by Elaine Olsen | Dec 22, 2010 | a quick word, cancer, cancer volume 2, pain, suffering
Sometimes a heart gets so filled to overflow, it’s hard to know what to do with it all. I’ve had that problem all afternoon; not a bad problem to have. Better to be filled than be depleted. Let me explain. I began my morning at the cancer center, not for treatment but...
by Elaine Olsen | Sep 28, 2010 | cancer, cancer volume 2, church life, friendship, pain, pilgrimage, suffering
{for Nancy, my “Luke” today} “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this word, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. … Only Luke is with me.” (2 Timothy 4:9-11).The words from his pen haunt me now, even though nearly two...
by Elaine Olsen | Sep 22, 2010 | a quick word, cancer, cancer volume I, pain, pilgrimage, strength
This morning, I found myself wishing that I was anywhere else but there… in that sterile environment, awaiting my turn at the scan machine. The milky cocktail I was given to drink (at least a quart by my estimation) messed with my stomach, more so with my mind. The...
by Elaine Olsen | Sep 17, 2010 | cancer, cancer volume I, pain, peace, pilgrimage, suffering
Chapters. We all have them. Our life stories are made up of them. Segments and seasons of our journeys adequately chronicled and punctuated, each ending half-way down a blank page, indicating to us and to the reader that another segue is about to begin. Not that what...
by Elaine Olsen | Dec 7, 2009 | a quick word, living God's truth, pain, strength
I tucked her under my arm and drew her close to my heart as I whispered,This is enough, God. This is enough. This is real love… true love; love not based on performance or preference but loved based on personhood… on the truth that I am her mother and that fact,...
by Elaine Olsen | Jul 10, 2009 | death, friendship, grief, pain, suffering
I suppose I owe you post. It’s been a few days; still and yet, I’m struggling for my words. My heart isn’t here. My heart is there, underneath a blue tent that shelters the freshly dug grave of my friend, Beth. My heart is in a hospital room, where Beth’s daughter has...
