How often do I read in Nahum? Not too often. I recently ran across a small book that was given to me as a gift, I know who gave it to me and I think the occasion was my 40th birthday. That seems many moons ago! Especially since that “4” will change to another number on my next birthday! Anyway…I digress…I do not often read Nahum, but I ran across this book entitled God’s Promises For Your Every Need. The topics range from “Jesus is Your…” to “What to do When…” I found this under “What to do When Troubles Hit Your Life.” It is the first promise listed in that section. What an awesome promise…”The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.” Refuge is defined as a place of shelter, protection or safety. The Lord is good, a REFUGE…a shelter, a protection, a safety…he is all of that and more. All I have to do is reach out and accept is his gift of eternal life to be able to embrace his offer of being my refuge. No matter what befalls me in life, he is my refuge, he is my shelter, he is my protection…what a TRULY. AWESOME. PROMISE!! Thank you, Jesus!!
Yesterday morning, I mentioned that my job interview went well on Friday…late yesterday, I received and accepted the firm’s job offer. I start the beginning of May. I am a little afraid…not of the job – I think I will love it. I really liked all of the people that interviewed me and I believe it is the right thing for me to do; I have certainly spent weeks praying about a job. What scares me, just a little, are two things…I will work more hours than I have worked in a long time and I will have further to drive. I am afraid that I will have a hard time managing everything…exercise, blogging, housekeeping, work, etc. But…I do believe that this is His will for my life and therefore, I will trust…afterall, he is my refuge in times of trouble…BUT…he is ALWAYS with me, even when I am not in trouble. Therefore, I should be fine.
Lord, thank you for everything. Your promise of being my refuge. Your promise to be with me always. Your gift of your son and eternal life. I am truly grateful, Lord. Thank you for my family, please be with them, keep them safe. Please help Andy, Lord, guide him, give him courage and strength. Help him with the decisions and choices he is making. Thank you for the gift of my new job. May I be a light for you in my place of employment.
Congratulations on the new job! If it is the Lord's will, he will provide what you need to accomplish it. I work full time outside of the home. I drive 30 minutes to work and back everyday. There are times I feel like I have too much to fit into a 24 hour period and I don't even have children! He will help you prioritize. I have to get up early to accomplish what I want! God first in the morning. It's amazing how much more energy and time I seem to have in the day when I give him the first fruits of my day as opposed to when I neglect him!~ Blessings to you as you start this new adventure!
In what seems like the blink of an eye, it is 31 years later. Not a day goes by that I do not think of her.
My heart still hurts.
I cry at random times.
And I miss her. Still. 31 years later.
I grieve all the things that didn`t happen.
The relationships.
The life events.
Strangely though there are fewer tears today. Sometimes I think my tears are all gone. The well is dry.
Lack of tears does not mean lack of grief. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. So I accept my emotions today-whatever they may be.
If you know someone that has experienced a loss, don`t be afraid to tell them you remember. Let them know you care. Take a meal, send a text, write and snail mail a card. We want to know our loss is not forgotten.
I cried in church. Not because I was thinking about the events leading up to the crucifixion but because there was a little girl of about 5 or so sitting in front of me. She had the most gorgeous dark hair. With streaks of gold running through it. Natural streaks. Not the artificial colored streaks I pay more than I`m willing to share to get every few months.
As I observed her I thought about my own daughter. The one that died at 4 days old.
I thought of how she might be standing next to me this morning or next Sunday on Easter. Maybe she would have travelled to Charlotte to spend some time with her dad and me.
Grief is something that robs us of so much. It robs me of not just my daughter but it robs me of being the mom of a daughter.
I look at some of my closest friends, all mothers of daughters and I envy, yes ENVY!, the relationships they all have with their daughters. They may not agree with them on all things or see eye-to-eye with them but the daughters lead the charge to throw surprise 60th birthday parties for their parents or make sure that mom gets a Mother`s Day card, a birthday card, etc.
I think daughters are different than sons. Daughters are more sensitive than sons based on my observations as an outsider. I do not experience that sensitivity. And I grieve the fact that I am not the mother of a daughter.
The version of me before Amy`s death is totally different than the me that is here now.
If you want to read more about about my daughter, Amy, you can go to https://marybonner.net/?s=Amy and read more about my journey through infant loss and moving forward.
Adam McHugh`s book Blood From a Stone is a beautiful piece of writing about returning from the dead. I encourage you to check it out. You can find the book on Amazon or wherever books are sold. Find and follow him @adammchughwine You won`t be sorry.
"Grief is so agonizing not only because you have lost something, but you have lost someone, and that someone is the version of you that was alive before your loss." Blood From a Stone Adam McHugh Page 102
Every June I think I`m going to handle this better. Whatever better looks like - I don`t know. 30 years and I still cry at random times. And every June I fall apart.
She would have been 30 next week. Instead of whisking her off for a 30th birthday trip to Key West like we did for her brother @coach_andy_bonner or Niagara Falls like we did for his wife we will make another kind of trip.
There will be a mass next Saturday and we will stand at a grave site as we move her body from the small town where she was buried to a final resting place by her paternal grandparents on the beautiful grounds of St Emma Monastery in Greensburg, PA.
I look forward to the weekend and I dread it all at the same time.
Today I broke down and sobbed. Just like yesterday. And probably will tomorrow. But I remember that He catches my tears in a bottle Psalm 56:8
If I learned anything from this life experience, it is this: I can do hard things. But not of my own strength. Philippians 4:13
When I tell people that I am a VA (Virtual Assistant) often they want to know what I DO. And I tell them that I mostly deal with details. Managing the things (details) that creative people do not see themselves as “good at.” Budgets, remembering dates, creating schedules and timelines, gathering data and information, making sure they get paid, etc. A few years ago, I took on my first social media influencer client. And after working for 5 years with only faith-based clients, social media was a different world! I learned how to navigate that world and now my social media clients are among my favorites. In fact, I let go of most of my other clients to allow more time to work with the influencers. One of the faith-based clients I kept is @kriscamealy of @refineretreat
I have known Kris for 10 years and worked with her on Refine for, I don’t know…maybe 6. Kris recognizes the importance of rest and soul-care that enables us to create better and more meaningful content. Allows us to be more present for our families, clients, and our businesses.
Whether we are writing in our journal, painting on a canvas, creating paid content for a social media outlet, sitting at a pottery wheel, whatever the creative outlet we must tend to our souls. We must rest. We must learn to pause.
#Soulcare is not optional in this world in which we live. We must learn to stop so that we are able to go. We can run at a break-neck, full-tilt speed for a while but at some point, we will crash.
If you are looking for a way to slow down and take a weekend to care for yourself and your soul, check out @refineretreat. Maybe Refine isn’t for you. That is ok. But if you think this only applies to faith-based work, check out @lindsaynead ‘s post from April 19. Lindsay is an amazing businesswoman and she recognizes the power of slowing down. Of stopping. Of resting. She took a break and found herself better for it.
Leroy left us today. He was diagnosed with Lymphoma 4 weeks ago tomorrow. I miss him so much. Some early photos are in my stories. He was THE BEST DOG! And he had a good life. He was SPOILED rotten. At times I think @coach_andy_bonner thought Leroy was treated better than Andy when he was home.
Yay for the new job! That's so great!
Congratulations on the new job! If it is the Lord's will, he will provide what you need to accomplish it. I work full time outside of the home. I drive 30 minutes to work and back everyday. There are times I feel like I have too much to fit into a 24 hour period and I don't even have children! He will help you prioritize. I have to get up early to accomplish what I want! God first in the morning. It's amazing how much more energy and time I seem to have in the day when I give him the first fruits of my day as opposed to when I neglect him!~ Blessings to you as you start this new adventure!