My soul, bless the Lord...
Oh weary soul of mine, choose today to bless the Lord. Choose to lift your cast-down gaze, your fatigue, your heaviness, and your grief to the Lord who is so near. Your heart will lighten as you praise. It makes no sense, but a sacred exchange happens in the heavenly places when you praise from the bottom of the pit. 

I pray you will know that Jesus is your greatest Treasure. I pray that you will lay down your hurt, your anger, your grief and your questions and know that Jesus is enough. I pray you will lay down all your heart is running after to fill the broken places and know that Jesus is enough. I pray that you will look at your life, not through the lens of what you’ve lost, but what you’ve gained.

The anxieties are heavy. And the trek is so hard. And I am seriously weary. 

But the Bible tells me to cast all of that on to Jesus (1 Peter 5:7). We are told to hurl all our bags of worries and anxieties onto Jesus. 

Why?

Rest came easy for me. I lived in a safe house. My finances were reliable. Plans were in place for retirement and my future. Sleep came easy because the patterns and rhythms of my life were normal and stable.

But with the breaking of my marriage came the loss of easy rest.

We are a community of treasure seekers.

We have sifted through the ashes of shattered marriages and broken dreams to find beauty. 

And oh, how we’ve found it, haven’t we?

Do you carry a story of rejection? Maybe it feels like there is a banner over your head declaring that you are UNWANTED, UNLOVED, REJECTED? Rejection carries tones of shame that cannot be covered over easily. It infects us, down to the very core.

Did you know you’re not alone?

Some friends have gone silent and seem to be avoiding me & it hurts. Did this happen to you?

Oh, this is a hard one. Yes this happened to me, and yes it hurt. My heart is with you.

Here’s the thing—I truly believe that your friends are not trying to avoid or ignore you. My guess is they don’t know what to say or do—to the point that it’s paralyzed them and now they feel it’s too late, so they step back to avoid making things worse. 


How do I know? Well, this has been me before, and probably you too?

It’s our first Father’s Day since he left—all of us are feeling crummy & not sure how to handle the day?

This one is so timely! Here’s some of my thoughts based on our experience

Will I be sad forever?

We are answering some questions from our community and I can feel the sorrow and weight behind this one.

Short answer: no. But here’s my why…

Instead of checking off my spiritual to-do list all I could do was sip my tea, cry and long for rest. Unwanted divorce, solo parenting, betrayal, grief and unseen burdens weighed heavy rendering me exhausted—both physically and spiritually.

Single moms seem to carry a particular burden that often goes unrecognized—that of chronic decision fatigue and a need for rest. This weariness presents itself emotionally, physically and spiritually. This Mother’s Day we can offer true rest to single moms by being the body of Christ, lifting her eyes to Jesus Christ, the only One in whom true rest can be found.

We feel our weakness so deeply, don’t we? We need someone strong enough to bear the weight of it all. So, let’s pause in the messy in- between to welcome the grace of biblical lament into our lives. As we spend time reflecting on passages of lament in the Bible, we will push our hearts towards hope in the only One strong enough to bear the weight of such immense pain.

And hope sounds pretty good when life shatters, doesn’t it?

You are the God of comfort. You look with compassion on my ruins.My life feels shattered (hopeless, even?)

But you are a God who takes deserts and wastelands and turns them into gardens like Eden. What a promise. 

So here I am—in the brokenness of my life, my story, my marriage, my family—asking you to take all of these shards and splintered pieces and make something beautiful. Use these ashes for your glory and my good. 

Everything good and beautiful in my life crashed into a thousand pieces. I was brought very low. So low in fact, I lost all hope. Have you been there? I have a feeling maybe you have…

If you told 5-year-old me about all the loss she would face, would she still grow up with stars in her eyes & hope in her heart?

Every December, I feel my heart and body brace themselves for another blow. As twinkly lights sparkle in windows and the collective mood gets merrier, a sense of dread typically settles over my heart. I struggle to pull the Christmas decorations out of storage with my girls, and tears often fall.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE OVER AT RISEN MOTHERHOOD

Friday, December 1st, will mark the 7th anniversary of my marriage shattering. I have a tradition of setting my alarm for December 1st with the label: YOU SURVIVED. And it’s true. We have.

How do you mark such a day?

Have you been cast very low this year? 

Are you reading this from the lowest point in the valley or the bottom of the pit? 

(Hi friend, I’m here too.)

Sometimes I lay awake at night feeling like such a massive burden to the people who love me. I feel so needy all the time. My friends and family have never begrudged helping me—ever. But it’s still a struggle to believe that I’m not a total drain on them. 

Maybe you feel this way too? 

I don’t have all the answers, but here are four things I’ve been pondering…

God is not a man that he might lie, or a son of man that he might change his mind… (Numbers 23:19)

I struggle with these words.

You see, I have trust issues. I loved a man who lied and changed his mind and it made me question everyone in my life.

My unwanted divorce ushered in a deep loneliness. This makes me feel unwanted, bitter, unmotivated and hopeless. Dark thoughts threaten to take over my heart when I lean into my isolation. I don’t always get it right, but here are three places I’ve learned to turn when loneliness hovers…