woman looking at sunset

What do I do as I wait for suffering to end?

Are you waiting for things to improve, hoping for things to become easier?  Sometimes, it’s years of waiting.  Sometimes, things don’t get better or easier, but worse and harder. What do we do then? What if…our waiting lasts a lifetime? Psalm 69 gives us the words to pray in the Read more…

photo of person holding cherry tomato

Give thanks to God when I don’t feel like it

We sing this hymn at Thanksgiving, but what if the words feel inauthentic to you this Thanksgiving? Do you ever have running thoughts like these when you sing? Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home; Lord, I’m not feeling thankful today, at least not thankful enough to Read more…

woman looking towards the sky

Praising Our Sovereign God Into Depression

I wondered about the author of this hymn’s lyrics (God Moves in a Mysterious Way, Cowper, W., 1773). What happened in this believer’s life? His mother died when he was six. He fell in love but wasn’t allowed to marry her. He went to law school but couldn’t handle the Read more…

race of endurance

I Praise You in a Kingdom-Focused Race of Endurance

As a choral educator, I know the power of singing rounds. All learn a simple melody, repeat it over and over, and when the round begins, groups of people sing the same song at staggered times. I remember singing this round as a teenager, memorizing Scripture with song: Seek ye Read more…

background balance beach boulder

The Lord is My Help and Hope

Going back to school in a pandemic brings up all the feels, doesn’t it? Uncertain, weary, sad, hopeful, scared, excited, overwhelmed…simultaneously. We bravely want to transition well for our kids and health of all. On top of this, we continue to live with our financial, relational, and health challenges. We Read more…

When We All Get to Heaven

Singing Christ’s hope into suffering includes singing of heaven as He releases our grip on this world. Before the Lord graciously drew us to Himself in Christ, we had no hope and were without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, we have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13 ESV)! Read more…

fortress

Fortress in the storm

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…