DelightStruck

Friends, I'm introducing a little something new to my Faith Friday series. Once a month, I'll be hosting a guest writer to share their faith journey, and let us meet them in the raw of everyday, in the joy, the heartache and the struggles. Today is Elaine Carr. She's a kindred spirit and such a light to so many. She also owns Macaroni Kid Indianapolis-Indy Loop In and Macaroni Kid Hamilton County . Grab a warm cup of coffee or tea, sit a bit and take in all Elaine has to share. She Has A Front Row Seat to All The Joy It was four weeks ago that I crept into my youngest daughter’s bedroom to check on her and kiss her, as she slept. She awoke for a minute and asked where I was going; I responded, “I’m going to Riley for the night with a couple friends from church.” She sat up for a moment and asked, “Oh, is Camrynne going to Heaven now?” I told her that yes, Camrynne will be going to Heaven very soon. A huge smile crept over her first-grade face, her eyes lit up, and she...

Did you know Louisa May Alcott didn't really want to write for girls? She had a lucrative pulp fiction career, when an editor on her publishing team pushed her to dabble. She begrudgingly agreed to write Little Women . She notes that she didn't know what to write, so she wrote about her sisters and herself. Meg is actually her sister Anna, Beth is her sister Lizzie, and Amy is based on her sister May. Louisa May based Jo on herself. Aren't you glad she dabbled? I fell in love with all the delightstruck of the March sisters and the tale of Little Women long ago. My mother loved it and introduced the beautiful piece of literature to my sisters and me. She read to us until we could read to ourselves. I could read it over and over again and never bore of its contents. I love the various movie adaptations just as much. Sometimes I think when we write what we know and let bits and pieces of the real authentic us shine through, it can't help but resonate with people. Of...

It never goes away entirely. Sometimes waves of grief slowly lap at the shoreline, and sometimes they seem to overtake you like a storm is a-brewin' at sea. This February has been one of those months for me. The waves are mammoth and angry. I've been in a bit of a funk and melancholy. Coach Man and I had a fight about... get this - my birthday. Of all things. Who fights about that? It's a bit of a milestone birthday this year, and I'm not in the mood to party. Not because I'm in denial of the number of years, but because I so miss my mama, and I'd prefer for this February to pass by quietly. It's so not fair that she's not here for this specific year, and for all the other milestones that come and go. She left us in 2013. Six years this month. Grief ebbs and flows, but it never leaves. And you never quite know what will trigger it. I will forever miss her. Yes, I smile at the legacy of love she's left behind, I weave pieces of her into my li...