woman sitting while showing heart sign hands

My omnipresent God is with me and my children

I’ve noticed that the hardest suffering for many women has to do with mothering, in multiple ways. Mothering starts with the anguish of labor, yet it’s mingled with joy (John 16:21). In the sacrificial love required, exhaustion of child-care, and continual seeking of God’s wisdom, we sometimes suffer in mothering Read more…

water drop

God’s mercy, in the messy middle

Do you ever feel Job-like when suffering doesn’t go away? What if they say it’s permanent and incurable? What if God’s answers to our prayers seem to be “no” or “not yet?” Could these situations be God’s leading us to His gentle mercy and compassion for us, as we walk Read more…

photo of cross in an ocean during dawn

Singing “Hallelujah, What a Savior!” Into Suffering

In this holiest of weeks, we “survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died.” I don’t cry often, but in my physical pain a few days ago, I wept when I re-realized how willingly Jesus submitted Himself to immense pain, torturous suffering, and surpassing agonies of complete Read more…

scenic photo of lake surrounded by trees

Sing to our powerful God!

I must confess…there are days when my symptoms scream loudest and groanings of this world feel unbearable, that I can forget how powerful our God is. These are days when, by His always-sufficient grace, His power is made perfect in my very-weak forgetfulness. 2 Corinthians 12:9 is His precious promise Read more…

grayscale photography of hands waving

We have hope, Jesus is King!

The news is horrific, isn’t it? Suffering abounds. We’re in agony for many whose daily existence is threatened. We find ourselves praying, “God, please help me as I suffer. Please help our world and Your people.” Who are we praying to, beloved in Christ? Maybe today we need to remember Read more…

landscape photography of clouds

Finding peace instead of “what if” anxious thoughts

Do you find your thoughts drifting into the “what if” zone? They can keep us up at night. The loud voices of the media fuel them. We Google around, looking for possible answers, fretting. Wondering. Trying to take control…again. “What if” thoughts jab our souls when we suffer. We try Read more…

aurora borealis

A prayer-song to our glorious God

Is this world’s ugly invading your thoughts and emotions lately? Is it hard to see any light right now? When darkness and ugly infiltrate our thoughts in suffering, we grasp for light and beauty. Sometimes the pain in this world becomes so big in our suffering, that we’re desperate to Read more…

white flowers and leaves on an open book

Near to God as I praise Him for His character

God’s songs in Scripture drip with honest emotion. So we know He understands our emotional needs when we suffer; He gives us words to pray when our hearts run dry. In our pain and suffering, He even gives us moments of praise, interspersed within those tearful songs in His Word. Read more…

person s scooping water by hands

“Jesus, Lover of My Soul” in Times of Loss and Waiting

Are you walking through a time of “unanswered prayer?” Does it seem like a lifetime of waiting for something? Are you experiencing discouragement and loss? I wrote this last week, not knowing that I would be suddenly walking in “the valley of the shadow of death” a few days later. Read more…

blue skies

The Riches of the Breath of God

Are these days making you feel breathless? Like you’re wearily running a marathon? Perhaps you’re sick and literally struggling to take a breath. Perhaps you’re finding yourself holding your breath from constant pain, anxiety, or stress. We are indeed living through a race of endurance right now. But we are Read more…

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