Friendship is sometimes forged in the most unusual situations. It became a moment of laughter for the two of us. We could not have orchestrated such meet-ups, nor could we have predicted how God would use scheduled conference breaks to bring two strangers together. But after four days of unplanned run-ins in front of the door marked "Women," we acknowledged these were no accident, and surely God had a plan we were unaware of at the moment. As weeks and months passed, each of us sharing bits of our lives, we came to understand how connected and parallel our journeys had become. We walked our journeys together..... sharing our fears praying for strength crying out for understanding laughing through adversity challenging each other to surrender grieving unspeakable Continue Reading
Hope for the Weary Writer
Are you a writer? Then chances are you've experienced moments, days and even months of being just plain weary. "Weary" is the dilemma of every writer at some point. We pull words from deep places and pour them out, shaping and crafting sentences meant to bring hope and encouragement to our readers. Every moment spent living becomes an opportunity to write. A common thread to connect one soul to another. Because we want to make a difference... We strive to lighten another's burden with fresh insight. We long to sprinkle joy where there is sorrow. We yearn to offer strength to the heavy-hearted. We ache to show the way... to grace and mercy and hope. We live to plant seeds of encouragement. And along the journey, sometimes, we find ourselves weary and worn. Hope stretched Continue Reading
For the One Who Needs Hope in a Breaking Marriage
It wasn’t a pretty sight. A breaking marriage never is. Both of us sinking in despair, our commitment hanging in the balance, and our words threatening to slice the last thread tethering our once captivated hearts. Our vows spoken long ago with such certainty now convicted the stubborn, jagged corners of our spirits. “For better or for worse;” if there ever was a worse, this was it, and if we were ever at our worst, it was now. Darkness surrounded our marriage that day, hovering over the horizon of continual conflict, unbridled snapping and relentless blaming. Hearts hardened and closed always summon darkness. Somehow “for the sake of our children” didn’t make sense anymore. We were too different, too hurt, too convinced we both deserved better. How could we end up here after Continue Reading
For the One Who Needs Hope in the Dark Places
It has been such fun meeting each of you here for the Back to School Identity Series, and hopefully, we are well on our way to a great year, right alongside our kids, ready to take one more step toward our calling with both courage and hope as our trusted companions. If you're anything like me, simply knowing our calling isn't enough. Often we find ourselves having to make brave choices and travel some very difficult terrain in the process of living out our deepest desire. Hard, rocky and even dark places are never easy. But when we know what we've been called to in this life, we understand it will demand everything and no stone will be left unturned in the plowing of our soul. I'm honored to be guest writing over at Nicole Kauffman's lovely website today, where she has been running Continue Reading