DELIGHTS AND SHADOWS
 
 
 
 
Her Reads Stepping Heavenward E. Prentiss Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul C. Medwick A Steadfast Heart E. Fitzpatrick His Reads Jean-Paul Sartre A Life A. Cohen-Solal Swann’s Way Marcel Proust Sonnets to Orpheus R. M. Rilke
 
 
Blog Reads Asteroid B612 Being Bilingual Borderlines Brimms Blogs Girl On A Journey In Process Little Thoughts Missing Mississippi My Family Lines Oh, Canada! Paul and Amber Please Pass the Salt T’katch The Pitter-Patter of Pattersons The Potoshnick Family The Mawhinney Family The Tallon Adventures Vetus Testamentum View from the Prairie Box What Counts in Lifehttp://ab612.partialflow.com/http://bilinguistics.blogspot.com/http://borderministry.blogspot.com/http://www.brimmsblogs.blogspot.com/http://redemptionvacations.blogspot.com/http://charityinprocess.wordpress.comhttp://blazedthoughts.blogspot.com/http://www.wachdorf.com/haley-blog/http://jandklines.blogspot.com/http://canadaodowds.blogspot.com/http://www.paulandamber.blogspot.com/http://www.pleasepassthesalt.net/http://callybooker.wordpress.com/http://www.battlemtnfamily.blogspot.com/http://thepotoshnickfam.blogspot.com/http://www.xanga.com/home2.aspx?user=themawhinneyshttp://thetallons.blogspot.com/http://www.danieldriver.com/http://www.tredways.org/http://www.erikacounts.blogspot.com/shapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2shapeimage_3_link_3shapeimage_3_link_4shapeimage_3_link_5shapeimage_3_link_6shapeimage_3_link_7shapeimage_3_link_8shapeimage_3_link_9shapeimage_3_link_10shapeimage_3_link_11shapeimage_3_link_12shapeimage_3_link_13shapeimage_3_link_14shapeimage_3_link_15shapeimage_3_link_16shapeimage_3_link_17shapeimage_3_link_18shapeimage_3_link_19
 
 
Monday, June 29, 2009
All Now Mysterious
 
    I suppose everyone who suffers wrestles with the question of, “Why?” It seems like there should be comfort in understanding the reasons for heartbreak. There is nothing worse than meaningless suffering - suffering that has no point to it, no purpose, no ultimate end. And my little pea brain seems to think that if there is a purpose to my suffering (and I know there is) then discovering that purpose is the next step. I must comprehend it, search it out and understand it in intimate
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Saturday, June 13, 2009
As the Master shall the servant be...
 
    Losing our babies was the greatest shock we have ever known.
    I grew up in a very happy home. I have two parents that love me greatly. I have four siblings whom I love and who love me. I had bumps and bruises along the way, of course, but very little to disrupt the settled happiness in my heart. I had the amazing privilege of living overseas. I loved all four years of college. I married the best man in the world (still can’t figure out why he picked ME). Blessings heaped on my head,
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Sunday, May 31, 2009
Christian Lament
 
    “I am the man who has seen affliction
        under the rod of His wrath;
    He has driven and brought me
        into darkness without any light;
    surely against me He turns His hand
        again and again the whole day long.”    (Lamentations 3: 1-3)
    It seems like Christians have a reputation for being stoics, unwilling to admit pain and suffering. No doubt some of this is due to the fact that Christians do try to bow to God’s will, striving to accept from His hand both good and
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Present Tense
 
    Recently I had the first of what I imagine will be many such conversations. We ran into a friend whom we had not seen since our seminary days. He was very kindly interested in all we had been up to and wanted to hear about our Britain years as well as how things were going here in Minnesota. I knew the question was coming and I steeled myself for it, wondering what I would say and how I would say it.
    And, sure enough, it came quite quickly: “And still no children?”
    Before there
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Friday, May 1, 2009
To Mourn
 
    Thank you all for your kind comments. We have been amazed to discover the comfort of knowing that there are many who are grieving with us.
    Why is it that our society has no ritual of mourning? With all you hear about “healthy grief” from our culture of psychobabble we are surprisingly embarrassed when faced with deep suffering and sorrow. You are expected to have your few moments of tears and then, apparently, get on with life. It’s best to move on - get back into the swing of things -
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