SELAH PRESS RELEASES NEW ANTHOLOGY, 360 DEGREES OF GRIEF, ON MAY 19 Kayla Fioravanti's New Book Shares Stories from 64 Authors, Including Steve Green, Wayne Watson NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 1, 2014) - Selah Press announces the May 19 release of 360 Degrees of Grief: Reflections of Hope, Volume 1, a collection of first-person stories detailing … [Read more...]
12 Lessons Grief Taught Me
The walk through grief is filled with milestones that are precious. You cannot sneak past grief in the night, run through it or sit still in one spot of grief. You must walk through it at grief’s pace. Grief is a passage, not place to wallow in, skip past, or tunnel under. If you don’t go through the grief it will fester and consume you in another … [Read more...]
360 Degrees of Grief Invitation
Christian writers are invited to submit your story to the upcoming compilation book 360 Degrees of Grief to be published by Selah Press. This project fulfills a passion for me to provide comfort to people in the midst and aftermath of a crisis. When my mother died, I found that most grief books only spoke of grief from a singular perspective. In … [Read more...]
Vacancy Left in the Wake of Death
Two years ago today I held my mother’s hand as she took her last breathe. Death leaves a vacancy in your life that no one can take up residence in. The loss of my mother did not leave a faint impression like a foot print in the sand that can easily washed away. Her absence has instead felt more like the loss of a limb for a tree. “The … [Read more...]
When Death is Personal & Piercing
Death can make many levels of acquaintance with us. There is some death that is remotely connected to you and gives your heart pause, like distant relatives you never met or celebrities. There is death that hits you full force in the heart. And there is the impact death can make in your life that is everywhere in between. I remember the time … [Read more...]
The Lesson of the Carrot, Egg and Coffee Beans
I have been taking a Sunday school class taught by Pastor Tom at our church Pastor Tom on the book of Philippians, which is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Last week to illustrate a point, Pastor Tom shared the story of the carrot, egg and coffee beans. I loved the story and just had to share it with you. What a great lesson and … [Read more...]
Upon Goodbye
It is nearly impossible to think of you in the past tense. Your life is colorfully woven into the fabric of ours. I know you are gone, I saw you leave, but in my memory you are vividly alive, with your mischievous smile teasing the corners of your mouth. Saying “she was…” doesn’t fit comfortably on my tongue yet because you left bold … [Read more...]
Not by the Book
In April of this year, after months of delays, I finally sat down to write my book How to Make Melt and Pour Soap from Scratch. My goal was to have the book written and published in time for a speaking engagement I had on the topic in May, 2011. My plan had been to start the book in January with what appeared to be just enough time to have it in … [Read more...]
Glimpses of Joy
My approach to daily living has been changed by the persistence of grief that has followed the loss of someone so deeply personal to me, that she went down the very roots of who I am. I’ve been through loss before and hard times, but nothing quite like the loss of my mother. It has taken intentional action to catch my equilibrium as I adjust back … [Read more...]
Live or Die :: A Devotional
“Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16 I was standing at the gathering place when I heard my mother calling me home at an unusual hour. Heading towards her I saw something that I didn’t recognize in her countenance. Apprehension consumed me. Her words … [Read more...]
Present at the First & Last Breathe of Life
I’ve been the strong one stroking the belly of a loved one filled with cancer. The cancer so advanced that I could feel it under his thin skin as I promised him that it was okay to die that day, and reassured him that we would carry on. I stood there in the room hours later as the last breath escaped his body relieved that his pain was over and … [Read more...]
