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We Raise Them to Leave
We leave today to drop our middle-born son off at college. Although we have launched kids before him, there is a tender grief that arrives with each exit; a sort of reckoning that comes with the end of an era. When I first began having children, I did not consider the goal of mothering was… 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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When Necessary Rhythms Become Foundational
I’m in a season of transition as a mom; entering the “twilight years” of parenting as I have known it. My eldest son graduated to heaven in 2022 and my role of mothering him is finished. My second eldest son has moved out and is living independently. My middle son is leaving for university in… Continue reading
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The Joy I Took for Granted
We took our younger two sons for an overnight stay in Denver last week. We tried to find some fun with them, saying “yes” as often as we could. We rode scooters through the city streets, swam, ate delicious food, shopped, and spent some time at a driving range. It was sweet to be together.… Continue reading
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Wrestling with “Your Will Be Done” When the Outcome Is Not What We Hoped
There is a very real tension that comes within the Christian faith when we face times of loss and devastation. The strain comes for many believers on the road that travels from a head that knows what obedience is to a heart that feels deeply hurt by the outcome. We see the example of Christ;… Continue reading
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When Grief Becomes Identity
I had someone recently ask, “Do you think grief can become an idol?” My gut reaction was, “Yes, of course!” As Calvin stated, our hearts are idol factories. As I have chewed on this question over the last several days, I actually think the answer is much more layered. Long before grief becomes an idol,… 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
Learning to trust God’s goodness as we wrestle with the sorrows of life.