Angie Smith continues to bless, as we make our way through her book Mended: Pieces of a Life Made Whole. This week we’re discussing chapters 17-19 and continuing to wrestle through the steps of being mended. We are made complete amidst tragedy, redeemed through failure, and comforted by a Savior who understands every detail of our […]
In Case You’re Wondering What They Will Remember
We say goodbye to her just five months after her 90th birthday. And it is ever before me that life really is a vapor, a mist that is here for a time and then gone, vanishing like steam rising in the air. He plays his guitar and we lead the music and sing “It Will […]
Mended :: Beginning the Journey in Community {Week 1}
I’ve been broken and shattered. And I’ve lived without hope … engulfed with regret and buried in shame. In fact I remember being so broken and stained by the sin of my choices that I seriously wondered if I had stepped just beyond God’s love. Because for me, I willingly made choices that destroyed my […]
Green Pastures and Still Water
I see the word Lisa-Jo posts last night, as I park the car in the driveway–finally home from a long day at work. The word is afraid. And I love this five-minute-Friday community…a group of women who write from their heart and link-up their words every Friday, with posts based on a one-word prompt given […]
For When You Dream of a Community of Mercy and Grace
I’m still full of wonder at the mercy of our God—the fact that I don’t receive the punishment I do deserve, but instead am given grace—the gift of His unending and extravagant love I don’t deserve. I wonder what it would be like for every heart to be found by His mercy and transformed by […]
To Welcome Suffering is to Say Yes to God
If there’s one thing I’m learning lately, it’s that suffering is inevitable in this life. That no matter who we are, no matter what we have, and no matter where we live, we will have hard things to face. And yet it’s such a challenge to welcome the suffering–to embrace adversity… To look forward to […]
When Our Heart Aches, He Meets Us Even There
I cry the ugly cry and can hardly type through the blur. My heart is aching and I know the ache is nothing compared with what some others may be facing. But my tears only know my ache, the reality of my situation, and there’s nothing more real than my very own heart. I’m alone, yet I know God is here. I’ve heard […]
Only God Can Change Tragedy Into Beauty
Only God can change tragedy into beauty. And it is only because of Him we can give thanks in everything, and by doing so find joy. I first met her 2 years ago when she became my neighbor. I’m really not the bold and brazen type who randomly knocks on a door. And I’m certainly not a door-to-door evangelist, but […]
3 Steps For When Your Heart Faces the Pain, Brokenness, and Devastation of Divorce :: Sermon on the Mount {Week 15}
No matter what, divorce is painful. It hurts. And its consequences never really end. I know—because twelve years ago I got divorced. I know first-hand the pain and its consequences, especially when adultery is involved. And while I’ll share those details with you another time, suffice it to say, God hates divorce from the spouse […]
Gratitude in Grief {When Giving Thanks Brings Joy}
Is it possible to have gratitude in grief? I watch them enter with grace and take their seat in the front row: the son and daughter and husband who miss her so. The granddaughter and grandson. The sister and great-grandchildren, and all the family and friends–all of them here to remember. I see the flowers […]
