Suffering with hope

Broken Bones and Crooked Paths

I write this as I sit across the room from my fourteen-year-old daughter, listening to the steady pump of the circulation machine as it tries to keep blood clots at bay.  Roughly two weeks ago, she endured a nasty gymnastics injury, severely fracturing her tibia and growth plate. A few days ago, she underwent a… Continue reading Broken Bones and Crooked Paths

Suffering with hope

In the Redeemerโ€™s Hands, Broken Instruments Make Beautiful Music

โ€œMaybe tomorrow will be better,โ€ Iโ€™ve thought countless times before. And yet, here I am, still waiting for that โ€œbetter tomorrowโ€ to arrive.  During my younger teen years, random health struggles began to arise. As a young mom in my early twenties, symptoms intensified tenfold. Since then, the days have turned to months; the months… Continue reading In the Redeemerโ€™s Hands, Broken Instruments Make Beautiful Music

Suffering with hope

A Sunflower in the Dessert

Quarterly Newsletter Something on my mindโ€ฆ This image has been on my mind a lot latelyโ€”including the analogy it represents. On the last day of our family road trip last year, we drove through a vast national park and pulled off at the final lookout before we were set to head home. It was hazy,… Continue reading A Sunflower in the Dessert

Suffering with hope

Don’t Lose Hope – Your Story Isn’t Finished

This post is a personal one for me. Itโ€™s a part of my life that has shaped me more than anything else, but itโ€™s also the part Iโ€™ve been most limited to share about.  More recently, however, the Lord has been moving in our familyโ€™s life, leading us to share more about the journey weโ€™ve… Continue reading Don’t Lose Hope – Your Story Isn’t Finished

Suffering with hope

The Three L’s of Suffering Well With Others

Weโ€™ve all suffered. Weโ€™ve all known someone else who has suffered. And weโ€™ve all been on the giving and receiving end of unhelpful and ignorant comments as a result. Suffering is simply a natural part of the human experience in this world. Godโ€™s Word doesnโ€™t leave us wondering, โ€œifโ€, but โ€œwhenโ€ the pain of this… Continue reading The Three L’s of Suffering Well With Others

Suffering with hope

When The Waves Threaten to Take You Under

My cousins and I were enjoying a carefree summer day as we often did at my grandparents house in Wisconsinโ€”building sand castles, swimming in the lake, and pushing each other off the old wooden raft that floated a good distance from the dock. I was young, but I remember the details of this particular day… Continue reading When The Waves Threaten to Take You Under

Suffering with hope

Grief is Not a Sign of Unbelief

โ€œThen Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, โ€˜Naked I came from my motherโ€™s womb, and naked shall I return.โ€™ The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.โ€™โ€ Job 1:20-22 When loss comes, grief… Continue reading Grief is Not a Sign of Unbelief

Suffering with hope

Fighting for Faith When Doubts Abound

โ€œMay your compassion come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate needโ€(Psalm 79:8).  Itโ€™s a prayer that Iโ€™ve often prayed over the past two decades of trials. As the waves of tribulation seemed to relentlessly beat upon me and my family, itโ€™s a prayer that has also been riddled with doubts over Godโ€™s… Continue reading Fighting for Faith When Doubts Abound

Suffering with hope

When Nothing Makes Sense, Remember These Three Thingsโ€ฆ

Newsletter Something on my mindโ€ฆโ€œEverything in my life always goes wrong! I know God can prevent it if he wants to, so it seems like he enjoys inflicting pain on me.โ€ Tears welled up in my teenage sonโ€™s eyes as these words of discouragement and borderline despair flew out of his mouth.ย  I caught myself… Continue reading When Nothing Makes Sense, Remember These Three Thingsโ€ฆ

Suffering with hope

A Story of Redemption is Being Written in Your Life

The past several years, God has been stripping away the frills of earthly success, independence, and self-confidence in me. Like Elijah, I have felt hidden by the Lord, severely tested by difficult and painful circumstances. I have been in a battle for faith in response to Godโ€™s silence and the relentless furnace of affliction. My… Continue reading A Story of Redemption is Being Written in Your Life