There are times when the wonder of Christmas overwhelms us with emotion – joy and sorrow, mixed with regrets and anxiety. We want to celebrate the birth of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, but there’s just so much pain in our lives. We wonder if we will even make it to December…
Our God is so gracious to include the true story of a narcissistic abuser in His Word. Our Sovereign God has helped us and prepared us and has chosen us for such a time as this…and He also helped, prepared and chose a godly woman, Abigail, for an amazing true story during the times of…
The Bible says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven….a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…” (Ecclesiastes 3) Can you almost hear the song by The Byrds circa 1965? And the Bible is true, of course. We…
As we continue to explore Grief or Relief today, please know that whatever your particular loss, God is near. He is the One who has the name of Comforter and Helper. His promise in His Word is to be near the broken-hearted and those who are crushed in their spirits. In fact, Jesus our Savior…
This original poem by our friend, Janet Blessing, addresses the dilemma of whether to talk with our children, our pastors, our church friends about the abuse, the pain, the hurt, the sin infesting our home. STILL GRIEVING of all I’d put my children through; of all I’d done to me– but worst of all, the…
Little Wife set her empty wine glass on the kitchen table and gazed sadly out the window at the falling snow. The weak mid-January sunlight filtered through the cold clouds barely reaching the ground before dissolving into another gray afternoon. “Well,” she thought to herself, “If I’ve had one glass of wine and broken my…
When you woke up on January 1, 2024, how did you feel? Hopeful or hopeless? Joyful or depressed? Blessed or afflicted? Full of faith or full of fear? Maybe you had a nice stew of all of those emotions as you opened your eyes in this new year. We understand that. We are here for…
I just returned from a weekend trip to northern Minnesota to spend time with family. It was sweet to be with my sister and her husband, my brother, my auntie and other family friends. The reason for our gathering was to lay to rest the ashes of my brother’s dear wife who passed away in…
Sometimes God gives us a neon billboard. This past Sunday, I had to give my very good dog, Buddy, back to Jesus. Buddy was old. He had serious health conditions and much pain. It was a heartbreaking decision and a time of deep grief for me. He was ours for a short time, just five…
I wonder if you are like me at Christmas-time? Because of trauma and broken family traditions and feelings of sadness, I struggle every year to put up the Christmas tree. I have endless conversations inside my head about the reasons why I don’t feel like getting the tree out of its box in the…