I don’t know how long I sat there, suspended in a debilitating fog, but the next thing I remember is being startled by a knock at the window. It was a man, with a compassionate smile, trying to tell me something.

Is there suffering in your life today? I want to encourage you and remind you that God can take anything that happens to you and form it into a pattern for good.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end (Seneca).

Have you ever prayed for something good, unselfish, even necessary – and instead of an answered prayer things got worse?

A few days later, we sat next to each other on an airplane, and as it took flight, I felt an overwhelming sense of hope rise inside of me as well. I was grateful he was alive.

Two weeks ago, Sam and I arrived with just enough time to say goodbye and watch her take her last, laborious breaths. As we held her hands, I thought about all the love and enthusiasm for life she had breathed into me over the years.

The meaning of a true friend can get blurry in a world where we use the word ‘friend’ so loosely. True friendship is about being there for someone no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.

The right words spoken to us by others may be the food we need for strength, for taking that next step, for going forward rather than standing in fear.

In unsettling times, we often only see clearly a small piece of the landscape. Beyond our human vision is a more complete, more loving, more perfect plan.

Just as the holidays arrived, so did my daughter’s cancer diagnosis. It was more tears than cheers that Christmas. Where was the peace?