When we give our lives away, we gain so much in return.

My parents modeled that type of giving from as far back as I can remember. For instance, when we moved into our home on 23^rd and Madison in Eugene the front door of our home built in the late 1800’s, opened onto an ally. Dad remodeled the house, switched the back to the front, and where that front door once was turned into the bathroom. 

But one of my first memories of my parents giving happened before that change. I still see Mom and Dad taking some of our Thanksgiving turkey to some worker that came up the alley. Now it might have been the mailman the day after Thanksgiving, but whoever the laborer, the part I remember is the sharing.   Read the rest of this entry »

What Do I Say?

Dear Caregiver,

After my husband’s terminal diagnosis with a rare cancer, Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP), it seemed like some of our friends lost all common sense. They said really “stupid” things. Mom said that was the least of my worries and in a few years it wouldn’t matter. I stewed anyway. Then we attended church.

“Well, Gar, you sure look good. Probably the hospital wasn’t that big a deal anyway.” My white-faced husband stood holding onto the back of the pew while a fellow parishioner made light of his situation. “Looks like you just needed a change of desire, you suppose?”

Change of desire? What kind of statement was that?

Read the rest of this entry »

Most Bible readers know the rainbow is mentioned in Genesis and the rainbow holds the primary colors. But what is the first color mentioned in the Bible? Does your mind go to the brown snake? The red apple (the fruit mentioned isn’t truly an apple, but we’ve heard Eve picked the apple for so long, our mind can play tricks on us and see the Delicious red apple in her hand).
Maybe you thought the blue of the sky or the yellow of the sun or the . . . The first color mentioned in the Bible is green. Check it out: Genesis 1:30