brokenness Archives - Jacque Watkins

How to Understand Tragedy and Suffering

May 24, 2013 by Jacque 21 Comments

The morning is new, the breeze is cool, and the sun is climbing into the sky when our ship reaches the Maui shore. The blue ocean waves shimmer in the light and the rocking of the tender boat soothes our welcome to the quaint city of Lahaina.

And as we get off the boat and head into the city square (the one with that huge Banyan tree) we can’t miss him crawling right there at our feet. A snail. And not just any snail, the hugest snail we’ve ever seen.

Oblivious to anything else, he slimes his way across the pebble path, heading to a shaded planter, full of moist and overgrown plants, awaiting his arrival.

He’s a determined little guy. He inches along slow and steady, moving forward at a dependable pace. We stop and bend and observe him for a good while. And the kids are ecstatic as I pull out my camera, lie on my belly, flat on the ground, and capture him in all his slimy glory.

He carries his shell, which I’m sure slows him down, but he can’t be swayed. He moves along, tentacles perched, eyes straight ahead and focused. He has to hurry, because the sun is chasing him, and he’s far too fragile to stay on this pebble walk in the hot sun. He’s headed for a darker and moister place–the only kind of place he can survive on a sunny Maui day.

As he inches along though, he misses so much. Not just because he can’t hang out during the day, but because by nature, his vision is unsophisticated. Not to mention he’s hugging the ground, and just sliding along … all of which are limiting his view.

His view only knows just the next thing, the ground and blurred shapes of what may be ahead. All he knows is what’s before him in the moment, without any awareness of the beauty of Maui and all it holds.

No concept of the mountains near Hana,

No idea of the grandeur of the humpback whales gliding in the ocean nearby,

No knowledge of the big Banyan tree, the quaint city, or Kaanapali beach only a few miles away.

All he sees is just the pebble walkway and the fuzzy, blurred planter ahead, with the shade and moisture to help him survive his day.

What we know depends on our view. And OUR view is all we know. [Tweet that]

Sometimes our view confuses us. We wonder why we face pain, or tragedy, or suffering in this life.

But because of our view, we may never understand…

We may never grasp why,

Never figure out the purpose,

Or understand the plan.

We just can’t know … because of our limited and simplistic and utterly dependent view.

But what we can do, is trust.

Trust that He has the Ultimate view.

That in His Divine Sovereignty, He is in total control.

That He sees what we can’t,

And He knows what is best.

Because God really is the giver of ALL things.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:33-36 (ESV)

Not just some things, but ALL things. The things that feel like gifts and even those that don’t.

And His Word calls us to suffer well … to follow a Savior who knew suffering, yet trusted His Father anyway, a Savior who is worth following.

But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed … do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name …

1 Peter 4:13, 16 (NIV)

Our faith by necessity is trust. And when we walk by faith and not by sight, we trust God knows.

In our tragedy and suffering, we allow our character to be conformed to His, even when we don’t understand why. [Tweet that]

And as we inch along with our limited-to-the-ground-blurry view, the question is …

Will we surrender to Him?

Surrender to His Sovereign way,

Surrender to His ultimate will,

Surrender to His view,

No matter what He gives?

Because maybe, we’d be able to see even suffering as a gift, if only we had His view.

How has suffering increased your faith?

How have you become more like Him?

I’m joining Lisa-Jo, over at her site today, to take five minutes and just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. The challenge is to write for 5 20 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing, with the prompt she gives. And today, her prompt:

View…

Filed Under: Adversity, Brokenness, Community, Failure, Faith, Five Minute Friday, God's Sovereignty, Grief & Suffering, Relationships Tagged With: brokenness, pain

How Your Story Can Change the World

May 10, 2013 by Jacque 10 Comments

Our stories are made to comfort others. And your story can change the world.

Where we’ve been, what we’ve walked through … all that pain and suffering, or guilt and shame, is never, ever wasted, when we surrender it to the Giver of all things and allow Him to use it for good.

Whenever I speak or write about my story, I’m humbled and amazed at the stories women share with me in return.

I hear of their deepest hurts, the tragedy of their brokenness, and the failures that continue to grip their lives with a strength they can’t seem to shake. They speak realities they’ve never shared with anyone before, and write to me with bravery and honesty … and also with their thanks, that I went first.

Being willing to go first is a gift–the gift of comfort.

Many tell me how they felt alone and thought they were beyond hope. And while the details of their situations are all different, one thread weaves through them all. A longing for the comfort of knowing they are not alone.

Sharing our stories lifts hearts, lightens burdens, & gives us hope that we are not alone. [Tweet that]

Let’s face it, after I share, there’s not much worse that can be shared. My story climbs into the top ten of the worst of the worst. But here’s the thing, my willingness to go first and the transparency of my words, bring freedom to imprisoned hearts.

Knowing where I’ve been and how God rescued even me, surprises and comforts and changes others, in ways they never expected were possible.

Our stories change the world.

Sometimes sharing with bravery and courage, in the face of the fear of rejection, is one of the most powerful risks we can take. And maybe, just maybe, it becomes one of the most comforting too.

Because if God did it for me, that means He can do it for you too.

When surrendered to Him, our failures scream the love of our God who never gives up on us.

Our pain resonates the unending mercy that is ours in Him.

And our brokenness echoes the grace He provides.

A gift that’s underserved. A gift that fills in the fractured cracks. A gift He uses to redeem and restore all things.

Your story can change the world because of the comfort others find in your words. [Tweet that]

May you take the risk and go first, and be exhilarated at all God will do!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings,

you will also share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (ESV)

Have you ever shared your story?

What comfort did others find in your words?

Comfort…

Filed Under: Adversity, Authenticity, Brokenness, Character, Community, Faith, Five Minute Friday, God's Love, God's Mercy & Grace, Guilt & Shame, Hope, Relationships Tagged With: brokenness, failing, forgiveness, mercy, realness

Mended :: May We Surrender in Our Grief {Week 9}

April 17, 2013 by Jacque 2 Comments

Surrender is hardest when we don’t understand.

Sarah’s with Jesus tonight. Her battle is over now. She was only five years old, just one month younger than my youngest daughter. My heart is broken for her mama and all who loved her.

Leukemia stole her future and ripped apart her hope–the hope of tooth fairy visits, school fundraisers, dance recitals, and slumber parties. There will be no prom dress, or graduation dance, or wedding gown gliding down a church aisle. Sarahbear, as they affectionately called her, is free.

No weeping. No hurt or pain. No suffering.

God holds her now.

But in the wake of grief and the excruciating loss, we don’t understand. There are no words to explain the horror of childhood cancer. It ravages little bodies and leaves anguish in it’s wake.

I have several friends who are walking through this journey with their children. The pain, the hospitalizations, the surgeries … the way it changes everything about life is unimaginable to those of us who aren’t living it every single day.

How does one surrender amidst such suffering and pain?

How do we trust when we don’t understand at all?

Angie Smith has been leading us through her book, Mended, Pieces of a Life Made Whole. Angie knows suffering. Her daughter Audrey’s death has left a permanent scar on her heart. And the day Audrey died, Angie could not imagine why such a tragedy happened in her life. I’m certain she questioned God, wondering if He knew what He was doing at all.

Angie writes of the difficulty of surrendering Audrey’s body to the nurse that day. She describes her memory of the hospital room’s door closing, and with that closing sound, how the finality was made so real and how the pain echoed in her heart.

But now, years later, because of Audrey’s death, there are thousands of women who have hope because of Angie’s story. They’ve read her books, heard her speak at Women of Faith events, and received hope amidst their own grief.

They have hope because someone else knows their pain. Someone hears their heart … someone whose opinion of God holds weight to them, because she’s been there and she knows.

Through tragedy, God has brought triumph from Audrey’s life , and Angie has touched countless women through her words. It’s easy to see, looking back now, how God has graciously taken Audrey’s death and used it for good in so many lives. A truth that was insurmountable for Angie to grasp all those years ago … just five years ago this month, to be exact. And God continues to bring blessing from Audrey’s life.

Through our tragedy and pain God is still God. ← Click to Tweet

In our woundedness He still cares.

And I love Angie’s words on page 144…

I’m so grateful for a God who makes Himself small enough to listen to us and big enough to cover us with his grace, even when we don’t understand His ways…What I desire is to be a woman who really trusts in God’s best for me. That doesn’t always mean it turns out the way I want it to, or even the way it feels like would be right. What it means is that I surrender my will to a God whom I can fully trust…He has a plan that we can’t see, and sometimes the best thing we can do is simply ask Him to extend His mercy as we walk in blindness…to trust that He is in control and that He is trustworthy anyway…

~Angie Smith, Mended

While I am deeply saddened to know of Sarah’s death, I’m rejoicing in the fact that she is no longer suffering and that she is healed and whole in the presence of our great God.

I am praying for all the grieving hearts who are missing her tonight. May we choose to surrender to our God who loves us and is with us even now, even in this. May we thank Him for who He is.

And may we open our hands in surrender, even though this night we don’t understand.

Today, my friend Tracie is sharing her beautiful words about our reading for this week.

Please hop over to read her encouraging words.

And if you have a moment today, please pray for Sarah’s family.

May they feel your love, is my prayer.

How has God brought beauty from your grief?

Here’s the schedule for the next two weeks…

April 18 - Chapters 26-28 :: Tracie

April 25 - Chapters 29-31 :: Concluding Thoughts

*Linking with Denise

Filed Under: (In)couragers, Adversity, Brokenness, Community, Grief & Suffering, Mended, Relationships Tagged With: aching, brokenness

When Boston Bombs and Tragedy & Suffering Bring Doubt

April 15, 2013 by Jacque 4 Comments

Boston bombs … and in our tragedy and suffering we dangle with doubt.

Our hands hold on and our hearts grieve, for the hope we long to keep. Our innocence is long-lost and our trust in peace is shattered. And we sit and wait for answers and wrestle to understand why.

One tragedy follows another, like lights strung in a row, and we wonder what will be next down the line. The notion lingers in the back of our minds, as we wince with the anticipation of what might come.

We drown in a sea of suffering and wrestle against the evil that ignites our pain. An evil so vile that it stains our hope and corrupts our belief in the goodness of our God.

And pain gushes out and doubt rushes in…

Does God even see?

When babies are shot and limbs are flying and panic sets in like a cloud blocking the sun…

Does God even know?

That mothers are without children and bones may never mend and someone may never walk one more step…

Does He even care at all?

That innocence is lost and life is changed and we’ve lost our hope in the goodness of this world.

It may not make sense to our human minds but there is one thing we must always remember…

The purpose of life is not happiness or joy or the absence of suffering … but for as many as possible to know God.

For as many as possible to experience His grace and be found by His mercy and enter into an intimate relationship with Him.

His heart longs for us to know Him … to not just know about Him, but to become intimately acquainted with Him.

Even in the thick of tragedy and the depth of suffering…

His love shines brightest in the darkness.

He stills the surges in the storm.

He descends to the valley and meets us there.

And in the dust-ridden ashes He makes beauty from it all.

He is near in our broken moments and close to our shattering pain. ←Click to Tweet

He is Sovereign.

He is Mighty.

He is Holy.

And even amidst tragedy and suffering He is Worthy.

Whether we can see Him there, or feel Him near, there is a decision for us to make…

Will we trust He knows all things, He holds all things…

And in His Sovereign plan, is working even tragedy and suffering, for the good of His Ultimate plan?

And He invites you to come close in your pain, to step into His embrace. That even in the midst He may cover you with His presence and hold you in the palm of His hand.

And although in the midst of tragedy and suffering we may never know or understand the masterpiece He is weaving to allow for as many as possible to come to know Him, even still, may we trust Him even if we don’t understand.

Trust Him in our doubt. Trust Him in our pain. Trust Him in our uncertainty.

When we can’t trust His hand, may we trust His heart.

Trust that He sees,

Trust that He knows,

And trust that He loves us … even. there.

Boston, we are praying for you and we are trusting, even still, in the goodness of our God.

May our hearts be encouraged by this song is my prayer…

For RSS and email subscribers…view video by clicking here

Cornerstone, by Hillsong LIVE

My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

but wholly trust in Jesus’ name

Christ alone, Cornerstone

Weak made strong, in the Savior’s love

Through the storm

He is Lord, Lord of All

When darkness seems to hide His face

I rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone, Cornerstone

Weak made strong, in the Savior’s love

Through the storm

He is Lord, Lord of All

Then He shall come with trumpets sound

Oh, may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone

faultless, stand before the throne

Filed Under: Adversity, Brokenness, Faith, God's Love, God's Mercy & Grace, God's Promises, God's Sovereignty, Grief & Suffering Tagged With: aching, brokenness, pain

Mended :: When All We Have to Do is Surrender {Week 8}

April 10, 2013 by Jacque 1 Comment

There was a time in my life when I was unwilling to surrender. The noise of my desires and the chaos of the details left me spinning like a top. Disoriented and alone, I grew more and more discouraged each day.

It was as if I was in my own rowboat, saying goodbye to the safety of the shore … determined to navigate the ocean alone with my two oars. Certain and sure, devastation and heartache would be ahead.

I rowed anyway, believing that the island I had come to know would never be able to satisfy. I thrashed and wrestled through the journey while I rowed, desperate and exposed.

I don’t think any one of us who is broken intentionally chooses to break.

Most often it’s the consequences of the situation that break us. But perhaps once we’re broken, there are times when we are the ones who prolong our own mending, sometimes because we’re too selfish, too angry, too ignorant, or too proud.

I love the chapters for this week, because I found them to be so interconnected and full of hope.

That God can take the very place of our pain, our threshing floor, and turn it into beauty.

That He never leaves us, even in the darkest moments of our brokenness. His presence is near and He is singing over us with love.

And He wants to heal us and make us whole and new, if we want Him to.

He is never distant. He always sees.

He sees us in our lowest pits, and it is Him who is willing to reach down to save us. He longs to initiate our rescue … if we ask Him to.

The mending always begins upon the surrender. ← Click to Tweet

And the surrender brings a freedom our hearts have been longing for.

Freedom from hurt and guilt and shame.

Freedom from resentment and regret.

Freedom from trying to control everything … and freedom from the exhaustion that brings.

All we have to do is surrender … to ask Him to begin to mend us and make us new.

And He does.

I know.

The day His life boat pulled up next to mine, and I surrendered my oars to Him, everything changed.

He is God and He is close.

He sees and He knows.

And He is near, ready for the surrender.

Come today … be free and be mended.

Today, my friend Denise is sharing in more depth about our reading for this week.

Please hop over to read her encouraging words.

May you know how very much you are loved.

When in your life have you needed to surrender?

What happened in the mending?

Here’s the schedule for the coming weeks…

April 11 - Chapters 23-25 :: Denise

April 18 - Chapters 26-28 :: Tracie

April 25 - Chapters 29-31 :: Concluding Thoughts

*Photo Credit: Tom Gill, Flickr Creative Commons **Linking with Denise and Ann

Filed Under: (In)couragers, Adversity, Brokenness, Character, Community, Failure, Faith, God's Love, God's Mercy & Grace, Grief & Suffering, Guilt & Shame, Humility/Self-Denial, Mended, Relationships Tagged With: brokenness, failing, mended

When You Need to Believe There Can Be Beauty After Pain

April 6, 2013 by Jacque 7 Comments

It is only in the after, that we might see any beauty at all.

After the snow melts. After the rain has come. After the bulb spends months in the dark cold of the ground.

After the leukemia, and the chemo, and the central lines … the hospitalizations, and the procedures that swirl life right down the drain.

After the loss comes, and the funeral music plays, and the long years of grieving begin. After the reminders continually spring up everywhere, mocking that life will never be the same.

It is only in the after, that we might see any beauty at all.

After the the bankruptcy and the moving and the profoundness of the loss. After waiting for a job and wondering how to buy food tomorrow.

After the mistakes and the failure, and the burying weight of guilt and shame that one day will need to be shed. After the dark nights crying, chests heaving, endless nights wondering if we’ll survive even just one more night.

It is only in the after, that we might see any beauty at all.

After the mess. After the pain. After all has come crashing down, and the darkness debilitates and the anger suffocates. Loneliness hangs on and depression hovers like a cloud. All the lost hopes, crushed dreams, and plans laid bare, lying shattered on the floor.

It is only in the after, that the cloud can lift and reveal His view. Beauty from ashes.

We can’t see it in the before … and it is obscure in the now. And even in the after, we may never be able to see the beauty in it, at all.

The scars of our pain will continually remind us and we may never know or understand the why.

But even in the now, we can trust Him … trust in His love and cling to His heart.

We can choose for our desperation to become dependence,

For our pain to become our purpose,

And for our hearts to beat after His.

And one day, in the after, may He give us the gift to see the beauty He brought through it … after all.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace,

who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,

will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:10-11 (ESV)

Looking back, how has God redeemed your suffering?

How has beauty come from your pain?

I’m joining Lisa-Jo, over at her site today, to take five minutes and just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. The challenge is to write for 5 20 minutes flat ~~with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing~~, with the prompt she gives. And today, her prompt:

After…

Filed Under: Adversity, Brokenness, Character, Community, Failure, Faith, Five Minute Friday, God's Mercy & Grace, God's Promises, Grief & Suffering, Guilt & Shame, Hope, Relationships Tagged With: 1 Peter, aching, beauty, brokenness, failing, mercy, shame

Mended :: For When You Wonder if You Can Be Forgiven {Week 5}

March 21, 2013 by Jacque 4 Comments

There was a time in my life when I honestly wondered if I could be forgiven … if I was worthy to be near God or near the cross at all.

And in the most dark and isolating moments of it all, I feared God would stop loving me.

For years I told others all about His love. But when I blew it and messed up so badly, I doubted it applied to me. What I did was so wrong. And everyone told me so. And I knew better, yet made those choices anyway.

Part of the reason I doubted His love was my inaccurate view of Him and an inferior knowledge of His Word. I bought into the concept of gradations of sin–severities and levels of disobedience. And I failed to see what is actually true.

Sin is sin to God. No matter what it is. And we have all failed Him.

No matter what the sin,

No matter by accident,

Or by willful choice,

Sin grieves God’s heart.

But the amazing thing is, He loves us anyway.

He. Loves. Us.

No matter where we’ve been, what we’ve done, or what’s been done to us,

the love of God never wavers.

It is constant and unending, vast, and measureless, and strong.

Stronger than our doubt.

Bigger than our shame.

Wider than the guilt.

And able to meet us in our regret.

It took years for me to absorb these truths about God.

And if it hadn’t been for my failure, I sadly suspect I may never have grasped the depths of His love.

Failure is never final because of Him.

Because of His love He longs for us in an unrelenting pursuit of our hearts. But we have to say yes. We have to surrender.

And for a period of time I allowed my failure to keep me from the cross. It’s as if my guilt and shame were the canyon blocking access to Him, telling me I didn’t deserve to be loved, and mocking me for even thinking what I’d done should even be forgiven.

I didn’t approach God partly because I was afraid of being rejected by Him. But mostly because I was afraid what He would ask of me if I surrendered my whole heart to Him.

Because here’s the thing about surrender, it’s all or nothing. ←Click to Tweet

Surrender requires vulnerability … to cease our resistance, to give up, let go, stop the control, and end the striving … the striving of doing things our own way and in turn submit to His.

To come bare and broken and willing to give it all to God … this is surrender.

And when I finally hit my lowest place, I chose Him. I surrendered.

And I am living proof that there is nothing, NOTHING, that our God can not redeem.

“The Lord loves you, and He longs for you to have wholeness in Him…in return for your mistakes, He bleeds mercy. In the place of wounds He give you this gift … be mended.”

~Angie Smith, Mended

So today, as we consider our failures,

All the internal voices yelling we’re not enough,

And the inside dialogue that keeps us from surrendering,

May I whisper a message to your heart today … to your heart that wonders if you’re enough? The one that mocks you that you would even consider you’re worth anything to God?

Oh friend, you are enough. He. says. you. are.

And He longs for you to be vulnerable with Him–to trust Him to make good out of your mess.

“So today, no matter how many times you’ve denied Him in word or action. No matter how far from the cross you feel. Come to Him immediately. Bring your sin, your shame, your past failures and know that by trusting in Him, His perfection, His death and resurrection, you will marvel at what He can do.”

~Angie Smith, Mended

He promises to take your mess, no matter how big or how small, add His mercy, and make it beautiful, somehow. And I can tell you He will. Because I know.

Will you dare to believe and trust He can?

Will you be all in, come immediately, and take the risk?

I’m praying you will friend, I’m praying you will.

What has made you feel unworthy of God’s love?

Will you share about how you surrendered to God?

How did He make your mess into beauty?

To view the video of “I Surrender All”, Click HERE

Here’s the schedule for the coming weeks…

March 28 - Chapters 17-19 :: Tracie

April 4 - Chapters 20-22 :: Jacque

April 11 - Chapters 23-25 :: Denise

April 18 - Chapters 26-28 :: Tracie

April 25 - Chapters 29-31 :: Concluding Thoughts

Filed Under: Brokenness, Community, Failure, Faith, God's Love, God's Mercy & Grace, Guilt & Shame, Mended, Relationships Tagged With: brokenness, failing, forgiveness, mended, realness

Experiencing Joy

March 19, 2013 by Jacque 4 Comments

The times in life when I experience the most joy, are the times I sense God’s pleasure.

The times I’m close to Him, reading His Word, journaling my thoughts, and sharing with Him my heart.

The times He multiplies my efforts as a mom, filling in the gaps where I lack, and showing me there’s hope anyway.

The times I write my heart on pages, and my fingers tap out something that speaks more to me than anyone else, as if I needed to teach my own heart the truth first, without realizing it at all.

And lately, joy has come in facing the fear and dreaming God-sized dreams … in praying and longing for God to use me to help others find mercy and know His grace. It’s joy as I pray to be used by Him in ways far beyond anything I could dream or imagine … praying to sense His pleasure even there.

And you know what?

He’s doing it. He is bringing opportunities for me to be used by Him, and as I walk through the doors that open, I’m feeling His pleasure, and I am experiencing joy.

And in particular, today is one of those days.

Several weeks ago I was asked to speak at an online conference called A Woman Inspired. .. a conference where women come together wherever they are, log in for free, hear amazing encouragement from speakers and interact in an online community.

And the conference begins today, March 20th, and continues through Friday March 22nd.

I think you would really love to gather there and be encouraged in your faith. And the best part, there’s no cost! You can call in from a phone to hear the sessions, or log in from your computer wherever you are. All you have to do is register, so that you have access to the link required to log in.

And, if you’re not available during the live sessions, the mp3’s and downloadable and printable notes will be available to all registrants. So you can’t lose either way.

It’s FREE encouragement for the end of your week, and I think you’ll be so glad you registered!

And if I may humbly ask one thing?

Would you mind saying a prayer for me as I speak today, and for the hearts of the women as they will listen? That they would really know how very much God loves them and how He really can redeem all things. Perhaps you’d consider typing a small prayer out in the comments? Either way, I’d be so very thankful.

I’ll be speaking today at 10am PST. You can read the synopsis of my talk below, and click on the link to register too.

And if you listen in, let me know how you liked the conference … you can contact me anytime … I’d love to connect with you!

So what do ya say? Won’t you join me there?

Expectations that Bury: Steps for Digging Your Way Out

Do you find your heart buried with the weight of not being enough? Have you set expectations for your life, only to become frustrated and disappointed when they aren’t being met? Perhaps you’ve been hurt by life’s circumstances or struggled with personal failure, leaving you disillusioned by the life you’re now living … one you never expected at all. Join Jacque as she exposes the expectations that bury us, and some steps we can take to dig our way out and into the freedom and joy God intends for us all.

Click HERE to register for A Woman Inspired, Online Conference

Filed Under: Character, Community, Faith, God's Love, God's Mercy & Grace, God's Promises, God's Sovereignty, God-Sized Dreams, Joy, Relationships Tagged With: brokenness, joy, mercy, realness, When Mercy Found Me

Mended :: The Root of Brokenness {Week 4}

March 13, 2013 by Jacque 5 Comments

I grow up on a farm … a farm with lots of weeds. I wish I could say I don’t have much experience with them, but that would be a lie. The truth is, I spend many afternoons in that central-San-Joaquin-valley sun pulling countless weeds, and I never, ever enjoy it. In fact, it seems my garden-grooming efforts are always in vain, as those weeds return again and again.

I hear my dad offer advice and I listen in closely. Because I’m looking for all the advice I can get to decrease the need for this awful chore.

“Go slow, and make sure you get every root,” he says.

So I go slow.

My fingers grip the stalk of each weed, and over time, my skin stains green. Dirt moves in under my nails. My knees wear the imprint of the soil, and it isn’t long before my legs and back feel the strain.

I continue on, patient and slow, wriggling each stalk a bit at a time. I rock those stalks back and forth in a rhythmic dance, wrestling to get each root up intact.

But as time passes I’m more careless. Hot and fatigued, I just want results … I want the task to be over. I want to see a clear patch of dirt, free of weeds, so I can be done. The harder it is and the longer it takes, the more I hurry. And with my rush, I leave many roots in the ground.

By the time I finish, the patch of dirt is free of weeds, or so it seems. But because I rush for results, weeds still live deep beneath the dirt. And it isn’t long before many are back, wielding their leaves above the surface of the ground … begging for more weed-pulling afternoons.

Until the root is removed, it will always resurface.

And until the root of our brokennes is dealt with, the pain will always return. ←Click to tweet

How many times do we rush through our healing … hurrying to clean up our act?

Quickly complying, masquerading as one who is free?

Forcing ourselves to play the part of one who’s already been mended?

All because we want results … a quick fix. No wrestling or wriggling, we want a less strenuous option.

But because of our rush, the root of our pain is still there, lying dormant. Perhaps it’s manageable, but the mending’s still a facade, often fooling our very own selves.

As we continue in our journey to be mended, it’s so important to do the work–to patiently pull the root of anything that impedes our permanent mending.

But to do that we must remove the root and deal with the whole of that weed once and for all, with the hope that the ground that’s left behind is able to be fertile and receptive, allowing God’s truth to grow and flourish there.

Today we’re continuing our study of Angie Smith’s book, Mended. And we’re meeting over at Denise’s blog to discuss chapters 9-12, and I just know her words will bless you.

Won’t you join us as we continue to be mended in community?

What is still beneath the surface of your heart that you need to root out?

What is your biggest challenge to being mended?

Here’s the schedule for the coming weeks…

March 21 - Chapters 13-16 :: Jacque

March 28 - Chapters 17-19 :: Tracie

April 4 - Chapters 20-22 :: Jacque

April 11 - Chapters 23-25 :: Denise

April 18 - Chapters 26-28 :: Tracie

April 25 - Chapters 29-31 :: Concluding Thoughts

To join us over at Denise’s, click here…

Filed Under: (In)couragers, Adversity, Brokenness, Community, Failure, Guilt & Shame, Hope, Mended, Relationships Tagged With: brokenness, mended

Mended :: Chapters 5-8 {Week 3}

March 7, 2013 by Jacque Leave a Comment

We’re in our second session of the (in)couragers community and you can read all about it by clicking here. This session we’re walking through Angie Smith’s amazing book, Mended: Pieces of a Life Made Whole.

Today, Tracie is hosting our study on her blog…

I first met Tracie last July at the She Speaks Conference in Charlotte, NC. We began to chat and became kindred spirits right away … two women who have walked through brokenness. And our connection was immediate, because once you know one another’s story, there is no need for words, because our hearts already know. And I’m so very thankful her friendship. What a gift!

So, I just know you’re gonna lover her! And she’s just released a book about forgiveness which is life-changing!

So hop on over to her blog because today we’re talking about chapters 5-8, and I just know her words will bless you!

And … if you’ve written a post and would like to link up, you can do that at Tracie’s, Denise’s or right here! The links will show up on all three of our blogs.

Here’s the schedule for the coming weeks…

March 7 – Chapters 5-8 :: Tracie

March 14 – Chapters 9-12 :: Denise

March 21 – Chapters 13-16 :: Jacque

March 28 – Chapters 17-19 :: Tracie

April 4 – Chapters 20-22 :: Jacque

April 11 – Chapters 23-25 :: Denise

April 18 – Chapters 26-28 :: Tracie

April 25 – Chapters 29-31 :: Concluding Thoughts