by jo | Nov 24, 2015 | Everyday Stories
If you told me 12 years ago that my world would change forever in a few months, I either wouldn’t have believed you, or I wouldn’t have been thankful at Thanksgiving. Not really. I probably would’ve said that I’d be grateful — good, strong church kid that I was. But I...
by jo | Jan 20, 2015 | Everyday Stories
A couple of years ago I was visiting my friend on her night shift at work and she had to leave to go tend to an issue. I sat waiting for her, and while I waited I replied to a friend’s text asking what I was doing with a picture of the barren room:...
by jo | Jan 13, 2015 | Everyday Stories, fitness and health, Myths & Cliches
I have a tattoo that you don’t know about. It is on the bottom of my foot, so you only see it if I am barefooted and have my feet up with the soles facing you. But I sit barefooted with my legs crossed often, so it’s often visible to me, an important reminder:...
by jo | Dec 30, 2014 | Everyday Stories
“How are you?” he asked me, having come up to me in church and hugged me. “I’m OK,” I said, though eyes rimmed in tear-smeared mascara-clad eyelashes. I smiled. Then the tears started again softly. Unexpected kindness brings them out. Well, it’s one of the...
by jo | Jul 29, 2014 | Everyday Stories, Jesus Time
About a year and a half ago, my world shattered. Today is not the day for those details. Just know that I don’t use the word “shattered” lightly. I lost people, places, calling. I used the word “decimated” a lot. I walked around in a fog of grief: The heaviness that...