I tore open the bag and slipped out the royal blue dress with sequins, beading, and fringe. I was looking forward to wearing it to my daughter Sarah’s bridal shower. My sister Danielle and sister-in-law Jodi were planning a fun, Great-Gatsby-themed party for her in my hometown of Louisville, Ohio. I pulled the dress down […]
Archive | Salvation
When Things Don’t Make Sense
Two months ago, I wrote about my dear friend and prayer partner Phyllis, who died unexpectedly (possibly from a brain aneurysm). A few days ago, her sister Suzanne went home to be with Jesus after a 3-year battle with cancer. The sisters were 58 and 46, respectively. Their mother Patsy lost her two daughters in […]
Jesus Wins!
The devil sauntered in front of the rock-hewn tomb and snarled, “I got Him, and now I’m going to get all of you!” My daughter Katie looked at me in horror. This scene took place 24 years ago as we attended a Passion Play in Charlotte. Katie was 5 years old at the time. “Wait. […]
Accepting Loving Limits
Grace wearing the cone This week, our family dog Grace had surgery on her leg to remove a tumor. She came home with stitches, a bandaged leg . . . and the cone. A funnel-shaped piece of extremely durable plastic, the cone fits around Grace’s head to prevent her from chewing at her wound, from […]
Standing on the Rock
Doctors amputated Sam’s leg two weeks ago. One of my heroes of the faith, Sam has been the subject of my blog before. See http://susanjaneking.com/abundant-life/when-things-go-from-bad-to-worse/ My husband David and I went to visit Sam at the rehabilitation center this week. Sam is the one with the enormous smile in the middle of the photo. That […]
Life out of Death
My friend’s daughter-in-law went for her routine prenatal exam . . . and there was no heartbeat. After praying for, celebrating, and naming their little boy, this young couple—and all of us who loved them—were confronted with a new and very different outcome than planned. Yet, in the days that followed, I watched as that […]
Keeping What’s Important
Yesterday, I helped my daughter pack her things to move out of an apartment in Charlotte. We went through all her belongings, boxed up some, and discarded many others. It took us 7 hours to process her possessions through the sieve of what remained important and what needed to be tossed. We are called to […]
Delighting in the Snow
This past week, our area was blanketed with snow, the thick, fluffy kind that turned our everyday landscapes into breathtaking scenes like the one at the top of this blogpost (the view out my front window). Since I live in North Carolina in a region that rarely experiences these kinds of snowfalls, everything came to […]