I call it “micro-stress” when I chat with students. We laugh about it, but there is a quiet knowing and empathy about its compounding challenge. You know…that underlying anxiety caused by constant infusion of horrific on the news. That incessant loud of needing the next “like” on social media, of Read more
In this world broken by sin, are you feeling particularly shattered and weak? Suffering and sin are a born-into-this-world given (Genesis 3)…but these days? They seem a specially appointed, global, weighty, exponential hard. A prayer for today Oh Lord, we need Your strength in our weakness. We ponder Read more
Are you clinging to the Gospel right now too? Are you clinging to the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16 ESV)? Is it hard to know what to say, do, believe right now? Do you also feel like you need His guidance and wisdom in this broken, Read more
The hits. Just. Keep. On. Coming. All at once. It feels Job-like. When I was sick, I often cried prayers of despair and lament. https://laurihogle.com/about/ They filled my tears, especially as I lay in hospital beds missing my little children and husband. Despair and Lament How long, O Lord? Will you forget Read more
I am not at rest today. Weary (Lam. 5:8), pain-filled (Job 30:17), wanting escape (Ps. 55:6). I am quarantined in my house, but don’t feel restfully at home. I need re-turning, returning and rest. In Western music, home is often a musical ending. The final “authentic cadence” arrives at a Read more
Watching the radar, we knew it was coming. Time to inventory TP, bread, milk, canned goods. The storm bled red all over the screen. Hunker down in our basement. Exhausting, stay-up-all-night fear. Immense interruption of normal life. Storms are chaotic, noise-filled, demanding constant attention and threatening our minds with imagined Read more
I am a planner. As a teacher, I love planning backwards from goals, creating objectives and experiences for students. I love day planners, to-do lists, lesson plan templates. I look forward to events and gleefully plan details. Now, lists are shredded with canceled, ended plans and I’m left with an Read more
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You” (Ps 56:3) I’m honestly really battling anxiety. Putting on positive for others, holding their anxieties, loving, caring. As a teacher, wife, parent, friend, sister, daughter. But my chronic illnesses make me understandably afraid to be around people. I have no Read more
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