fear

The past two weeks have been out of the norm for me. What began as the flu became pneumonia and ultimately, other unexpected challenges that left me weary and out of commission. Therefore, what began as thoughts of “It’s okay. This is just cold and flu season. It will pass quickly” evolved into unexpected thoughts:

It was a trip we had been excited about for months – our first cruise.  The preparation included a long, painful visit to the Passport Office, where my kids got bored within the first five minutes and numerous visits to the store to pick up last-minute items. Nevertheless, the excitement pushed us through, and finally

I don’t know about you, but I can remember several instances when I wondered HOW our pressing need would be met. It just seemed impossible from my perspective.  Immediately after we encountered the unimaginable of our infant son growing ill and being hospitalized, we were slammed with a mountain of medical bills. To top it

A few days ago, I went to bed preoccupied. My mind was focused on an issue that I thought had been resolved. Yet, there it was rearing its head … again. My insides began churning as I felt overwhelmed with frustration and anxiety. I found myself having great difficulty falling asleep. After just a few

A few weeks before graduating from medical school, I remember being in the elevator with 2 of my closest friends. I admitted to them that I really didn’t want to leave school…I wanted to remain in the safety of the four walls and just learn stuff. They thought I was crazy. While my friends were

I hope you have found encouragement from this series which highlighted the blessings that my family experienced in an unexpected season. In this conclusion, I wanted to share that for me, fear attempted to settle in when faced with the reality that we had lost the only income to support our family of five. Shame and

1 Samuel 13:8 He (Saul) waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished

My nephews have always been pretty easy to please.  Give them a basketball and a hoop and they are good to go.   Years ago, before they were even teenagers, I took them to the court at our neighborhood amenity center. I watched.  They played. We hadn’t been there too long when a group of

Natural disasters.  Shootings.  Division. It seems as if these are the frequent headliners lately. I don’t know about you, but hearing of such tragedies is pretty disheartening and causes us to respond in different ways. Some folks remain in a state of fear and pity: “Oh how terrible!” Some quickly move on with their own

Over the past decade, we’ve had a similar set of circumstances. When either my son or younger daughter can’t keep down food because of a cold or stomach bug, we rush them to the emergency room. There, they start receiving fluids with the goal of rehydrating them immediately. When that is done and they are finally