Wrestling with Jacob

A journal of faith, grief and devotional musings

death of child

  • Small town

    Well I was born in a small town And I live in a small town Prob’ly die in a small town Oh, those small communities Point Betsie light house John Cougar Mellencamp’s hit single Smalltown was released in 1985. I, like Cougar am small town too. I live in a county with 17,428 people, not Read more

  • There is the ugly side of me that awakened within my spirit when my son died. He is the true me, the dark side of me that was unearthed by four deaths in my family. He has always lived within me, though in the shadows and always lurking in the dark and in the secret Read more

  • One year ago today our mother, Linda Philo, left her earthly home and family to join her family in her heavenly home, she was 66 when she died. There were five generations of women in my home on mother’s day 2012. I remember that day very clearly because it was the last time these devoted moms Read more

  • There are innumerable voices in the world. Voices that come into our ears that effect our thinking to direct our lives into the paths we find ourselves on. We are molded by the voices we receive and reject, these voices shape our thinking into our own distinct voice. It begins at our birth with the voices of those who love us most. Soon afterward we Read more

  • I was a 88 pound weakling in the seventh grade, and then there was Bill. He was a 9th grade wrestler and an antagonist bully who never referred to me as Mike but usually as runt or some other four letter word. Bill inspired me to become a wrestler, not because I wanted to be Read more