He plays with his brothers – Jack and Joey – attends first grade, sits in the pew next to his parents each Sunday and goes about life as most –year olds do, but J.D. Maher is not your average –year old child. His name is on numerous prayer lists, including several in diocese. His grandmother, Althea, who lives in Arkansas, sends mailings to national prayer groups to pray for her grandson who is in desperate need of a liver transplant.
Month: July 2009
Not Just Another Number
The prompt read: “How old would you be if you didn't know your real age?” Don’t worry. I’m not going to bore you with a cliché-ish response such as “You are only as old as you feel.” That’s crap. You know why?
Gardening at its Best
Not only do fountains spruce up the life around it, they add a sensational look and feel to existing gardens or areas in the lawn that are not quite up to par.
Reminiscing with Chocolate Pudding
In our jammies and with Grandma J. in her thin plaid pajama shirt and bottom, we would sit at the round, wooden kitchen table and listen to her talk about our grandpa. She’d tell us about how he would do anything for us grandkids and how proud he would be of both of us because we played the piano. She’d talk about his love for music and how he was a regular at the race track – a regular, not a winner.
Procrastination Kills Confidence
As a journalist, procrastination is an evil trait. Once the excitement of gathering facts, interviews, notes, and observations dwindles, procrastination often sets in. The only thing left to do? Write the damn story.
A Family’s Journey of Life and Death Tests, Strengthens Faith
Every night, Jamie Detmer clutches a teddy bear as she sleeps. A recorder inside the bear allows her to hear the heartbeat of her baby who died suddenly this summer. The crib is packed away in the basement and the baby clothes are no longer hanging in the closet – yet the teddy bear remains.
Weathering the Storm with Rainbows
Sitting at a small table in a school cafeteria, approximately 10 students gather to talk. One student expresses anger, another expresses disbelief, while a third says she is finally at peace. Though their feelings drift from one extreme to the next, all of these students have one thing in common – they have experienced a significant loss through divorce or death.
A Twist(er) of Fate for Tornado Survivors
The silence was eerie. No one screamed, no one cried and no one spoke. Crowded among 25 people in a frigid meat cooler, Mark Philpott said a prayer. At that moment, a tornado plummeted through the County Market in Canton, Mo. as the building shook, beams crashed to the ground and winds up to 230 mph caused the walls to cave. No one screamed, no one cried and no one spoke. Mark Philpott kept praying.
Adoption Brings a Dozen Bundles of Joy
Though recent movies like “Cheaper By the Dozen” and “Yours, Mine, and Ours” portray fictional families acting out everyday chaos with 12 or more children, the action within this Millstadt, Ill. family’s household is very real.
Single Parenting With F-A-I-T-H
As a single mother, it is sometimes difficult to see faith within my daily routine, much less life. I’ve been through the stress of separation and divorce. It would be much easier to delve into what is wrong in life, rather than let faith adjust my focus to what is right in life.
Shannon Philpott-Sanders 