The Chosen Lady

When Jesus was crucified as punishment for our sins, after he died his body was removed from the cross and hastily prepared for burial in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. In ancient Jerusalem there would be a seven-day period of grieving called shivah (after the Hebrew word שבע meaning seven). The shivah began with burial of the deceased. During this period, immediate family would refrain from work: they would sit at home on low couches, heads covered, receiving condolences of relatives and friends. This tradition is believed to have originated from Job 2:13 and Genesis 50:10 where those who mourned did so for seven days.  * When Jesus was born, the Wise Men had worshipped him with…

Growing up in suburban New Jersey, I was a typical 80s wild child. My friends and I went home when it got dark and our respective mothers started calling for us as the porch lights were turned on. When I moved to New Hampshire shortly after high school, I went into profound culture shock ; I didn’t understand the regional drop your r’s accent. I pondered how the alphabet was taught to young children here? Q, AH, S? I suffered when being labeled the oxymoronic, “wicked nice,” until I understood it to be a high compliment. I pined for New Jersey pizza, late nights at 24-hour diners and people who…

When Barry died, he traveled where I could not go yet.  His passport was stamped Heaven, mine was stamped Heartbroken. I was thrust into a country I didn’t book reservations for. Each time I asked my GPS ( God Prayer Service) for a ticket to Life Before, the answer remained the same.  No return flight.  Some of you understood that implicitly. You didn’t ask the gate agent when I’d be returning home to Life Before or look to a flight attendant to exchange your seats to provide you more comfort.  You rushed to my new country without hesitation.  Some of you arrived without words, tentatively, but you stayed and listened,…

A year has flown by in a merciful haze. One year ago, my husband had his final heartbeat on earth. But I am choosing joy today, not sadness, knowing that my (never late) late husband, Barry, has spent a year in his new home, (John 14:2-6) in his new body, ( Phil 3: 20-21)  and didn’t have to go to work! (Revelation 14:13.)   Barry used to say, “Elle , can you hurry up and win the lottery so I don’t have to work?” Barry has spent a year in God’s holy presence in a world without sin. He is reunited with his children, his parents, his brother, his grandparents.…

Years ago, my late husband Barry and I were treated to a long overdue honeymoon. We were ecstatic at the idea of a week of surf, sand and the rarest commodity known to parents – solitude. We issued a very stern, “Do not Disturb” order to the younger children before we left, leaving our eldest son in charge. With that, we boarded the plane and giggled the entire flight like the newlyweds we totally weren’t. Arriving at our destination, we were greeted to a spacious ninth story oceanfront condominium. Every surface sparkled with southern sun, there were more bedrooms than we needed, and the balcony was palatial. Unused to being…

I wrote this a few years ago and found it tonight, thought I would share with you, dear reader. My husband and I were driving the other day and I said to him, “I wish addiction took a holiday.” It doesn’t though. The trials and tribulations of loving a child with addiction issues never takes a holiday or a day off. However, Jesus never takes a day off from being the Savior either. He is always near to me, always ready to hear my prayers, always sovereign, always powerful, always loving. I have a beautiful daughter with scarred hands to match the battle she wages within herself. And although addiction…

Two days ago, I needed to take my teenage son to Boston for a necessary medical procedure that his doctor doesn’t perform locally. Boston is a little over an hour from my home and I was dreading the drive. My late husband, Barry, was always the chauffeur when we had to go to Boston for any reason. We were polar opposites when it came to driving – he loved driving like Jeff Gordon loves Nascar, while I preferred enjoying the scenery on a slow walk. This was my first solo drive into Beantown and I was prepared to grit my teeth and white knuckle drive it. Boston traffic can be…

On a very rainy November day in 1977, I was seven years old and my mom was unusually late picking me up from school. As students began to trickle out to their waiting buses or parents, I was left behind. Anxiety and fear started to gnaw at me. A fellow seven year old neighborhood playmate, Susan, was left behind as well. Selfishly, this made me feel better to have her familiar face as company. The school seemed less dark and cavernous with her tiny red headed presence beside me. I think Susan and I were both scared, but she seemed less so. Minutes feel like hours when you’re seven years…

I have been challenged this week by a dear friend and the Holy Spirit to examine my thoughts and I want to share what I have learned. There’s a beautiful story in the Marine Corps Times I have been pondering and I believe it’s worth sharing. In 1942, in response to the American amphibious landings in the eastern Solomon Islands on August 7, plans were hatched by Japanese Admiral Gunichi Makawa for a nighttime raid into Savo Sound with the goal of destroying the vulnerable American transports and cargo ships screening the Allied landing force. Throughout the night and early morning of August 8 and 9, the Japanese column slipped into the…

Well-meaning family, friends or strangers tell me that I will heal or that God will heal me.  As much as I believed that when my husband first died, now I have a much different perspective on healing.  Allow me to share my thoughts. Recently my son Beck called me and said he was on his way to a local urgent care after breaking his finger at work.  As a mother of six boys, I know if they can personally call me, chances are they’ll be fine. I employ the British Ministry of Information motto – “Keep calm and carry on.”  Beck’s x-rays revealed the newly broken finger bone, but like…