Category: The Valley
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Fall Break
Another fall break had come and gone. While driving west on 32, I noticed the most resplendent displays of golden-orange foliage that fell like confetti in the autumn breeze. It led me to reflect on last year’s fall break, when Joe and I ventured south to Brown County, Indiana. Our trip was…
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Home
I love the quote by JC Ryle that says “friendship halves our sorrows and doubles our joys.” During a time when it felt like our sorrows were quadrupling, God surrounded us with the most incredible friends, family, church family, and community to walk with us in the valley. One of…
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Wedding #1 (Part 2)
Normally in those days, Mom would enjoy a deep and restful slumber, but as soon as someone would begin talking to her or holding her hand, she’d slowly wake up. Things were different on that Sunday afternoon. The clock was ticking, the guests were in place. People were stirring all…
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Wedding #1 (Part 1)
For a long time, I would reflect on my season of engagement and remember the stress. There was sweetness, of course. But also constant list-making, errand-running, and the hectic non-stopness that comes with leaving and cleaving — finalizing details, applying for jobs, graduating college, finding an apartment, and stepping into…
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September 30
The word “trigger” is a bit of a buzzword among Gen Z-ers like myself, but triggers have become a harrowing reality of our walk through the valley. So many sights, sounds, and songs from that season now serve as brutal flashbacks that can bring me to tears in an instant.…
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The Long Game of Lament
It was the morning of September 26. I was curled up in the fetal position on my in-laws’ living room couch. They conveniently lived ten minutes from the hospital where my mom was transported, so we — my siblings, Joe, and Riley — shacked up there for the night. Mom…
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The Psalm 121 Checklist
As those September days drug on, we began to see signs of hope. During a neurological evaluation of her brain activity, a doctor asked mom her name. After several seconds of silence, she peeled back her lips and gently murmured, “Carrie Saunders.” We weren’t in the room to witness this,…
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Radiant
Everyone always says you don’t remember your wedding day, and many parts of that are true. It is an emotional blur of beautiful moments, anxious awaiting, standing behind wooden doors in preparation for the aisle walk that changes everything. Much of the day I don’t remember, except for what I’ve…
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Monday, September 25
I will never forget that morning of September 25, and the way a heaviness seemed to settle over our world like a dark cloud. I couldn’t explain the feeling, but once again, I couldn’t shake a sense of doom. Mom had made it through ten rounds of radiation. She had…
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Deepest Waters and Hottest Fires
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! Psalm 31:11-12 I’ve always thought that this Psalm about God turning mourning…
House on the Rock 