grace on difficult days

Everybody has rough days.  Hard days.  Painful days.  Difficult days.
It’s one of the things every human has in common, isn’t it?  It’s easy to become myopic on these days.
Lately I’ve been trying to recognize what God’s grace looks like in my life on these difficult days.  Intellectually I know that God’s grace may very well [...]

miscarriage and memorials

I think a lot of miscarriages happen with little said or done.
Many women miscarry before they’ve had the chance to tell family and friends that they’re pregnant.  And so, after the loss of their little ones, they soldier on.  The baby is remembered mainly in the heart of a grieving mother.
For me, it’s helpful to [...]

repent! it’s never the wrong message.

I think when difficulties/trials/catastrophes/sufferings are brought to bear on our lives, an apt message to preach to our own soul is always, “Repent!”
It’s so offensive.  And the message seems to rub salt in the wound.  It’s kind of like, “Hey, I am enduring a terrible loss, the last thing I need to do is be [...]

perinatal hospice: a grief conserved

My dad just had another article published in World Magazine.
It’s called, A Grief Conserved, and I recommend it.
Here’s how it begins:
“Something’s wrong with this baby,” my ultrasound technician told me. She had just scanned Mrs. Jones (a fictitious name) at 20 weeks and went on to describe her findings, findings that surely meant little chance [...]

on saying the right thing

I’ve noticed that there is definite protocol on what to say and what not to say when someone has experienced loss.
I’m not sure anyone knows exactly what the protocol is, but it’s out there, eluding people, nonetheless.
My mom said a funny thing to me the other day.  She said, “I feel badly.  I went and [...]

grief and goodness

Believe it or not, I usually have a pretty clear head.  I’m a straight thinker.  Clear lines, logical progressions, even with the chaos of motherhood, I can usually keep my thinking fairly rational.
But this past week I have felt the person who is normally driven by reason disappear.
Grief and sorrow will do that to you.
So [...]

with broken hearts over our little one

It’s with a heavy and broken heart that I write to say I miscarried our little one this past weekend.
We are grieving the baby that has left us with an empty belly and empty arms.
I am wishing that I could have had one more day, or week, or month to carry him or her.  Each [...]

one purpose of suffering and calamity

I’ve been reading in Amos lately.
In chapter 4 verses 6-13 the writer recounts all the difficulties the Lord has sent to Israel in order to persuade them to return to the Lord.  But they don’t return.
Here’s a list of the calamities He sent them (minor in comparison with what was to come):

cleanness of teeth and [...]

why generalizations about depression aren’t helpful, generally speaking

I have a love and burden for God’s people who are depressed and sorrowing.  
God has also worked in me to give me a love and burden for His people who don’t seem to “get” sorrow.  Christians should be the most tender-hearted, loving, encouraging people toward one another the world has ever seen.  And I [...]

a look at sorrow from the cheap seats

Depression is personal.
We (myself included) talk about “depression” like it’s one singular obtuse thing.  It isn’t.  It could mean something minor or major* or clinical*.  It is an array of many particular feelings to particular people with particular circumstances. 
I am trying to refer to it in more terms than just “depression.” Something more specific.  For [...]