Treasures in the Hard

Category

October 24, 2019

Holy Tension; aka, How to Wrestle an Alligator

What difficult thing do you wrestle? Against what hard do you struggle? Does a task God has given you appear to rise up with gnashing teeth and slashing tail? Is there a stress-causing challenge you wish removed so life would be pert near perfect? What seeming impossibility keeps you exhausted and fearful in its grip? Bottom line: what alligator are you wrestling? When my husband texts early in the week and asks “what’s up?” and the response is “wrestling alligators”,...

September 12, 2019

Your Checklist When Seasons Collide (Seasons Part 2)

Moving into a new season of life can be hard. (See Part 1: one-truth-to-survive-seasonal-changes) But moving into a new season with one foot firmly planted in the past season can be earth shaking. Somewhat like the tectonic plates of the earth’s crust coming in contact, “grinding violently against each other, causing earthquakes and volcano eruptions”. Sound familiar? Um, yes. More often than not, seasonal transitions are not cut and dry, but involve one foot planted in both seasons. Two memories bubble...

August 29, 2019

Where is God When we Suffer?

Many hards we face go beyond circumstances and relationships. Sometimes the hard resides in our mind. Unanswered questions nag our spirit. Riddles and puzzles swirl and entangle us. Four times, from four sources, a hard question has crossed my recent path. Why do good people suffer? Or this version: how can a God who is love allow suffering? The news reminds us daily of a world full of pain. But perhaps more poignant weighs the personal suffering we witness and...

August 22, 2019

One Truth to Survive Seasonal Changes

On a recent morning jog, passing through a wooded stretch, a hint of autumn washed over me. There was a slight chill to the air and a morning shower created a musky dampness, leaving the air smelling of decaying earth. An overnight windstorm had prematurely tugged leaves from their branches and scattered them along the pathway. And the heart skipped a beat as the realization hit, though still mid-August, fall lay just around the next bend.  The urge pressed in...

August 15, 2019

Dealing with Repeat Offenders

Some days a hard develops just showing grace to rude strangers. To be forgiving to an acquaintance being “all about me”. To tolerate a slight from someone we respect. But. A real hard ensues and intensifies when needing grace and forgiveness, again, for one close to us. For one we have walked this journey with for years. Whom we know well. Who knows us well. We face the hard of showing grace when challenged with “another”. Another display of selfishness....

August 1, 2019

3 P’s When Children Disappoint

“A little child steps on our toes. But as they grow older, they step on our hearts.” This shared truth when our kids are little people, bouncing through summer with bare feet, sticky popsicle faces, and easy giggles doesn’t penetrate our understanding. But as they grow and stretch their wings out from under our guidance and protection, we begin to feel the ache, torment, and sorrow of watching a child’s bad decisions and actions. This can range from poor choices,...

July 25, 2019

Victory in One of Life’s Daily Hards

One of the every day hards in life is managing time. Time for all of our tasks and all of our people. The desired priority at the top of our list, in permanent ink? Time with God.  Which happens to also be the top priority on our Enemy’s attack plan, which he executes with vengeance and consistency. He hates to see us sitting at the feet of Jesus. He despises when we pour over God’s Word. Satan knows our fervor...

July 4, 2019

What We Do in a Faith Crisis

Stunned, the ambulance sped us along, transporting from a local hospital to a children’s hospital miles away. His little six-week old skull suffered a fracture from meeting pavement as we fell. Fresh memories of falling, our mad dash through red lights to the ER, mixed with the phrases “brain swelling”, “holes drilled”, “potential battle with children’s services” swirled in my head; all accompanied by the horrifying, never-to-be-forgotten sound of CRACK, like a wooden bat smacking a baseball, as his head...

June 27, 2019

3 Steps to Center Your Wandering Heart

Tho many hards roll in through no invitation or fault of our own, some are the direct result of choices we make; paths we choose. These decisions culminate in a season of difficulty and hard. At the core of these hards runs a central theme: wandering. Wandering away from our Center. Taking our eyes off of Christ, letting our thoughts, and then our hearts, meander into fantasies of a better relationship, more eyes-on-me, or a glitzier life. We chase after...

June 20, 2019

An Important Tool for Your Marriage

Traveling the highway of marriage is not a journey for those weak in spirit or resolve. Through the years, we experience many flat tires, engine blow-ups and “we are lost” detours. Working through problems solidifies our marriages. But requires work. Hard work. Laboring through a marital hard becomes more doable with the right tools, employing the implements of patience, gentleness, and openness with a steady power supply of prayer and scriptural guidance. Another important tool is called a “letgo”. At...