by Lillian Lake | | Stop Trafficking
“What we do as individuals is important. What we do as individuals collectively is even more important.” Together we are a Special Task Force. I feel it’s a privilege to have a space in which to write about human trafficking to create awareness...
by Lillian Lake | | Building Community, Stop Trafficking
This week, my focus continues on the issue of sex trafficking and what parents can do to help prevent their children from becoming victims. Why now? As I pointed out two weeks ago, one reason is the significantly rising number of people trafficked worldwide. Two other...
by Lillian Lake | | Building Community, Stop Trafficking
Most of us wonder about the rate at which summer proceeds. I have yet to hear a believable explanation for the speedy passing of summer. And here we are two weeks into September! What has happened to Labor Day, school starting, and the first smells of autumn? They...
by Lillian Lake | | Building Community
“August slipped away into a moment in time ’cause it was never mine…” “August slipped away into a moment in time ’cause it was never mine…” —- this line from Taylor Swift’s song, August, always gets my...
by Lillian Lake | | Caregiving
“Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.” (Mary Anne Radmacher) Pain, fatigue, and feeling alone with your chronic illness can make self-pity and crying an effortless option. From the beginning...
by Lillian Lake | | Caregiving, Food, Spiritual
In the beginning. Eight years ago, following emergency surgery and an extended stay in the hospital, I couldn’t eat any food without extreme bloating and pain, requiring a potent pain reliever. I spent months on bone broth and didn’t have the energy to...
by Lillian Lake | | Desserts, Food, Grief, Recipes
My “go-to” therapy is playing my piano or baking when I have something challenging to work through. As hot as it was in Iowa when we were there on vacation a few weeks ago, I baked up a storm. Coincidentally, it did storm with all kinds of crazy thunder and lightning....
by Lillian Lake | | Grief, Spiritual
“It’s been a long day without you, my friend, and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. We’ve come a long way from where we began. Oh, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.”. (See You Again, Wiz Khalifa) Since my sister...
by Lillian Lake | | Angel Encounters, Spiritual
A few years ago, I had an experience during surgery and recovery that changed the direction of my life. The experience was a moment of wonderment. During the times that, from a medical perspective, I was leaving consciousness, I remember feeling as though I was...
by Lillian Lake | | Building Community, Spiritual
Often my colleagues comment on my resiliency, followed by asking how I stay positive and happy in facing challenges and disappointments. At first, it never occurred to me that this was my natural state. Don’t get me wrong; I have my grief moments when I fall into...
