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sanctuary
As the week drew to a close and my self-imposed deadline loomed nearer, my stress level continually rose. Friday arrived and I greeted it with tears. I had one day left to finish everything on a still very long list of to-dos. How was I ever going to get it done so that I could enjoy the holidays? I dropped the children off at daycare and went quickly home. Everything ground to a halt. I felt like a giant ball of panic. What happened next was so simple, but I will never forget it. I cried out to the Lord, and He helped me.
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reaching toward home
Reaching toward one thing unavoidably requires distancing from another. In this case, I was pulling away from God and His wisdom, and from my family, to try and get my needs met. I was looking to my own enjoyments to obtain peace, rest, fulfillment—things that only He can provide. My peace and contentment can’t be found anywhere else but with the Father. Looking back, I can see the ways that I refused to go to Him with my need. While I was grasping at straws, He was still reaching out to me, watching over me. His hand was always extended. The answer to my desire was right there the whole…
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the fellowship of suffering
What if life is not about trying to be better? What if what matters is becoming present in the midst of it? I’m mulling over the introductory chapters of my preordered copy of K.J. Ramsey’s new book, This Too Shall Last. It is a raw account of learning to sit with pain and suffering so that grace has room to well up in our weakness and speak louder than our shame. It is a message that has arrived in my life at the odd juxtaposition of facing the pain of perfectionism, the shame of singleness, and the inescapable reality of my identity as a writer. In this book, K.J. weaves…
