Struggles
It Is So Difficult (and Why Difficulties Must Exist)
It’s that time of year when our high school students are registering for next year’s classes. In the past years, it’s been uneventful for me. My boys knew what they needed and wanted to take. Now, I am deciding Rachel’s sophomore schedule, and it is eventful. You see, my daughter doesn’t have the understanding to…
There Is Healing in the Sharing and the Hearing
Who would ever guess right here is where to find healing? Who would think sharing is therapeutic? After all, suffering is private, isn’t it? And I pause to remember: The dark, suffocating days of loss. Tears burning tracks down my cheeks. Missing the ones I never knew and never would (this side of heaven). The unknown future…
When the Fire of Affliction Burns Intense
Flames consumed tuft after tuft of grass, eating up the acres as it engulfed everything in its path. A controlled burn had turned renegade. Furiously, we flapped and stomped on new embers that threatened to spread the fire even further. But the lapping flames and rushing wind seemed to mock our attempts. The intense heat…
What If Problems Are Really Plans?
Sometimes our troubles seem to be more than we can handle. They weigh us down. Strip us of any semblance of joy and peace. Have us wondering how we can go on one more day. No Problems? But have you ever considered that what you see as a problem may actually be a growth opportunity?…
When Disappointment Threatens to Crowd Out Joy
A recent event sparked disappointment in a few of us in my family. It wasn’t a tragic event with life-altering consequences, but a time of discouragement and unrest. You know the feeling. A sense of longing for the opposite of what did happen. As I was processing this event, I realized competing camps battled for…
The Better Answer Through the Pain
I’m learning, my answer may not be the best one. I prayed for the lives of my unborn children. That I could hold each one. That we would have time to get to know each other. That we would laugh and play and grow together. I prayed for my sweet daughter. That she would think…
What to Do With a Life Lived In Between
So much gets in the way. Vines entangle. Traps ensnare. The light shines bright, then disappears in the fog. I walk a path well lit, then take a turn into fogginess. I step boldly, then cower in fear. I hold to truth, then buy into lies. I lift my hands to serve, then lower them…
When the World Spins Backward
Years ago, my maternal grandmother died in her sleep. She was 87. I cried. I missed her (I still do). But it was expected. It is just the way things are–the natural process of life. I can accept that. I can accept aging as, not always welcome, but inevitable. We are born, grow for 30…
Why We Don’t Need All the Answers
Storms gather and we’re left to wonder how to cope. How to survive the fierce winds and driving rains. How to make sense of the turmoil, the pain, the aftermath. Death of the innocent. Isolation of the chronically ill and elderly. Financial setbacks. Marital difficulties. Car crashes. A loved one wasting away from cancer. A…
You Can’t Bear It, But You Don’t Have To (When You’re Too Weak)
“God will never give you more than you can handle.” I’ve heard this many times, believed it, and even passed it on. Yet the more I study Scripture and the gift of grace,the more certain I am that this is a fallacy. God never promised we wouldn’t face more than we could handle on our own.…
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Hello, I'm Julie, an imperfect wife and mother of four. Life in this broken world is not always easy. Yet, joy can be found in each day through the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I find it's easy for our day's blessings to get lost in its happenings. But God's "mercies never end" (Lamentations 3:22) and His "grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
May the posts and pages on this site offer you a measure of peace and encouragement.
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