For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with the burden of longing for the next season—eyes set on the next shiny milestone—while being told not to miss a single second of the one I’m in. As a sixteen-year-old girl, I romanticized the idea of going off to college and living out my grown-up […]
I’ve lived in Minnesota for almost eighteen years, and sometimes winter still surprises me. The harshness of the bitter cold, the sting of the wind, and the abundance of cloudy days can make it hard for even the hardiest Minnesotan to persevere. By late February, we wonder, Will winter ever end? Some seasons in life […]
There comes a point on a Sunday when everyone knows it’s time to head home for lunch. Jokes are no longer funny. Squealing kids are no longer cute. Stomachs growl a little too long. It is unquestionably time to go. With each passing moment, my attitude grows dark and my patience wears thin. We all […]
I tried to squelch the hope growing in my heart as I swung into the drugstore. This time I felt different. Against my better judgment, I allowed myself to believe that maybe the result would be different this time too. I made the familiar walk to the back right of the store and crouched down […]
Why would God restore their marriage but not ours? Why did they get pregnant so easily while we’ve been struggling for years? Why did God bless them financially, yet we’re living paycheck to paycheck? Questions like these plague us when we focus on what we don’t have in our current circumstances. But sometimes the situation […]
Whenever I’m experiencing discontent in the midst of the incredible bounty that God has blessed me with, it’s a sign that I’m looking for satisfaction in the things of this world. Identifying the problem is a good place to start, but nothing will change until we begin searching for our satisfaction in the nutrient-rich truth […]
My mother is one of those people who insists that the presence of her children is the only gift she needs. And she’s one of the few people who actually means it. But she’s also someone who finds delight in the smallest things, so giving her gifts becomes a source of joy for her kids. […]
Most of us haven’t faced the temptation to bow to a golden image. I grew up taking the first and second commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Ex. 20:3–4), for granted. Like every good Sunday school classroom in the ‘90s, diagrams and […]
The job you’ve been praying about for months sent an email that starts with the words “We’re sorry.” The man you used to dream about marrying just announced his engagement on Facebook. The pregnancy test in your hand has only one line on that little screen. The medical results come back and leave you with […]
Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from Lisa’s new book The Hard Good: Showing Up for God to Work in You When You Want to Shut Down. Instead of waiting for your emotions to fall in line, the hard good can help bring a new way of living with healthy, managed emotions. Waiting Isn’t Wasted My […]
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