As a preteen girl, I ate the last brownie my mother would ever make. She had passed away in our kitchen just days before. I savored every crumb. Less than a year later, my dad married again - the woman I would soon call “Mom.” It’s a love story of grief, and choosing to open our hearts again. I now have a love story of my own that led to me being a wife and mother of three. Family life is full. Full of joy in growth, laughter around the dinner table, and sorrow in hardships. It was not easy when we lost babies to miscarriage, or when our toddler son was diagnosed with cancer and underwent three years of chemotherapy treatments. Sidesplitting laughter. Gut-wrenching pain. Mundane, tasteless seasons. I can honestly tell you, I’ve experienced all of it. And my guess is, you have too. We all live through the sweet and the sour. We each taste the delicious and the disagreeable. But I believe life can be savored through the heartache, joy, and the moments in between. I have this hope because of my faith in God. It is what has carried me through and has given me a purpose and a peace greater than any circumstance.

Brownie Crumbs and Other Life Morsels tells these true stories and challenges you to savor your own life. Each chapter concludes with a bite-sized morsel. A sentence or two meant to summarize the message of that story and season, and to encourage and equip you to savor life. May you find joy in both the scrumptious and the bitter. May you find peace in the bland. And most of all, may you see hope in the crumbs.