Eternal Friendship

Knowing Brigette, my Pastor's wife, has been one of God's special blessings in my life. Her leadership and friendship to the women in our church has set us ladies free to be healed and loved by God and each other to a deeper degree. Pastor Dana, Brigette, and their boys have accepted their next ministry challenge in Tucson, AZ, and today our congregation said goodbye in a most creative way. I used a half package of klennex as touching prayer blessings were spoken over this wonderful first family of Cottonwood Christian Assembly. It was hilarious when the leaders roasted each one of them and the drama skits about them made you laugh out loud. Afterwards, the leaders cooked up a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and trimmings for everybody. Side dishes arrived and the dessert table spread the length of one wall. I am full. But I'm full not only physically, but spiritually. And, I'm reflecting about how transitions in life remind me that I'm not home yet on this journey.

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A Memorial Day Reflection

Memorial Day is always noteworthy for me and my girls. Next Thursday marks the third year of missing their father, my husband. So many thoughts run through my mind. The journey of loss takes on various emotions. The strongest feeling, at first, was emptiness. In a split second, I would forget he departed forever. I imagined things I needed to talk to him about when he got back home. My mind is realistic now. He's not coming back. There will be no more times of sitting on the porch swing together on the front deck staring at the moon and the stars. He would tell me all he knew about the majestic night sky. I have so much I wish I could tell him, like the excitement of seeing our oldest grandchild make a decision to follow Jesus and get baptized on Mother's Day! And our little Amy, 11 years old, I wish he could have seen her on stage receiving her induction to the National Honor Society. Our daughters have their own ...

A Surprise at the Mall

I lost touch with a writer friend. I missed her and her cheerful blog posts. We met up in a most unusual way! I’m still in awe of how it happened. I finished my shopping at the mall and took a short cut to get to the parking lot. The path led me through the food court. The smell of Chicken Fajitas stopped me in my tracks. I planned lunch elsewhere, but now I followed my nose. I chewed my first bite of chicken taco salad when, out of nowhere, a loud redhead moved rapidly past the tables and into the booth with me. “I know you !” She shouted. I pondered if I knew this crazy lady. Did she mistake me for someone else? She shouted louder and stuck her finger in my face: “ You’re Mary; you have a blog called Pile of Smiles and you live in the Verde Valley .” It took me a second to compose myself. I stopped chewing my food. I know I stared too long at her face and then she said:...

Changing it a Bit

I learned years ago in Marriage Encounter that I need to find creative ways to keep love alive. Avoid the boring status quo and experiment with new ways of doing things. The principle of changing it a bit can be applied to any relationship, really. Healthy friendship is a gift but doesn’t just fall in my lap. I have to work at that too and think of ways to enjoy life together with those special friends. I’ve changed some things around the house recently to spice up things. When I took down Christmas decorations, I placed my plants in different rooms and rearranged the bookcase to give the living room a different look. I drank my coffee black. Ugh, that did not work! I knew months ago the “read through Bible” plan I especially like and have used off and on through the years would not suffice this year and found a new way to pray and study in the morning. How refreshing to wake up to a new way of saying hello to God!...

Choose Joy in the Journey

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