It’s Got to Be Like Planning a Party, Right?

Confetti, Hope and 3/16 My mom plopped down across from me in the nursery looking hurried and determined as she readied to leave my house. She and my Dad had stayed with us three of the four weeks since my son was born, but today they were rushing back home. It had been less than 12 hours since the phone call that changed our lives. They were trying to beat the news back to my Grandmother – my Memaw – so she could hear about the death of her only grandson from them instead of Channel 12. They didn’t make it, by the way. The story broke before they could drive the three…

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On Death, Loss and Resurrection

Easter looked different for us this year. I hesitated to even post this picture because it is so shockingly deceiving. What you see is the smiling faces that have posed on this same back deck for the last 20+ years. What you don’t see is the pain, the heaviness, and the deep, deep grief that is carried behind each of those smiles. At first glance, you might notice my brother is missing. Not uncommon, as there were years in the past he was “too busy” to come to Easter. But, my brother died two years ago, so, of course, he will never be in another Easter photo again. That’s an image I’ve already…

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Hosanna in the Highest

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time over the last month thinking about the upcoming holiday. Easter Sunday. Resurrection Day. I wanted to spend time really meditating on it, about the significance of it, and not just let it pass me by like any other Sunday, any other weekend, any other holiday. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about the week leading up to that day – this week– what some people call Holy Week, and others have aptly named Passion Week. I’ve been trying to imagine what would have been going through Jesus’ mind each day leading up to his betrayal, trial, and execution. Today, the first day of Passion Week, is called…

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