Faithful Endurance
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Prayer Is Never Wasted
I have been in a long season of feeling rather stuck with some aspects of prayer. Deep, heart-wrenching disappointments, answers from God that were radically different than I hoped, have left me in a place where praying with faith in certain areas has felt difficult. A pessimism has settled into my heart that, at times,… Continue reading
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Healing Is A Process
The end of this month, September 29, will mark the close of four years now without Ezra. In many ways, four years feels accurate. In other ways, it feels surreal, like it’s been half that time. I wrote last week about what healing has looked like for me; that although it has no metric, there… Continue reading
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There Is No Metric for Healing
After my post last week about my own healing which came rather quietly, I had someone reach out and ask what healing has looked like for me. I appreciated the question. It provided the opportunity for some introspection; what does it mean to actually heal after loss? It’s challenging to consider because healing doesn’t always… Continue reading
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When God’s Plans Seem Inconsistent With His Promises
I recently interacted with someone who has walked away from their faith. They have endured a long season of pain and suffering and the God they thought they knew did not respond how they had hoped. This time of testing and their disappointment over what God allowed has caused their heart toward him to harden.… Continue reading
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Drought Training
I love when God gives us real life pictures of how he often interacts with his children, training us in dependence and resilience. While there is not always a one-to-one correlation in every aspect, there are things we can glean from nature that remind us that we have a good Father, at work in our… Continue reading
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The Mercy of God When Formulas Fail
I have battled clinical anxiety with seasons of depression on and off for more than three decades. This battle has, at its roots, held some of the deepest and most discouraging times in my faith. Because of this piece of my story, I am often drawn to articles in which believers address mental health through… Continue reading
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I Thought Healing Would Look Different
Had someone asked me 4 years ago, “how long do you think you could write about grief?” I imagine my answer would have been maybe for a year or two. I had no category for how long it takes to work through the layers of pain and loss. I had no concept of the difficult… Continue reading
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The Paradox of the Crucible
I had one of those afternoons recently where I was mindlessly scrolling. I was weary and worn, out of energy to engage people, and really just wanting to check out. As tends to happen in these times, I followed a rabbit hole and stumbled across a friend’s social media page; a friend from a lifetime… Continue reading
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Six Ways to Shepherd Our Children Through Pain
I have a son who survived an oftentimes fatal, catastrophic pediatric seizure disorder as a baby. The disorder caused brain damage, developmental disabilities, and he has struggled with seizures now for 16 years. After a particularly terrible seizure last week, one of his brothers sat in my room in tears. He was unable to sleep… Continue reading
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The Beauty of the Unnamed
It seems in today’s culture, those with names and followings are recognized for their success. Those with notoriety and sway are the ones who are seen as influencers; worth listening to. It is one of the greatest deceptions of our age: Your success and value are tied to what you’ve accomplished – to your name.… Continue reading