by Emily Wierenga | Jul 5, 2012 | abingdon press, children, death, heaven, just write, letting go, love, mother, motherhood, sacrifice, the gypsy mama
well, there are many reasons.reasons like rising when you feel like falling, reasons like producing milk when you want to produce tears and being called to represent every feminine attribute of God for men, girls and boys, and not knowing night from day from hour... by Emily Wierenga | Jun 25, 2012 | a deeper story, children, crucifixion, death, Easter, God, hungry, hurting, Jesus, repentance, world
when i was a little girl in big plastic glasses and corduroy dresses, i would scrunch my eyes shut and imagine the crucifixion and try to feel the sadness i knew i was supposed to feel. i’d try to feel repentant but it was so much easier not to, because Jesus... by Emily Wierenga | May 28, 2012 | afterlife, ann voskamp, christian, church, death, dying, fear, God, heaven, laura boggess, living, michelle derusha, scared
i know i’m not supposed to be. afraid of dying. as a christian i’m supposed to be brave because i believe in a God who’s overcome death but i’m still afraid. does this make me less of a christian? or just more honest?there’s a sea of bent... by Emily Wierenga | Apr 18, 2012 | brian miller, death, God, grieving, imperfect prose on thursdays, life, loss, religion, students, virginia tech shooting, waystation one
Distraction. Pain. Confusion. Anxiety. Wave after wave, with no idea where it is coming from—I sit at my desk fighting it for what seems like hours but the clock tells me thirty minutes.’I am sorry. I have to leave. I can’t tell you why, because I... by Emily Wierenga | Apr 1, 2012 | cross, death, disappointment, Easter, hope, Jesus, killed, Palm Sunday, sadness
Jesus was destined to disappoint.he says this from the pulpit, and i see her, the girl who sits in the front row with her mother. the girl with no hair and no leg, who’s lost everything to chemo, and yet, she’s in church.the children march in with palm... by Emily Wierenga | Feb 29, 2012 | cemetery, child, death, heaven, hope, losing, parents
they were black silhouettes clinging to each other in the burial ground as the cedar casket was carried and in it, the body of their 17-month-old daughter, their shoulders shaking even as the casket lowered. and no parent should have to bury his own child. it should...