Embracing The Beautiful Ache

I met a new friend several months ago as I got to know author Leigh McLeroy. As she and I both traverse the journey of having a loved one with cancer, we share our hearts--and her new book brings healing and keen insight into all of our lives. Hope you'll check out the web site at www.thebeautifulache.com. There's a wonderful video there that will encourage you on your journey.

New Book Illuminates the Beautiful Ache of Living Between Heaven and Earth

Humans seem to be born with a spiritual hunger for something they can’t quite name. Writer Leigh McLeroy calls it “the beautiful ache,” a fleeting pang that says, “there’s something more than this life.” Her new book describes a “wide-awake living” that embraces that yearning, yet is immersed in the here and now, with all its beauty and pleasure, messiness and pain.

Find out more about the March 1 release The Beautiful Ache by visiting www.thebeautifulache.com. Exquisite writing that encourages you to savor deeply the beauty you find on earth, even when it hurts. You'll find beautiful inspiration that helps you find a taste of heaven on earth.

This good news just in

The snowy frozen tundra precluded a visit to see dad this last weekend...but on a very positive note, he spoke in both Sunday School and church. I'm so very proud of his tenacity.

And in *extremely good news*, the book 90 Minutes in Heaven, a title I've been marketing for the last year and half, is #7 on the NY Times bestseller non-fiction paperback list!

90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN, by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey. (Revell, $12.99.) A Baptist minister describes the otherworldly experience he had after a car accident. Check out the video at www.90minutesinheaven.com.

I'm currently working on a 90 Minutes special for Christian radio that will be released for the pre-Easter season. It's humbling and exciting to think that thousands of people are being reached each day with this life-changing story. Haven't read it? I highly recommend it. Even if you check it out from the library...but better yet, buy a copy, then pass it on when you are done. :)

The Good News

How nice to have good news--dad's doctor discovered that he doesn't have any cancer in his liver, and that the other cancer has not spread further.

I'll be celebrating with him this weekend, as I face the snowy Michigan tundra to make my way down to Indiana. :)

Happy Wednesday to you...

Dad Returns Home

Thank you again for your prayers for my father. His thinking seems to be clearing, and he is resting at home now. My mom’s update below that was sent this last weekend.

Hello again!

Thank you for your prayers for us this week. Dick came home from the hospital this afternoon. The confusion was probably caused from dehydration and possibly the chemo. He also had an infection he got from taking antibiotics for infection--so he has a new antibiotic. Medicine is interesting--and frustrating.

The doctor says no going to church tomorrow--just rest. He begins physical therapy at home next week. They want to do a "walking EEG" on his brain (he wears a brain monitor for a few days ) but none are available until the 22nd.

His hearing loss is even worse than before so if I happen to be talking to you and enunciating my words slowly and clearly--sorry! I continue to work as much as possible. I can't thank the church enough for all they have done for me!!!!

I guess our prayer request would be just to keep Dick from infection and to help us evaluate the chemotherapy procedure.

Dick spent a lot of time on the computer reading your e-mail and was encouraged by it. God has proven His faithfulness and we can't thank Him and you enough!!!!

I pray you will be blessed as you have blessed us.

Anita

Dealing with the Grief

Dad is back in the hospital and is quite disoriented. They believe his confusion is stemming from some kind of infection. To be honest, it sounds like they really have no idea what is going on. Only God does, really.

One of my authors sent me the beautiful passage below from Bill Hendricks' book The Light That Never Dies. He lost his wife to breast cancer six years ago:

God does not want us to deny pain. God gives us permission to feel the pain – right in the middle of Romans 8. For sure, we must never lose sight of those grand and glorious mountains on either end of that passage. The one declares that nothing can condemn us if we are in Christ. The other insists that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. But nestled in between those magnificent peaks is a steep valley. And in that valley is a glacier, very deep, very heavy, and very dark. Indeed, like most substantial glaciers, the ice is so dense and solid that it has turned dark blue. And, like most substantial glaciers, it has gouged a significant scar on the terrain…

The pain we feel is legitimate, and to be expected. Indeed, if someone doesn’t groan when accosted by the fallenness of this world, we need to be concerned about their health and the condition of their humanity. Irrational? You bet. Seemingly out of control? Perhaps. But during the last ten years, I have learned that it is occasionally necessary to go a little bit crazy so as not to go completely insane. Romans 8 reassures me that God doesn’t seem to mind if I go a little bit crazy when tossed about like a rag doll by the futility of this fallen world.

Hello again

Yes, I've wanted to post...lots of holiday pictures and New Year's goals and sweet family moments, etc. But time has run away from me.

There will be a year-in-review to come, when I have time to sit in the coffee shop and leisurely pound away on my ibook. I anticipate it with a certain wistfulness. I can even imagine the feel of a steaming latte with whipped cream on top--and the smell, for that matter. Casually chatting with the barista, sitting among strangers, alone with my thoughts and dreams for the future.

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A bit of an update...

Dad looks great these days, although he can barely hear anything. For some reason, his poor hearing has grown dramatically worse. So sometimes, like this weekend, we just sit silently in the same room, sharing each other's company.

When we want to talk, I pull up a chair and make sure dad can read my lips. He now sports a bristly white goatee, and he's smiling almost always. He seems at peace, comfortable with where he's at, sure of where he's headed.

He always wants to know about my work, what new things am I digging into, what books am I particularly excited about. It's a comfort to be near him.

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President Ford passed away recently, and some people I know went to see his casket, to pay their respects.

As the coverage continued to splash across my TV screen, I remembered something from my childhood. President Ford had passed through our town on a train, and we pulled our car over, and got out to see him. He was waving from the caboose. And it was all very exciting.

Just this last week I found out I would have been only 2 years old at that time. It's hard to believe I can remember it, and it makes you wonder what causes an event to stick in our minds--to be "memorable," and how does the accumulation of all those memories, conscious and unconscious, influence who we are today.

Enough introspection... :) Enjoy your day. Make new memories. Embrace the good ones you've already been given.

Talk to you soon.