when you didn’t mean to grieve during the holidays :: a guest post by colleen mitchell
It's my pleasure to welcome Colleen Mitchell from Blessed are the Feet to the blog today. I read this post on her site a few weeks ago, and it resonated with me so deeply that I asked her if I could re-post it for you here. *** It was so encouraging to see so many bloggers, writers and magazines acknowledging how many people were hurting and grieving during the holiday season. It means much that people stop and notice. And that they want to acknowledge and reach out and help lessen the burden of loss and grief. I was so appreciative for that movement this year. But I didn’t really feel...
five minute friday :: welcome {and a video!}
Welcome to the first Five Minute Friday of 2015! Happy New Year to all of you! As many of you know, I took a break from Five Minute Friday during the past two weeks because of the holidays, but I have really, genuinely missed you guys! So, tell me, how was your Christmas and New Year's? Did you have a restful break? Did you have withdrawal symptoms from two weeks without #fmfparty? To celebrate our happy reunion and to show you just how much I've missed you, my e-book, Letters to Grief, is FREE on Amazon Kindle for ONE DAY ONLY -- Friday, January 9th. Click here to get your free...
letters to grief mash-up :: a compilation of quotes
Remember that Letters to Grief link-up we had in December? Well, thirty brave writers linked up their own letters to grief, and totally blew me away with their powerful words. I found myself quoting like crazy on Twitter, and took so many gems away with me from those posts. Here are some of my favorite quotes, all meshed together into one letter to grief. Click each quote to visit the full post of each respective writer: Dear Grief, "When I was younger, I thought you only had to do with death. ... But that’s not the only place you lurk. You don’t just stand on the sidelines after...
until we all come home :: a review
Maybe it's because I've met the author personally. Maybe it's because the child she fought to adopt in this riveting book happens to be in my son's class class at school. Or maybe it's just because the account is utterly captivating in its own right. Whatever the reason, I was completely taken by this woman's story -- a harrowing, true story of dedication and commitment to adopt her son from Ukraine. In fact, I couldn't stop thinking about it for days. Until We All Come Home: A Harrowing Journey, a Mother's Courage, a Race to Freedom by Kim de Blecourt drew me in from the first page. When...
a guest letter to grief :: by heather davis nelson
Wow, you guys really blew me away with all of the letters to grief you wrote and linked up last month! Thank you to all who participated! I was so humbled by your willingness to bare the hidden corners of your souls. Grief is a raw and difficult subject to address, and you did it with such poise and grace. What I loved just as much as your posts were the strings of comments I found at each site I clicked on. It was such a joy to see so many of you pouring encouragement and condolences on one another. Thank you to all who made the effort to read and bless others by leaving comments. I read...
when “happy new year” isn’t enough
Karen Brown recently published a blog post called, Good Grief, 2014! In it, she recapped many of the tragedies endured in the past year: the missing Malaysian aircraft, Ebola, Robin Williams’ death, Ferguson. Seeing this summary of so much pain all lumped together in one place made me close my eyes, as if I could block it all out with a lingering blink. I read her post at the end of last year, praying that 2015 wouldn’t deal out as many harsh blows as 2014 did. But now we’re only a handful of days into the new year, and the headlines are just as crushing. For far too many, the generic...
the ten most memorable posts i read in 2014
I recently listed the most popular posts I wrote in 2014. Turning the tables, and in no particular order, here are ten posts I read this past year that really stuck with me: Five Minute Friday : Nothing by Alia Joy Alia Joy gets me every time with the weight and depth of her words. She has been a gracious encourager and person of influence in my own writing. This post, which she wrote in just five minutes on the prompt, NOTHING, was one of my favorite Five Minute Friday posts from the past year. How to Love a Man that's Hard to Love by Meredith Bernard I "met" Meredith...
the story of a tablecloth on christmas eve
This is our third Christmas without my mom. We're having Christmas Eve at our house this year, and my sister is coming over. The other day she handed me my mom's Christmas tablecloth, the white one with the embroidered trees on it. All folded up neat and compact like an American flag being passed on with great reverence to the family of a deceased soldier. She asked me to use it on Christmas Eve. "Of course," I said and swallowed hard, and my kids asked, "Why?" "Tradition," she replied. And with just a word she gathered a lifetime of memories and transferred them into my arms. I ironed...
letters to grief link up :: share your story
Welcome to this special edition Letters to Grief link-up! I'm so glad you're here! Writing about grief can be awkward on many levels. For one, it is a deep, multifaceted emotion, and sharing about it can leave one feeling vulnerable and exposed. Secondly, while I want people to be able to relate to my words, I also feel a deep sadness within when they actually can relate, because it means they have also been acquainted with grief. So, I want you to be able to relate, and I don't. I want you to find comfort here, but I also wish you had know idea what I'm talking about when I write about...
five minute friday :: adore
You guys! This is the final Five Minute Friday link-up of 2014! The grand finale! Can you believe it? We'll be taking a two week break during the weeks of Christmas and New Year's, but we'll be back and ready to write the week of January 8th. I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of you again for so graciously and warmly welcoming me as your new Five Minute Friday host in August this year. Believe me, I was just as disappointed as you were when I heard that Lisa-Jo was passing the baton ... yet I'm so grateful that the transition went as smoothly as possible, and that we still...
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