Small Stories of a Big God
Alarm Fatigue
Alarm fatigue. It’s a new phrase that is catching on in the news recently and in nursing journals. If you work in a hospital, you don’t need a definition, you are just nodding your head, Uh-huh. In the 20 years I’ve worked in hospitals alarms have taken off, so that...
The Lord is My Portion
“The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore will I hope in Him.” Lamentations 3:24 NKJV “I just can’t understand a God who would allow such suffering in the world.” I wish this statement wasn’t so annoying to me. I’ve heard it often and it’s spoken sincerely, but...
The Turkey Hunt
**** A Thanksgiving post from the past. Enjoy! November has a peculiar color, at least in New England. It’s not the flashy display of October, it’s more austere. The newly bare branches dominate the few leaves that are left, so the palette is mostly gray with some...
What I Learned From People Who Can’t Even Tie Their Shoes
I snapped awake to the sound of my son’s voice calling up the stairs. “We’re leaving now, Mom.” His voice was gentle and low, but I bolted out of bed, brushed my teeth and hurried down stairs. What if the girls woke up? What if they found no one there? Would they cry...
Enduring Grace
Endure hardship. These two plain words reverberated within me. What? Yet I knew where they came from, the gentle but unyielding press of the Holy Spirit, the Lover of my soul. The words seemed…a little harsh maybe. It had been less than a year since I lost my son. The...
Watching Mostly Sparrows
The big wooden posts in my back yard were perfect for hanging bird feeders and windchimes. They faced each other like goalposts and even had several rusted hooks in place, at one time meant for clothesline. I’m not sure what drew me to bird-watching last summer, but...
More Precious than Diamonds
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9 As soon as my left hand grabbed the hot coffee cup I knew something wasn’t right....
Poor in Spirit
We could hear the movie playing as we pulled into the crowded parking lot. It was Friday night, and the small development was alive with motion and sound. As we walked towards the hum of the generator we saw a small crowd on a little patch of grass under a tree, and...
The Secret Path
The email subject simply said “Thanks for sharing”. It was from a father who lost his two year old son last February and I eagerly read the text that followed. He shared briefly his circumstances, then left a link to an audio of his son’s funeral, urging me to listen....
Building Memorials
As this website and blog turn one year old this month I have been looking back and reflecting. One year isn’t a very long span of time, which suits me well since my memory is getting a little ragged. But I vividly recall sitting in front of this same laptop and asking...
An Easy Answer
The gentle but firm tug on my scrub pants stopped me half way across the room. I looked down into a beautiful pair of dark eyes that searched mine, needing answers. I had already gone over pain control options, which Marisa desperately needed but her question took me...
Follow Jesus: No Lines, No Waiting
Let me start by saying I love Chick-Fil-A. When my husband and I were down south in May we were in a long drive up line and a young man approached our car to take our order, apologizing for the wait. Then he asked if it was our first time and for my husband it was....
Small Wonder
****As a special gift to my readers (and to myself) I have asked a couple of friends to be my guests. This a beautiful post written by my brother, Bob Gulian. You may remember the name from the Brothers Gulian post I wrote. Enjoy! I commute to New York City from...
Gorillas and Girls
I bought the dainty little tea cups at a small yard sale, many years ago, when yard sales held surprising treasures, mysterious keepsakes of someone’s past, perhaps gone now; a part of their life displayed curiously on an old card table. I only know they were an...
Musings from a Mother of the Groom
I remember a comment made to me by an elderly woman who was a patient of mine. It was early morning and my shift was almost over. I moved quietly about her room, hoping to not disturb her, yet I could feel her watching me and finally I turned to discover I was right....
Staying with Your Feet
Chances are if you’ve seen me over the last few weeks, you’ve seen paint on my hands. My husband and I bought a “fixer-upper” that hasn’t seen a make-over since 1972. I’m no Martha Stewart but I know avocado-green, orange and mustard yellow haven’t hung out together...
Mothers Day Gift
It’s Mother’s Day and my hand traces the necklace I now wear, a smooth silk strand threaded with beads and sparkling stones. I’m remembering a Mother’s Day 13 years ago, my sons Spencer and Miles with huge grins, handing me the sweet little gift bag, which seemed...
An Anchor in the Storm
My husband and I had just settled into a booth at one of our favorite breakfast spots yesterday. It was a Saturday, a beautiful spring morning at the end of school vacation week, so the atmosphere seemed happy and boisterous for the small coffee shop with an upbeat...
You Are My Hiding Place
You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. Psalm 32:7 NKJ I can still feel the smooth, cool branches of the huge maple tree on my hands and legs as I shimmied up the limbs, familiar with each...
Jesus and Jelly Beans
I did not expect to wake up to the sound of jelly beans hitting the walls and windows. But as I sat up and blinked twice I realized it was true. Jelly beans were scattered across my bed and my father was running around our beds yelling, “There he goes! There he goes!”...
The Winter That Wasn’t
We New Englanders have been left in the perplexing position of having not much to complain about this winter…weather-wise. We will always complain about something. But this winter may go down, quietly, as the winter that wasn’t. A bizarre autumn blizzard...
Bruno’s Birthday
There wasn’t much to the Woodside cemetery back in 2002. It was January and the wind coming off the pond whipped across the barren hill leading up to the older graves. There were a few headstones scattered just above where I stood but the field around me was fairly...
No More Tears
The plane rose steadily above the North Carolina country until the visible details of life diminished into diffuse patches of green and brown farmland. “I’m not going to cry”, I silently challenged myself. I had stayed awake the night before, restless with dread....
The Family Tree
Adopted. The word leapt from the page and jolted me awake. It was 6:30 in the morning. I had guzzled a cup of coffee and was heading out the door to work when I decided to check my email. My sister had contacted me the day before with a photograph she found through an...
A Gastrointestinal Parable
Last night when my husband, C.B. and I sat down to eat dinner I made this statement: “I don’t think I should eat this.” It was my homemade chicken tortilla soup and it tasted fine. But there was a monster in my stomach who was slowly moving in and taking control. I...