Seasons of Love...

Hopefully through this pandemic, you've created somewhat of a "new normal" routine.  While I'm working in our spare room upstairs, I've developed a TV schedule throughout my day.  I have the Today Show on from about 8-11a and then switch to one of the cable news networks...mainly just to hear interviews from doctors and other leaders.  Then, like every other Ohioan, it's "Wine with Dewine" at 2pm....although, I don't really wine, lol...but that's become the universal phrase for the informative press conference time given by our Governor, Lt Governor, and Director of the Ohio Dept of Health.  After that, it's usually back to the cable news, and then local news at 5.  Exciting day, huh?  For some reason, whenever there is a major crisis going on, it calms my anxieties to have the news on all day.  Anyone else like this? One segment that is pretty consistent on the Today Show during this time are the interviews with pastors, bishops, rabbi

When I heard the news about Stuart Scott and of his passing this morning, my heart just sank.  Even before his public battle with cancer, he brought depth and humor to the news he reported....whether it be at his local North Carolina station as a field reporter, or one of the best sports commentators on ESPN.  This guy was "cooler than the flipside of a pillow". I remember becoming an avid watcher of Sportscenter all because of the chemistry Stuart had with Scott Van Pelt. I've followed Stuart on Twitter for the last few years, and they were everything but negative.  I still remember when he announced his 3rd round with cancer.  I was amazed at how he would do his treatments before he went on air, and still continued to breeze through his show as if absolutely nothing was wrong.  I learned today he did not want to know the cancers stage because he wanted to keep on doing normal things, having new adventures, and living his life to support his 2 daughters.  He studied MM

10 years later.  I still remember everything that happened.  I remember those words.  I remember the hurt, the shock, the pain, the anger.  I remember the questions...the whys, the what-could-I-have-done,   10 years ago we lost a wonderful, successful, charismatic brother/son/father/etc...to a horrible sickness.  An illness so debilitating, so haunting. One that makes you feel invincible one day, and worthless the next.  When people don't see help for this sickness, they try to self medicate--drink, do drugs, spend money--whatever they can to get a high, a rush, and feed their mania.  But eventually, none of that is going to help...none of that will help kill that inner pain.  That rush, that high, only lasts for so long and then the severe depression takes over.  The drugs, the alcohol, only fuel the disease and cause you to not be yourself.  Eventually, you cannot mask the pain anymore, nothing is fixing it. You don't want to die, you just want the pain gone. 10 years ago t

Growing up, I frequently sang a solo in church called "Life is hard but God is good". It was a song my dad always favored me singing. The lyrics replay in my mind frequently...."Life is hard, the world is cold. You're barely young and then you're old. Every falling tear is always understood, life is hard but God is good."  There is a YouTube video being forwarded on Facebook that some people may or may not have watched. It features a lesbian who discusses "coming out of the closet" and how hard it was for her. But that was not the point of her discussion. She said all of us have our closets to come out of...all of us have our hard times. We do not  have the right to judge someone else's hard time. We are not able to say "my hard time is harder than theirs".  My family has had some very hard times over the last 10 years. Hard.  Brad and I have had our hard  times as newlyweds with financial difficulties, home improvements needs

Out of all the creatures God created, why did God make the dog "man's best friend"?  Have you ever thought about it?  I know some people have a connection with their cats, fish, mouse (or other pet), but what is so special about the dog? As I'm watching "Little People, Big World", tears are literally streaming down my face.  Their dog, who they found out had aggressive cancer, passed away.  They found him asleep  in their back yard. This story really hits home.  I know many people can say their dog has been a blessing, a Godsend to them...but mine truly has been.  My dog, a little black and white spotted chihuahua, was found on the side of the road by two of my coworkers in South Carolina in 2007 during their lunch break.  They brought her back to the office...she was COVERED in fleas and sores.  I didn't care because I just knew she was mine.  I had just gotten out of a tough break up at the time and I really believe she was found just for me.  I to

so many facebook posts and new stories lately have been breaking my heart... **the young teen, Devin, from Port Clinton, who has brain cancer and chemo isn't working **a friend of ours (and newlywed) from Indiana who just found out her NEW husband has leukemia **a friend of mine who's young son cut the tip of his finger off and could possibly lose it **a friend who's boyfriend got burned pretty badly while in another state **so many more sicknesses, deaths, and hardships that are affecting friends and family, and community members So often, to try and make the affected person feel better, we say "I'll pray for you"...or "You're in my thoughts".....I got to thinking...when you say those words, do you really mean it?  I've grown up in a Christian family and those words to me started to seem like a cookie cutter answer to people who tell you their problems.   Our family has been through trials I would not want any other family