Because I tend to obsess on negative things, I try to change it up and obsess on something worthwhile. This year it’s Romans, chapter 12* which I try to read every 2018 morning. Truth be told I am such a child that I can only digest a weighty chapter per sitting which amounts to one Dick and Jane book at a time – over and over and over. It works cuz some of us need a daily reset. I’m lovin’ it. You?…
Years ago, about ten rows back in the auditorium a tearful mom talked to me after a school presentation on the dangers of alcohol and other drugs. “I don’t do anything that matters,” she said. “I’m so consumed with my son’s drug problem.” I could relate to the moon and back having felt that way to be sure. It gave new perspective to hear her say it out loud. What she does matters — she loves someone.…
Once a month we have our Just Keep Going Parents Prayer hour. Strewn on the 6′ x 8′ table are white paper tents with the parent’s first name written in Sharpie, a slash mark and their child, niece, grandson or granddaughter or friend’s child who is using alcohol and/or other drugs, has mental health issues, or is in early recovery. There are over twenty-five pieces of paper with probably fifty names. Then we verbally add more from the lists in our head – kids we know who are using and others who are discovering recovery. We pray a lot of things for a lot of young people in that sixty minutes, but the best part is…
Read moreWhen Ted was in his dark days I pulled down the shades of my life too. The phone would ring and I’d shout at it, “Leave me alone! I’m busy being sad. I just need to be by myself and be so, so sad.”
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