Learning To Listen and Praying with Eyes Wide Open

It's been a good Summer... and I have been unapologetically taking time "off" social media and writing for the sake of staying present with my family.  As the kids get older, I'm realizing their independence can easily turn into my excuse for independent parenting... meaning... I can let them play outside without close supervision, they can feed themselves and play with each other (rather than have Mama over here "entertaining" them).  Right?  So, as I set out to live a life of being present, in the moment, with my kids, I realized I had less and less time to listen to the Lord in the quietness of my days.  Seriously, though... Quiet?  What is quiet?

A Different Kind of Grief

Grief is so thick.
While everyone grieves differently, and for different reasons, grief has a way of creeping in at different seasons in our lives.
I'm not an expert on grief.  Or on how people can and should grieve.  Goodness, I can't even claim to know and understand the levels of pain, suffering, and hurt that grief brings to someone's soul.  I recently wrote about how to enter into someone else's grief here, but I'm still aware of my limitations.

Loss is inevitable.
People lose people.
People lose jobs and careers.
People lose status.
People lose comfort & routines.

Loss is part of our lives.

Jesus In The Grief Of Others

Today marks the end of the very first week of 2017.  That's crazy!  I look around me and I can think of several people within my close community and family going through TOUGH situations.