When we face a hard, from daily struggles to overwhelming pain and sorrow, we long for comfort. For encouragement. A source exists at our fingertips, available to us at any time, straight from the heart of our Father God. The Scripture presents a love-packed story, from cover to cover, from God to His people; including passage after passage of comfort and encouragement. One of those scriptures, a familiar psalm, has entire books written to explore its depths, yet takes on...
July 18, 2019
A Song of Hope for your Hard
July 11, 2019
The Great Rescue
Hards can come upon us like waves, one after another. We see clouds building on the horizon, unsure if they will dissipate or move away from us. As we watch over our shoulder, the storm draws closer, the winds picking up causing the waves to increase in intensity. Before we move to escape, we are caught in the clutches of a violent storm. The waves come in high and fast, knocking us off our feet. We no sooner pick ourselves...
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...
June 13, 2019
3 Steps to Handle the Sin Drip
Sin. A dripping faucet. Unrelenting. Disturbing. Incessant. We no sooner start our day than it’s dripping. An angry word. A terse answer. Gossip. Hateful thoughts. Distrust. Judgements tossed at others. We repent from one as another takes birth in our thoughts. We say we’re sorry, yet an hour later repeat the same offense. Drip. Drip. Drip. Sin. Endless. Constant. I lamented to my God, agonizing that “I can’t shut it off. Sin just keeps dripping, Lord. No matter how hard...
June 6, 2019
Survival Tips for Your Hard
The past couple weeks found our family in the middle of a hard. A loved one experiencing a health crisis put us all on high alert as we moved through the maze of urgent care, ER, hospital and round-the-clock care at home. As I was lamenting not having inspiration nor energy to write for a second week, the practical husband said, “Well, you’re in the middle of a hard. Isn’t that what you write about?” I gave him the requisite...
May 23, 2019
4 Reality Checks for the Hard of Marriage
This writing comes on the heels of celebrating 40 years of marriage, and seems a good time to talk about one of the somewhat surprising, yet very real, hards of life. Marriage. Volumes have been written about this God-ordained institution, but maybe in the simplest terms, we can agree: Marriage is hard. We are not far along in the journey of wedded bliss before the easy-as-pie, happy-ever-after notions slip to the ground and become trodden under the reality that this...
May 16, 2019
Why Does God Let Hards Linger?
Hards we face in life come in varying degrees: the searing storms that threaten to consume us, and “lesser hards” that, tho they are not as serious and intense, can be difficult to handle. Especially when they hang around for a prolonged period of time: A clashing relationship with no resolution in sight. No relief from chronic pain. Praying for direction, but the heavens stand silent. Working an underpaid, under-appreciated job. ...
May 9, 2019
Firm Truths When a Fire Rages
In life, a hard may sweep in like a raging fire. In horror we tremble after a fireball smashes into our world, spreading voracious, hot flames. Their appetites attempt to consume everything around us. Our dreams and hopes. Our security and stability. Everything we’ve built. First our heart races, then teeters on the brink of stopping. Shock sets in. The pain in the soul sears like the licks of white-flames that race up beams, destroying the framework of our life....