, Chris, die of a rapidly moving septic shock, the doctors p…
When I got my first preschool teaching job, I was so excited. I wrote very detailed lesson plans for the first week, arranged the room until it was perfect. I bought the cute name tags and made one for each of my kiddos’ cubbies and chairs. Little di…
A few weeks ago, I saw a picture that said “Despair: It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black.” While I got a good chuckle out of this picture, it highlights a major part of human nature, which is to focus on the pessimistic side of any si…
Our 3-year-old grandson, Ryan, while visiting from Colorado last summer, saw fireflies for the first time in his life. He was fascinated. I take for granted this spectacular summer display, as I grew up in Illinois and Iowa. It never occurred to me t…
I learned about chiaroscuro when I studied art and photography in college (hear how to pronounce here). It means “light-dark” and the technique is often associated with Renaissance Italian artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio. The artist dar…
Everyone has a nightlight of one kind or another; maybe it’s a fun superhero or the light in the hall or the streetlight coming through the window. It provides a sense of security, a habitual part of our bedtime routine, and helps us to see in the da…
Six St. Paul members were born on December 25. Jim Keller will celebrate his 69th Christmas birthday this year, Quinn Strickler will celebrate her first. A few days late, Christmas Quinn a gift Everything was ready by early December. Hana Strickler w…
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“Light in the darkness” is a phrase I never thought much about until the death of my husband. Everyone said I was so strong. But at the end of the day, I experienced a new, strange feeling. Loss filled with darkness. With prayer, I realized that alth…
For some, Black Friday is a fun time to shop with family and friends, making good memories. For our family it has a different meaning. On Black Friday 2009, our son-in-law, Matt, called to tell us that our daughter, Missy, had died. Missy and Alex, o…
A dark and unfamiliar chapel fills with candlelight and quiet music. One by one, confirmation students and sponsors file in and find a space to settle in for a time of peace and reflection. There’s fidgeting; that uncomfortable time when teens are tr…
A few winters ago I was driving in an evening snowstorm on a rural gravel road near my home. The ditches had already filled up with snow, and with great skill I managed to drive my truck right into one. In between gusts of snow, I could just make out…
Our daughter Emily was baptized in a manner that was very familiar – in our church by our pastor during worship service, with family and the congregation present. When her sister Alison was baptized three years later, it was in a hospital room. The s…