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…

selective focus photo of bottle with cork lid

Loving Jesus In Our Suffering

Mary was about to lose our beloved Jesus to the cross. What did she do in the midst of this sad and stressful time? She broke her precious possession, an alabaster flask of expensive perfumed ointment, pouring it over Jesus’s feet (Jn. 12:3).  She has done what she could; she Read more…

foamy sea waves rolling on sandy beach

Praising God for what is unseen

She bowed before her Lord in desperate need. “Lord, all I can see is suffering, pain, turmoil, unrest, evil. My anxiety is ramping up and my situation isn’t improving. Please help me find rest in this un-rest.  Help me to praise You, God.  Maybe today, help me praise You for what’s Read more…

purple leaf

In my Sorrow, Sing to the Man of Sorrows

Is today filled with sorrow, beloved? It is for many of us, dear readers. Our Man of Sorrows, our suffering Servant, our Savior Jesus Christ understands our suffering, sadness, and loss.  This week, let’s remember Jesus who is so near to us in our sadness because He is our Man Read more…

snow covered mountain during sunrise

Rest and Strength Beneath the Cross of Jesus

In quietness and in trust shall be your strength (Is. 30:15b ESV). “But Lord,” she cried. “Nothing in my life feels quiet or calm. My life is filled with chaos, this fallen world is filled with chaos and noise. I’m honestly battling the ever-present anxiety that underlies my life circumstances Read more…

silhouette of person standing beside cross during sunset

What wondrous love is this, oh my soul?

Do you ever talk to your soul? The Psalmists did this a lot, reminding themselves of truth in God’s Word, truths about who God is and what He is doing…even when we can’t see it.  Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within Read more…

rainbow on grass field

Your Love Will Never Let Me Go

It’s a week of love. Valentine’s Day celebrated it and the beginning of Lent points us to Love crucified.  “But how could I be suffering so much if God loves me?” Sometimes our enemy forces this secret question into our pain. In that same experience of anguish, the blind hymnwriter Read more…

deep, deep love of Jesus

Deep, deep love of Jesus casts out fear

Do you hear pulsating fear everywhere? Do you notice an underlying “what if…” in spoken words and unspoken thoughts? I had a close soul-sister friend who could notice. She was the type of friend who saw my underlying “what if” as I talked. Her cancer brought her into eternity with Read more…