Showing posts with label #Journalling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Journalling. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

How Do You Move Past the Pain of Life's Curve Balls?

When your life is thrown a curve ball and you lose your husband at 47 years old -- what then? What about your future? How do you cope?

Kim met tall, dark, and handsome Steve Sorrelle who proposed ten days later.  It was a love story written in the heavens. They raised five children -- life was good. 

Kim Sorrelle began journaling after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2009. Four months later, her husband Steve was told he had pancreatic cancer. Six weeks later, Kim held him as he took his last breath.

Kim is a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, director of a humanitarian organization, activist, mother, grandmother, lover of all people, and.....black licorice.

Kim's story will make you laugh....and cry. She is a master at sharing life's tragedies mixed with laughter. 


Kim's entrepreneurial journey included commercial real estate, a golf course, catering, a grocery store, and more. Besides building businesses into multi-million-dollar companies, Kim is proud to have weathered the pandemic storm in the food industry, keeping staff employed, and seeing the company's sales grow beyond pre-pandemic numbers. 

Kim is the director of Rays of Hope International, a partnering organization that works with people in their country who have a passion, a vision, and a mission to help people through business plans, fundraising, sustainability, planning, supplies, and building. Working in countries like Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Burkina Faso, Rays of Hope has enjoyed relationships with hundreds of organizations that are working to help the underserved and vulnerable population. 


CLICK here to BUY

 
"Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs"

There are so many things that we do not have control over, things that we would not ever choose: cancer, losing a spouse, tragic accidents. But we can choose how we will handle these things. Joy is a choice that anyone can make but not everyone knows how. Facing cancer, becoming a widow, and losing the future, as the author saw it, made her recognize that she had to choose a way to deal with the present.



CLICK here to BUY

Engage with a love that transcends social experiments and leads to a radically transformed life

"Love is patient, love is kind, love is . . ." The words are so familiar they almost lack meaning, a Christianese version of "live, laugh, love." Even non-Christians are familiar with the Love chapter of 1 Corinthians, read at weddings, painted on decorative signs, and preached regularly from the pulpit. But what happens when these verses are taken seriously? What would it take for someone to live out the Love chapter as literally as possible?

That was the question Kim Sorrelle set out to answer during her yearlong experiment. Using 1 Corinthians 13 as a road map, she focused on one phrase at a time, seeking to understand its true meaning and how it could motivate every daily action. She also looked at the ones we do not think too deeply about: love does not boast, does not dishonor others, doesn't keep a record of wrongs, and more.

In her attempts to live the Love chapter to the letter, Kim journeyed all the way to Haiti, where she met people who both tested and displayed love to its limits. From irritating employees to sexist short-term missionaries to curse-wielding women to the profoundly kind nuns, her encounters are filled with rueful self-reflection and comical commentary, as well as a new understanding of the nuances and power of true love in action.

Kim's transformation into someone who truly loves like Jesus will challenge readers to think more deeply about how they can manifest love in their own lives and will reveal the power of Christlike devotion that is unwearied and humble, contented and forgiving. Her exploration is an incredible encounter with the filling, strengthening love of God -- a love that truly never fails.

CONNECT WITH KIM HERE:

Website

Facebook

Linkedin

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube





Friday, January 21, 2022

How Do You Cope with Shock, Debilitating Loss, or Fear?

How do you cope with shock or fear? Do you have the inner strength when you feel like there is none left? Faith Wilcox was able to find moments that were good – even when her daughter was near the end of her life and as a mother, she was shredded apart by the grief of losing her daughter, her marriage, and life as she knew it.

Faith Wilcox

Faith Fuller Wilcox believes that self-expression through writing leads to healing. Her writing is reflective of a growing body of medical research about 'narrative identity,' which illuminates that how we make sense of what happens to us and the meaning we give to experiences beyond our control directly impacts our physical and psychological outcomes. 

Faith learned this firsthand when her 13-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with rare bone cancer that took her life. 

Faith also leads a journal writing program at a pediatric hospital for patients and their families designed to allow participants the opportunity to express themselves, alleviate stress, celebrate victories, and honor their grief. 

In her interview, Faith shares how she went from a mother in despair to a mother who had hope for the future. Through sharing her story, especially to those who have suffered a great loss, she wants you to know that life can continue after grieving and even be good. We can learn to live with sadness and joy side-by-side.  



Coping with loss


BUY HERE

Hope Is a Bright Star is the story of a mother’s journey from shock and fear at her young daughter’s cancer diagnosis, to anguish and despair at her death just a year later and, finally, to peace and acceptance of her new life.

When 13-year-old Elizabeth is diagnosed with rare bone cancer, Faith is in awe of her courageous child, who faces her plight straight on and inspires all who meet her. Despite an army of medical professionals who provide innovative care for Elizabeth, she dies, and Faith and her surviving daughter, Olivia, are thrown into a maelstrom of grief. They find unexpected comfort in the arms of their family, friends, and community, but Faith faces another shock when she has her own cancer diagnosis while navigating the uncharted waters of a life she never expected. In time, Faith discovers moments and places of comfort and peace, and she slowly changes from a mother in despair to a woman with hope for the future. 

At turns heartbreaking and heartwarming, Hope Is a Bright Star reveals how abiding love can heal a family.


Hope Is a Bright Star made the ‘long list’ for the category Overcoming Adversity for the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards. 




Grief


Facing Into the Wind - A Mother's Healing After the Death of her Child is a collection of poems written for parents and families who are coping with the death of a child. The poems are written about Elizabeth, her thirteen-year-old child, who battles a rare form of bone cancer, and her mother, Faith,  who struggles to survive after her daughter’s death.

Drawing upon metaphors with the natural world,  Faith remembers the transcending wisdom imparted by her dying daughter, healing Faith’s brokenness and awakening her strength to reach out and comfort others who are suffering.  

CONNECT WITH FAITH HERE