A week or so into the new year, I noticed an uptick in the 414‘s I was seeing and decided to start documenting them. (Click here for the story of 414). When these 414 events cluster together, I try very hard not to see them as harbingers of trying times to come, but instead as encouragement and tokens of love from my sister on the other side of life’s curtain. They are sweet reminders to me that love and relationships endure, even past the seeming finality of death. Sometimes seeing one will make me smile, sometimes it will bring a tear or two, but always I feel the presence of a Love and caring that surpasses even that which I share with my sister.

This past month of January has indeed been a trying and tragic one – for the world, our country, and for personal friends of mine. Mid-winter in Michigan has been bleak and dreary…

But I have a light.

Let me shine it just a little by sharing with you a few of my own signs of encouragement from these past few weeks. There were more, but I’m not always in a position to document them (safety first). 🙂

So friends, for all of us who are struggling and looking for a light that shines the way, I offer this small encouragement:  Speak truth, act in kindness, look for the love that is all around you – and know that LOVE WINS.