I started a new job in late August. The commute takes me within a “stone’s throw” of my first apartment in the Minneapolis area. I lived there 20 years ago during my first year out of college. Two decades have passed since then, yet time and time again this fall as I drove those familiar…Read more »

My paternal grandfather and I were very close. Being raised on a third-generation family farm meant that even after he “retired”, Grandpa came to the farm almost daily to work with my dad. I spent hours with him riding in the tractor cab and caring for animals. He was kind, loving, and full of a…Read more »

My family and I love the song “Way Maker”. Actually, love may not be a strong enough word. Whenever we hear it, we stop everything and start singing at the top of our lungs (and let’s just say that some of us are better singers than others. It all sounds the same to God, right?).…Read more »

A decade ago, when my oldest child, Jack, was a toddler, he had a long stretch of illness after illness. For about a year and a half, we saw doctor after doctor and ran test after test, as we desperately tried to determine what was weakening his immune system. Healing did eventually come, but the…Read more »

“Happy Mother’s Day!”  The words hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. My cheeks flushed and heat slowly radiated over my entire body, while my stomach did flip flops. My thoughts got jumbled and confused and the sounds of the noisy basketball tournament happening all around me faded away to crickets. Choking back…Read more »

About a month after my diagnosis, I was chatting with a dear friend. Our stories are eerily similar. Both of us had breast cancer and opted for double mastectomies. Both of us fought through chemo while raising children. Both of us are married to engineers (you can pray for us 😊). We even had the same…Read more »

A sweet friend of mine says, “Cancer is a thief”. Sadly, I am well versed in the harsh truth of this statement and I am guessing many of you are too. Like a thief, cancer quietly invaded my body. I am still at a loss as to when or how he got in, but he…Read more »