When Sarah Smith’s family experienced the heartbreaking loss of her young nephew, Oliver, she turned to the shortest verse in Scripture: “Jesus wept.” In this tender reflection, she explores how grief and grace often live side by side—and how even in sorrow, love leaves a legacy.

When the church functions well, it provides friendship, support, justice, spiritual resources, safety, and a space where people feel heard. More importantly, when the church truly embraces people with disabilities and their families, it also receives their giftedness, which helps it more authentically become the church it is meant to be.

In my previous post I mentioned a man who recently died of COVID ... he was one of the first people I supported who did not use words to communicate, but clearly had much to say.

Because everyone experiences the loss. Everyone grieves. Whether you lived with the person, worked with the person, or knew them in passing, their departure leaves a hole in the community that is felt much farther than one might expect.

Every time someone dies we grieve. We mourn. We miss them. And then we move on.

Because there’s someone else who needs that space, who needs that funding, who needs that support, who needs our focus.

Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the risen Jesus in the garden becomes a powerful reflection on Easter, tracing the story from Eden to the empty tomb. This article invites readers to see the resurrection as the beginning of restoration, new creation, and the joy of being seen, forgiven, and loved by God.