A friend noticed Cowboy Church off of Dry Creek Road in West Sedona yesterday morning as he drove past and told me the parking lot was bulging with cars from everywhere. "Something big was going on! He said." "Yes I replied; I was there and I want to tell you all about what happened." I glanced over the highly attended sanctuary as the first speaker approached to speak. He introduced himself as a pastor from the state of Washington but he was also my bestie's nephew. His engaging eulogy of the life of his cousin, Ashley, gripped me. He helped all of us understand and trust God when we want to scream "She was so young. What about her widower husband now who loved her with all his heart? What about their two-year old boy who misses his mommy?" There are days we just don't understand God's ways. But I am at peace to know Ashley is finally pain free and lives in Paradise. I glanced at her mom, Maureen, my best friend now for...
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 ...