Reading the book of Lamentations is like reading a nightmare in which parents eat their children or leave them to starve. No wonder the author is lamenting... sorrowing. His situation is utterly hopeless. "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD." Yet, he also says, "Therefore I will hope in him." How can the author say that after claiming he had no hope?
Read MoreNowhere else do I have as much self-doubt as I do in motherhood. Moms need to be reminded that they are doing good work and doing it well. Moms need other moms. God in his wisdom understands that.
Moms are busy. While we are busy loving others, we can also lose hope for ourselves. This is what community is for. When you have lost the ability to hope all things, you need friends to remind you that God still sees you, still loves you, and is still for you.
Read MoreLiving with an undiagnosed disease means living with uncertainty. It feels like being untethered. I have so many questions, yet I rarely get answers.
The same word, “anchor,” used for firmly securing a ship to land is also the same word for pointing a ship into the wind during a storm. The omniscient character of God has grounded me time and time again when medical knowledge has failed me. The sovereignty and faithfulness of God keep me focused forward, towards eternity when my body will be healthy and whole, no longer surprising us with unexplainable brokenness. God as my anchor is my only hope.
Read MoreWhether it’s infertility, secondary infertility, or the complex wait of adoption, countless women have gone through Sarah’s transformation from Waiting Mother to Expectant Mother. Just like Sarah, an unexpected message at an unexpected time changed my laughter from laughter of despair to laughter of joy.
God doesn’t owe us the details of his timing when he is about to fulfill a promise. But sometimes, by grace, we receive those details anyway. Laughing with joy is an appropriate response.
Read MoreThere will always be things out of our control. Things we can’t fix. Since my lungs bled, it seems my family has been in a Master Class on “Things That Can’t be Fixed.” Broken blood vessels. Weak lungs. A pandemic that sent us into isolation. And now, as the state re-opens, we must stay home because that’s the safest choice. There’s really nothing we can do about that.
So what can we do?
Here are four things you can do to find peace and hope when things can’t be fixed.
Read MoreIn this video, Mary Kate Brown and I chat about Crohn’s Disease and Functional Medicine.
You’ll notice right away that Mary Kate is energetic and passionate about sharing her story. It’s a little unusual, in my experience, to meet someone who is happy to share her story with chronic illness and bubbling over with hope regarding her prognosis. Even more rare is someone who is all those things while also very honest about the future hurdles she will likely face. Mary Kate is a rare jewel.
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