"I looked back to the bed. Still empty. And then it happened. I fell to my knees, and then to my back. It came from up from my gut. I could almost physically feel it moving to the top of my abdomen, to my chest, into my neck and then my head. I cannot describe the pain."
"You are so unbelievably excited that your child is born…and in the next moment you believe you’ll have to say farewell to your wife forever. It was like being numbed."
"The church is far from perfect. Life is complex. There are growing options. And the post-modern mind distrusts most things organized or institutional. But as trendy as the idea of writing off the church may be, it’s a mistake."
The Bible says that “death and life are in the power of the tongue,” and we can powerfully impact our children’s lives and futures by the words we say — positively OR negatively.
I’ve always felt like I’ve lived on the outside, never truly belonging anywhere but always somehow working my way into a seat at some table, even if it was with the Art Geeks from the cafeteria in Mean Girls. Sift through the duds, mama. Because once you find those few (or just one) who truly know you — the hilarious AND the cob-webby parts — and love you anyway, you don’t have to pretend anymore.
When tempers calm and you climb meekly into my lap nuzzled closely to my heart and whisper, “I love you, Mommy,” what I’ve been seeing all along is that much clearer. Yes, you are my strong-willed child, but you are so much more.
"I will never stop loving these babies I’ve been blessed with. I’ll never stop holding them through the hurricane of memories that haunt them in the night. I’ll never stop keeping a second bed in my room."
"If your neighbor is experiencing a loss, or a new neighbor is moving in, or if a neighbor lost a job or a baby or a husband. Stand in the gap. This is how we walk each other back home."
"The entire unit was thundering with noise as many inmates pounded on the doors shouting for our deputy who lay unconscious and heavily bleeding on the floor."
"It took years to collect all the little details of what actually happened that night, but I eventually did. With 10 adults and five kids present, anyone would assume our daughter would have been safe."
