By: Julie Thompson We began the weekend as strangers, but left as friends and sisters in Christ. From the outside looking in, it wouldn’t appear that we have much in common. Some of us are young adults. Others are grandmothers. Some of us are single. Others are married. Some of us do not have...

By: Heather Wolper When my mom was sick, dear friends offered our family an escape from the harsh reality of cancer by the sandy shore of the ocean.  We forgot about treatments and timelines and how many days might be left. We watched the sun rise and fall and dipped...

By: Mary Ellen Collins I’m taking off my crown. For almost 50 years, I have lived under a curse. “We don’t like you.” “You are not a part of our family.” “Stay away.” “You are not welcome.” I have even had birthday cards returned to me. These words have pierced...

By: Danielle Ilacqua (Guest Blogger) Feeling like I have the scarlet letter “G” on my chest, I push forward in this thing we call life, just short a couple days of the three-month mark of my mom’s passing. It’s uncanny how grief works and everything seems to be magnified yet simplified....

By: Christine Fishel I’ve been reading Ann Voskamp’s The Broken Way: A Daring Path Into The Abundant Life. I feel like I know her, like she’s a kindred spirit, this mother-daughter-wife I’ve never met. She’s a lover of Jesus. And, based on her writing, she strives to stop striving and to...

By: Danielle Ilacqua (Guest Blogger) As Mother’s Day approaches and I see hundreds of commercials for flowers or cards, I just shrink back into a hole and wish for the passage of time quickly. The first year, which is the firsts of everything without your mom, is the toughest. That’s what “they”...

By: Mary Ellen Collins Recently I was asked by a new motherless daughter, “Will the pain ever go away?” That is such a very hard question to answer. It all just depends on so many factors. Each woman’s loss is unique. This woman was raised in a single parent home...

By: Danielle Ilacqua (Guest Blogger) Let’s face it, none of us are going to get out of this life alive. Knowing that doesn’t make it any easier when we are confronted with death knocking at our front door.  What happens when we aren’t ready for this chapter in our lives...

By: Mary Ellen Collins Last month was an anniversary of sorts. It marks the date the we succeeded. God chased me for many years, telling me what He wanted, and like so many in the old Testament, I ran, I hid, I ignored and quarreled with Him. I said “No.”...

By: Julie Thompson There are certain moments in time that change our lives forever. For me, one of those moments was when I learned my mom had passed away. It was eight years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I remember waking up at 12:40 a.m....