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4 Things to Do When You Feel Helpless
I remember the way the shadows danced on the walls as I held her through the night, the ulcers in her mouth burning with a relentlessness that made sleep hard to find. I’d bring her to the bed and let her whimper in my arms as her three-year-old body slipped in and out of sleep, and it felt like something in me just might tear wide open. And what in the world are you supposed to do when you feel helpless over the situations that matter most in your life? It was a medical condition that shaped our lives for over a year, and most of the time we felt…
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4 Prayers for Hope and Peace in Difficult Times
I’m sorting through my eight-year-old’s backpack when I hear the words echo from the TV in the living room. Another shooting. Fatalities. Children running for safety with their arms stretched in the air. Bowing my head at the table, I turn to the Lord with urgent prayers for hope and peace in this broken world. 4 Prayers for Hope and Peace We’re all facing the consequences of living in a fallen world. We all face dark days and troubled times. After a few minutes of prayer, I think about this as I set the homework on the dining room table and hand my sweet girl a snack. My mind drifts…
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Finding God when Prayers Go Unanswered
We’d reached the frayed edges of autumn, where flurries told us winter had come, and yet the calendar told us the winter solstice was not yet upon us. I wasn’t really thinking about seeking God when prayers go unanswered as I jogged down our quiet country road. I pushed my aching body down the road in my weekend routine of a long jog down the dusty roads, and the black dog with pointing ears came at me so hard I screamed in an angry and primal way. I wondered if our long chain of unfortunate events might culminate with an attack from a defensive German shepherd. I questioned whether I…
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For When You’re Disappointed by God
I climb onto the elliptical as a new day dawns, and I have no motivation to follow through with my usual routine. I’m feeling disappointed by God, and I’m not sure I feel like going through the motions today. I don’t feel like working hard, sweating, or watching a motivational message about God and all of his goodness. Maybe it’s the lack of energy lately. Maybe it’s the early morning cries from the little boy’s room that drew me from sleep three hours earlier than usual. Or maybe it’s the disappointment. Lately, I’ve been disappointed by a shattered dream. Everything I had planned for and hoped for has been thrown…
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5 Bible Verses for Strength and Healing
We watch chickadees flutter above the deck, and the snow melts all over again for the sixth time this winter. Just when we start to believe things are looking warmer, a bitter north wind descends and everything alive turns back to ice again. I open my Bible in search of Bible verses for strength and healing at the end of this long season. 5 Bible Verses for Strength and Healing The storms just keep rolling in, one right after another, and I wrap our little boy in a blanket on my lap as we watch the chickadees out the window. I find that in winter, I like to place my…
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10 Comforting Truths for Your Storms in Life
The winter wind beats hard against the western wall of our house, and I stare out the window at the bands of white as they tear across the yard. These unrelenting gusts remind me that we all face storms in life, and sometimes the best we can do is hunker down and hold fast to the One who promises to hide us in the shelter of his wings. Most of us know how it feels to be plodding along the even road of good health, blessing, and prosperity, only to ride straight into a storm that changes everything. Storms in Life This fall, I wrote a post highlighting all the…
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Why Struggles in Life Are Some of God’s Greatest Gifts
“We often overlook the fact that struggles in life are some of God’s greatest gifts,” my mentor tells me as we talk on the phone on a warm autumn evening. I know she’s right, but I don’t want to hear it. Life has been hard lately, and I feel like these struggles are suffocating me. I’ve been wrestling with unanswered prayers and processing some difficult disappointments. I find it hard to believe that these struggles are God’s gifts. Struggles in Life Most likely, you have a few struggles in life, too. Maybe you’re praying for a child who turned away from the Lord or a friend who has never turned…
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6 Promises for When You Feel Abandoned by God
“I feel like I’ve been abandoned by God,” my friend whispers through tears as we sit by the creek and watch flies rise from the water. She’s been in a tough season, and I tell her I can relate. Fifteen years ago, I uttered the same words. Since that time, I’ve uncovered a few valuable lessons about God and life. I share from my heart as the sycamores lean in with listening ears. I don’t know if she feels encouraged as we leave the water, but I pray she finds the faith to keep walking with God. When You Feel Abandoned by God Later that afternoon, my little boy stirs…
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Feeling Broken Inside? This Is for You
The lingering daylight leads us to the woods again, and I sink into a moss-covered log while the kids throw sticks into the water. Something about the scene feels alive in the most organic way. It’s like a gentle reminder of how to have hope when you’re feeling broken inside. I’m thinking about life and fresh starts as the moisture of the sphagnum moss permeates my thin pants. It seems the rotting log is absorbing my weight as I enhance the decomposition and press into the dirt. The moss is all around me now, sucking its life from the rotting log’s decomposing nutrients. My mind shifts to Christ and his…
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4 Ways to Overcome Obstacles With God
The cold mountain wind rips at me while the sun scorches my chapped hands with desert-like heat. I spit out the gritty sand and continue my ascent. I don’t realize it just yet, but this ascent is teaching me about overcoming obstacles with God, a lesson I’ll need when different obstacles arise on different kinds of mountain climbs. Overcoming Obstacles With God Glancing upward, I’m only 60 yards from the summit. Sixty grueling yards of rough rock outcroppings and sheer drop-offs of over 1,000 feet stand before me. It seems there are cliffs on both sides of this journey. I’ve barely begun the decade of my twenties, and I’m certain…
