Loss has changed me in so many ways. It has changed me in ways that I thought it would and it has changed me in ways that I didn’t expect. It has changed how I view motherhood and it has changed how I view life. It has given me a…
Category: Grief
Faith
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Be Humble, Know Your Limits
Have you ever been in a situation where you needed help, and the person that said they could help you tried, but didn’t really help at all? They said that they knew what you were going through, but in the end their advice may have done more harm for you…
Faith
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Perfect Love
Have you ever been afraid? Have you ever been afraid of God? Have you ever felt unloved, unworthy, or unimportant? Have you ever felt like a failure, a fraud, or a hypocrite? Many, dare I say all of us, have at one time or another experienced at least one of these —…
Grief
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An Exciting Update!
In 2017 I prayed about starting a blog and as a result, “Embraced by Grace” was born. I’ve posted on and off over the last almost seven years, but have been super consistent over the last year and a half. My life looks radically different than it did seven years…
Grief
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Choose Your Hard
“Hard now, easy later; easy now, hard later” is a quote I heard somewhere and ever since then, I’ve realized just how much of life that applies to. More than just a catchy phrase, this has become a perspective shift for me. Realizing that this can be applied to nearly…
Grief
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A Thrill of Hope
Christmas is in FIVE days! For some, that sentence brings joy and/or excitement. For others that sentence brings grief and/or panic. For some it’s a combination of both. I rest in that third category — a mix of joy and grief — and yet, I find “a thrill of hope”…
Grief
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Grief and Grumpiness
Yesterday, I woke up and read my Bible and was in a pretty good mood — until I wasn’t. I couldn’t put my finger on why I was irritated, but I was. There were dishes that needed to be done, I was having a hard time keeping my older boys…
Grief
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Happy Thanksgiving Eve
Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays and I always looked forward to it because it marked the beginning of such a joy filled time of year. The holiday season was my dad’s favorite. I remember him making a…
Grief
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How Are You Doing?
“How are you doing?” is a question that I was asked more times than I can count within those initial days and weeks after my dad passed away. It’s just what people say and it was completely expected, but it was hard to answer. I had never really thought about…
Grief
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Take the Picture!
May 8, 2022 was Mother’s Day. We had baby dedications at church and since we were dedicating our second son, my dad came to church. That afternoon we went to my parents house and spent time with my dad, went on a walk, and then had dinner once my mom…
Grief
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Grief and Eggs
It had been a couple of days since my dad unexpectedly passed away and I decided to make breakfast. Marc had been taking care of everything including any food we had to make, but I needed to do something “normal” and breakfast felt like an easy enough task. I began…
Grief
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Grieving Well
Grief. It’s one of those things that I find uncomfortable to say the least. I don’t enjoy it and I’m not the best at dealing with it. I told myself that I was going to grieve the loss of my dad well because I didn’t grieve the loss of our…
Grief
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The Blessing of Going “Overdue”
Two weeks ago yesterday, I had the joy of giving birth to our third son! It was our third home birth and it went so well — for which I’m grateful. I was warned not to expect our third son’s birth to be like either of his brothers births. With…
Grief
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New Mercies and a New Year!
This week in between Christmas and New Year’s is always such an interesting week. The routine of a normal week is still not back because these holidays come exactly a week a part from each other. I feel like this week often brings a lot of reflection and a lot…
Grief
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The Joy of the Season
Christmas is less than two weeks away which seems crazy to me! I remember as a kid thinking that time went so slow, but now it seems to go by faster and faster. Some years I’ve been more ready for Christmas than others. It can be such a fun time…
Grief
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Four Years
Tomorrow marks four years since I had the honor and privilege or marrying my best friend. It feels like a long time ago and not very long ago at the same time. I know in the grand scheme of life that four years isn’t very long, but I also remember…
Grief
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Happy Thanksgiving Eve!
Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I’m so excited for tomorrow — it’s one of my favorite holidays and is really the kick-off of the holiday season for me. I so enjoy all the delicious food and getting together with family. There’s something special about the holiday season and it’s filled with memories…
Grief
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Six Months
I can’t believe that it has been six months since my dad unexpectedly passed away. Six months doesn’t seem like a long time and yet it does all at the same time. To think that it has been six months since he held my boys, since I heard him laugh,…
Grief
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Changing Seasons
As the colors on the leaves change and the garden wraps up, it’s a sure sign that the warmth of summer has ended. We’re now in the season of preparing for winter and all the snow that comes with it. The changing of seasons always brings up so many analogies…
Faith
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Where is God in Suffering?
Have you experienced suffering? Have you ever wondered why God allows suffering? Have you ever questioned why bad things happen to good people? You’re not alone in that. There is a desire as humans to have answers to these questions and while the answers don’t always make sense to our…
Grief
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Better Because of It?
Last December began a new season in my life as I began my journey as a wife! My husband and I were absolutely thrilled and excited as we began our life together. The weather was cold, but the snow held off and we were able to celebrate with some of…