<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[mysite]]></title><description><![CDATA[Light Lives Here]]></description><link>https://www.lightliveshere.org/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 06:14:39 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.lightliveshere.org/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[A Good Day and Then...]]></title><description><![CDATA[It was a good day. The kind where the sun shows up just right and the summer flowers are in full bloom. The kind where dinner feels simple and good, sweet corn on the cob that's perfectly in season. The kind of day where you think, maybe I’m okay today. And then… I was going through a few of my mom’s things after work when I came across a sweater. Cornflower blue, the exact shade of the famous blue crayon. I had picked it out for her. I remember imagining how beautiful that bright color would...]]></description><link>https://www.lightliveshere.org/post/a-good-day-and-then</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a6a7e887ef449b92cf90c3f</guid><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2026 22:44:14 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8f946_f7f46f48229e4741891f93f98f976dc3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_820,h_681,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michelle Zakula</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Prettiest Cardinal]]></title><description><![CDATA[I know that not everyone believes the same things about what  happens after we die. I hold that with a lot of respect. Grief is already heavy enough without feeling like we have to explain or defend what brings us comfort. So I never want to assume, or insist, or make anyone feel like there is only one way to make sense of loss. But I do want to share this: My faith has become an anchor for me in grief. Not in a way that erases the pain, or wraps everything up neatly, but in a way that gives...]]></description><link>https://www.lightliveshere.org/post/the-prettiest-cardinal</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5eeb7561674ad8b6e25b5a</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 16:51:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8f946_167c969e2d8f4cdcaf2283c8c1a7a4a1~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michelle Zakula</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Small Window Into My Book]]></title><description><![CDATA[This book was born from the power of staying.  From years of sitting with people in their sorrow. From witnessing the quiet courage it takes to keep going when life no longer looks the way you thought it would. And from my own experiences of learning that grief is not something we move past, but something we learn to live alongside. What follows is an excerpt from my book on our inclination to rush grief: Why We Rush Grief We live in a culture that is deeply uncomfortable with pain....]]></description><link>https://www.lightliveshere.org/post/a-small-window-into-my-book</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5d842ea93b53fe88970286</guid><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:41:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8f946_0bac10b47f59403cbbcab6c5ae0f1697~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michelle Zakula</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Moment I Didn't Expect]]></title><description><![CDATA[Our beloved Sadie taken in 2021 We just returned from our annual family vacation, a place that feels less like a destination and more like a part of who we are. At any given time you can find three generations of our family filling the lake with laughter that echoes back to us. It is, in so many ways, sacred ground for us. Every year, there are memories I quietly tuck away; photos of the kids, the crafts we made, their first time tubing, the ordinary and extraordinary all woven together. And...]]></description><link>https://www.lightliveshere.org/post/the-moment-i-didn-t-expect</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5e420d1139054948e5598d</guid><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:32:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8f946_65b2c673c2a54637a158fa9f3f94ac2c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michelle Zakula</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Work that Found Me]]></title><description><![CDATA[I didn’t set out to work in grief. If you had asked me twenty years ago what I thought my life would look like, I might have given you something tidy. Something with clearer edges. The former teacher in me would definitely appreciate a plan with milestones you could point to and say, there—progress! But grief doesn’t follow plans. And neither, it turns out, does the work of the soul. It began quietly, the way most meaningful things do. A conversation here and a loss there. Sitting beside...]]></description><link>https://www.lightliveshere.org/post/the-work-that-found-me</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5d7d9007012931ee175cc9</guid><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 02:06:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8f946_d09f2e6199094ceb96763f913d282e3f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michelle Zakula</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>