by Liz Clark | Jan 21, 2016 | Family, Personal Development
Last week, I was scrolling through my Facebook News Feed, passing time while my husband drove us to our son’s karate practice & belt promotion ceremony. Without warning, I landed on a status update that didn’t make any sense. It was a death announcement on a dear friend’s Facebook wall. She had died just hours before. Normally, I would have kept it together and waited until my husband wasn’t driving to tell my family this news. Normally. But, this was so shocking! So unexpected. My husband and I know this family well. I shared the news immediately and we were all in disbelief. I learned that she had been in the hospital since Monday of that week. I didn’t know. In the days since her passing, I’ve reconnected with friends we had in common that I haven’t talked to in a long time. While all of us were shocked and saddened, it is astounding how so many of us seem to know exactly what she would want. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my friend lived her life in a way that, in many ways, prepared us for her death – in the best way possible. She lived out clear values and boundaries that are surprisingly comforting even without her here. Here are the lessons my friend taught with her life that unintentionally prepared us to grieve her death: Look to God to Meet Your Needs She was a strong, independent woman, a wife, mother and minister. But despite her many responsibilities, her source of strength, love and peace came from one source – God. She...
by Liz Clark | Jun 21, 2015 | Family, Mom Matters
Once upon a time a long time ago in a land called Ohio, a tired mom was facing a problem. It wasn’t really a big problem, but to her, it felt like one. She didn’t really “see” the problem until she got to church each Sunday. It was as if something magical happened when her growing family pulled into the church parking lot. She would suddenly “see” her 4 kids in a whole new light: toothpaste smeared on shirts and mouths, mismatched socks, cowlicks – why hadn’t she seen any of this before they left the house? She was tired of looking like a Target-ad-gone-wrong and made a special effort one Saturday to make absolutely sure her family had their Sunday best ready to wear to church the next day. She ironed. She steamed jackets. She matched socks. She rose early Sunday morning and administered the getting-ready-for-church ritual with military-like precision. As the young family neared their church building that Sunday, she felt relieved. FINALLY a Sunday where she didn’t have to walk in feeling a little embarrassed. She was wearing a dress and her husband and kids were all wearing button down shirts, dress pants and jackets. It was then that she saw bright orange balloons. People wearing bright orange T-shirts along the church’s driveway holding signs waving enthusiastically. What was going on? The mom hung her head as it dawned on her: This was “Biker Sunday.” The ONE Sunday a year where the church hosted an “outreach” to Bikers including a contemporary service followed by a church picnic / pig roast outside. Everyone was wearing jeans and orange t-shirts. How could...
