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When Celebrating turns to Cele-dreading--- it's Time to SNAP!

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This month I am aware of the 'cele-dread' mindset that creeps up on me.  It's October.  Two years ago this month, Mom received her diagnosis of advanced stages of cancer in her body. Seven weeks later she was home with her Lord - and my Dad!  I don't plan to be impacted by grief, but sometimes it creeps up on me and leaks out through my eyes rather intensely.  During 2023, my whole being rather fell apart.  My body, heart, mind, and spirit needed space and time to 'recalibrate' everything I had experienced in 2022.  There were some pretty dark days and I could not 'manage' all of it at once.  Here I am two years later still feeling the effects of all the ups and downs. 

But one thing I can do - I S.N.A.P!   This simple 4-step process became a prayer of sorts, even on the hardest of days.

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When HOPE feels close...but not close enough!

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No matter where you land in the chaotic "cacophony" (defined as a harsh discordant mixture of sounds), you are exposed to thoughts and emotions swirling feverishly around in our families, communities, schools, ...everywhere it seems. Whether or not you find yourself fearful or anxious, you are most likely in contact with someone in your world who is very much both. It is one thing to deal with our own feelings about the world's situation, but quite another to deal with someone else's- especially when it is on a global scale.

Several things stand out to me specifically in the uniqueness of this experience.

  1. This is a time when we have been forced to STOP whatever we were doing in our lives and pay attention….