Amidst the countless trials of 2020, have you wondered if God has forgotten you?
When prayers go unanswered, when illness strikes, when businesses fail, when other heartbreak happens...or it’s 2020...we can come to that conclusion.
And that conclusion couldn’t be more wrong.
2 + 2 ≠ 5.
Like everyone, I’ve had my share of times when life didn’t turn out as I had hoped and prayed. 2020 has just served up different “flavors” of disappointment and questions for us all.
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Posted on 10.18.2020 by Jody Noland
Posted on 10.11.2020 by Jody Noland
Back when we were able to freely gather for significant life events, did you ever have this thought after attending a Memorial Service? A life, no matter how long or well lived, is summed up in about 60 minutes.
When the service ends, most of us just shuffle out and go back to “business as usual.”
Yes, in some ways, that’s a very depressing thought. But in other ways, it’s a meaningful challenge.
Posted on 10.04.2020 by Jody Noland
“I’m so excited about turning 60! (or 70, 80, 90)” said no one, ever. Why is that? Why do we anticipate our early birthdays with such excitement yet dread the milestone birthdays in our later years?
All too often, aging is viewed as a synonym for loss. Loss of health, loss of abilities, loss of loved ones, loss of life’s work. Yes, the climb does seem to get steeper and more challenging as we approach the summit of life.
Posted on 9.29.2020 by Jody Noland
Imagine writing 300 love letters that remained unopened. 300! What kind of person would do such a thing? An incredibly devoted husband and widower, that’s who. A man who once said: “passion is momentary; love is enduring.”
Posted on 9.21.2020 by Jody Noland
Oh, the potential power of a metaphor. Amazing how a seemingly unrelated example can often provide a “lightbulb” moment to awaken someone to a really important truth. Jesus used them all the time. (Check out the red letters in the Gospels if you don’t believe me.)
As I have thought and shared about the life-changing impact of affirming words, I’ve often used the analogy of a watering can. The water that comes from a watering can helps plants to thrive, just as our words of encouragement can do in another’s life.
Posted on 9.15.2020 by Jody Noland
Have you ever tried to put toothpaste back in the tube? If so, then you know it’s a hopeless endeavor. Once it’s out, it’s out. The damage is done.
Hurtful words are like that too. Once said, we can’t take them back.
Oh, we might try to make excuses. But excuses don’t work.
“You know I say things I don’t mean when I’m angry.”
“I was just kidding.”
“What’s the big deal? You’re too sensitive!”
“My father said the same thing to me.”
Posted on 9.06.2020 by Jody Noland
Do you have a theme song for your life?
My signature tune has changed many times over the years. More often than I care to admit, My Way by Frank Sinatra most aptly reflected my life choices. (That refrain never turned out too well, by the way.)
Posted on 8.17.2020 by Jody Noland
Allergy season must have started early this year. Or maybe that’s not the real reason behind all of the red-eyed parents that I’ve seen recently. Yes, the red eyes are the symptom of a changing season...just a season of life, not the weather.
It’s a season of transition for many parents - the time when children are leaving for college.
Posted on 5.24.2020 by Jody Noland
Has a comment ever stunned you so much that it seared into your memory banks as something you never seem to forget? 35 years ago, that happened to me. I was listening to a highly successful man reflect back on what he initially perceived to be one of the worst experiences of his life.
He had been on top of the world, assuming all was well with his promising career in the advertising department of a leading Atlanta company. Then, one Friday afternoon, the unthinkable happened and he was fired. Done. Rejected. Broken. Hopeless. That was “the real thing” for him.
Posted on 5.10.2020 by Jody Noland
Today is complicated. For as many women who are celebrating the joys and blessings of motherhood today, there are probably an equal number whose pain is amplified. Whether a woman has struggled with infertility, the devastation of losing a child or a mother, the wounds caused by abandonment, abuse and neglect, there are countless reasons that Mother’s Day is a day to survive instead of celebrate.