by Deb Kalmbach | addiction, alcoholism, comfort, compassion, difficult relationships, encouragement, faith, forgiveness, friendship, gratitude, hope, life, love, loving others, marriage, perseverance, personal growth, reconciliation, recovery, substance abuse, women
God still sends angels: ones with skin, hair and belly laughs. Angels like our friend, Jim. I met him at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where I was the speaker for Al-Anon. I remember feeling at a loss for encouraging words. My situation with Randy and his alcoholism...
by Deb Kalmbach | addiction, Al-Anon, alcohol, alcoholism, compassion, courage, difficult relationships, encouragement, hope, letting go, love, loving others, marriage, perseverance, recovery, substance abuse, surrender
Cunning…baffling… powerful… Alcoholics Anonymous uses those words to describe alcoholism. It’s true. I’ve never felt more confused and powerless than when dealing with my husband Randy’s alcoholism. It’s an intense battle—one most of us are...
by Deb Kalmbach | comfort, compassion, courage, encouragement, faith, grief, life, loss, natural diasters, suffering
Courage is something I’ve thought about often during the past month–a commodity sorely needed by victims of Hurricane Harvey and Irma. Like many of us, I’ve witnessed the heartbreaking devastation of these storms as news channels have broadcast...
by Deb Kalmbach | aging parents, children, comfort, compassion, dads, encouragement, gratitude, loss, sandwich generation
It won’t be long ’til we say hello to our baby granddaughter! I learned today that I’m part of the Club Sandwich generation. According to Wikipedia, we’re typically in our 50’s or 60’s sandwiched between aging parents, adult...
by Deb Kalmbach | compassion, encouragement, faith, forgiveness, grace, loving others, Uncategorized
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like social media conversations are often lacking in compassion. There doesn’t seem to be much restraint as people are quick to vent their emotions online. The result is a nasty, mean comment that hurts! I recently read a...
by Deb Kalmbach | comfort, compassion, encouragement, gratitude, loss, Uncategorized
When we moved to the Methow Valley in North Central Washington almost 20 years ago, my husband Randy and I were naive about the risks of wildfires. We purchased some property in a high risk fire area, not thinking about the implications of building a home in the...
