Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 24
January 8, 2024
4 Gifts the Presence of God Gives your 2024, Especially in Your Wildernesses
You know, I always deeply appreciate Jesus followers who are honest about the challenges of the spiritual life. Without falling into those cliches or platitudes that leave us empty, Faith Eury Cho speaks beautifully about the wilderness of the soul. As Faith reminds us, experiencing friendship with God, rather than reaching a destination, is God’s exquisite purpose for those difficult seasons. It is a privilege to welcome Faith to my porch….
I had been a preacher of the Good News for years. Yet when my son was born struggling to breathe and was whisked away for tests before I could hold even him, I felt desperate for the faith I used to take for granted.
“It is profound how a moment that strikes just the right nerve can unveil the fragility of one’s trust in God. “
It is profound how a moment that strikes just the right nerve can unveil the fragility of one’s trust in God.
As we prayed for our son’s healing in the intensive care unit, I cried out again and again: Why would God allow this? What was the purpose of this darkness?
I was ready to forfeit. The sorrow was so deep and the fear was so demanding that I could only interpret this situation as God’s abandonment. It did not feel as if He was there, and even if He was, it was not enough for me.
What if faith bears no visible results during despairing times? What, then, is the point of faith?
It is usually a weary soul who asks these questions. A soul that aches for what is true and what is real.
“… what if the purpose of the wilderness in our lives was the same as it was for the Israelites: not to reach a destination but to draw closer to the Presence of God?“
In retrospect, this hospital experience with my son later allowed me to resonate with the pain of those who walk out of churches or change religions and shut the door on Jesus. The truth is, from now until heaven, the harsh realities of life will constantly challenge our reasons to believe in God.
Maybe today you are at the same juncture that I was while in the hospital with my child under a breathing machine: Disillusioned. Burned out. Alone in the wilderness of the soul.
The wilderness is a familiar scene in the Bible. Hagar cried there as she helplessly waited to lose her son to thirst. Elijah prayed for death there while fear exhausted him. Jesus renounced the devil there, while tempted and alone.
For the Israelites, the wilderness was an eleven-day trip that took forty years. They had abandoned the rule of Pharoah in Egypt to trust the rule of Yahweh, their God, hoping for a better lot in life. They left all they had ever known to cross the Red Sea to freedom.
That freedom, though, was not a convenient, predictable journey that instantaneously led them to greener pastures. Instead, they followed Yahweh into the unknown. They believed they would one day reach “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). But on the way there they faced oppressive heat, desolate wasteland, and growing restlessness. It must have been hard to nurture a dream along the way and even harder to find a purpose.
“God does not wish to offer us shadows of the real thing. He offers us Himself. “
If you are experiencing a wilderness of the soul, you know this desolation, this longing for meaning. Few understand your journey and you wonder if God is one of those who has turned away. You fear you are walking in circles—if God has forgotten His promises.
But what if the purpose of the wilderness in our lives was the same as it was for the Israelites: not to reach a destination but to draw closer to the Presence of God?
We were never meant to look towards the universe for signs and hope for its random mercies. God does not wish to offer us shadows of the real thing. He offers us Himself.
You can know the Presence of God no matter what season you are in. You can befriend Him just as you are. Drawing close to God is not for the super-Christians who have a special calling to hear His voice. It is definitely not just for the ones who rarely sin or the ones who do a lot of good.
1. The Presence of God has been made available for everyone who wants Him. Jesus made sure of it. This gives us great hope.2. The Presence of God is good news for the failure. If you are still muddling through the wreckage of your mistakes, have hope. He is with you, and in Him is unending grace. You do not have to clean the mess before you approach Him. He can be found now, and He has mercy for you.3. The Presence of God is good news for the broken and disappointed. If your wilderness feels like an unending desert today, you may find your faith to be tired and your heart empty of compassion. Your soul is parched. You have no more songs to sing and no prayers to pray. Have hope. He is with you still. His friendship is an oasis. Allow His words to water your soul. 4. The Presence of God is good news for the marginalized. If you are in the wilderness because you are unfairly treated or overlooked, know this—the Presence of God determines the impact of your life. The significance of your life is not dependent on those with power and connections. The Presence of God will determine where you will end up, no matter what walls stand before you.“As you endure this wilderness of the soul, know that there is something greater than your destination. Here is where you will find a hope. A reward. A purpose. A companion. Here is where you will find His Presence.“
As you endure this wilderness of the soul, know that there is something greater than your destination. Here is where you will find a hope. A reward. A purpose. A companion.
Here is where you will find His Presence.
Faith Eury Cho is the CEO and founder of the Honor Summit, a nonprofit organization that centers Asian American women in the mission of God.
Faith and her husband, David, are the parents of four children and the co-founders and co-pastors of Mosaic Covenant Church in New Jersey.
Faith’s recent book, Experiencing Friendship with God explores what it means to know God’s presence in the wilderness seasons of life… and is a really powerful way to begin your 2024.
{ Our humble thanks to WaterBrook for their partnership in today’s devotional. }
January 6, 2024
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [01.06.2024]
Happy, happy, happy, New Year!
Some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!
Serving up only the Good Stuff for you right here:
Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images
Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
Photo by Imagno/Getty Imageswhat a wonder… Have you entered the treasury of snow,
Or have you seen the treasury of hail?
Niagara Falls hasn’t bridged over with ice in my lifetime.
but… maybe someday?
so they made Grandma’s dreams of petting a penguin come true … and her eyes glistened up..
Make 2024 a year of some dreams coming true for someone #BeTheGift
A fascinating look at meditation…
how to long for more of God Himself
and with that… End of an Era!
(Tom Scott has been a favourite over the last ten years with all our ever-curious farm boys here…)
Working on your soul muscles in 2024? And some resolutions?
this read is a great little exercise
Some post 2023 awesome to review!
It’s like a fresh cup of inspiration for your weekend.
People really figuring this out now?
— Linus (●ᴗ●) (@LinusEkenstam) January 3, 2024
pic.twitter.com/0mnrOti1bP
Start your new year out learning something new –
I might have been today years old when I learned this — ha!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Wait But Why (@waitbutwhy)
Tomorrow is always a new day – a new beginning!
This week was Passion 2024 in Atlanta… and this friend brought it again this year, just like she did here 3 years ago
Maybe a good goal for 2024…
…to hide away His word in our hearts.
Conquering Excuses for Scripture Memory
… maybe some travel this weekend? … a little Swiss scenery?
glory, glory, glory
Stories that Loan Strength,
that are Signposts that Point to the Light…
Books for a Better Year…
It’s healing good to be on The Way with you…
WayMaker:Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of
Learn MoreOne Thousand Gifts:A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
Learn More
The Broken way:A Daring Path to the Abundant Life
Learn MoreThe Way of Abundance:A 60-Day Journey into a Deeply Meaningful Life
Learn More
Be the Gift:Let Your Broken Be Turned Into Abundance
Learn MoreView this post on InstagramA post shared by The Keeping Company (@the_keeping_company)
… and oh! You don’t want to miss this! Join my dear daughter-in-law for a little
New Year Giveaway
and we just keep cranking this one here!
He Is – He is there!
[from our Facebook community – join us?]
Okay, Soul —
it’s *really* gonna be okay today, this week, this year.
Because in Him, whatever goes bad,
He’ll work it for good. It’s what God does.
He turned water into wine;
He will turn the broken into beautiful.
God’s *line of work* is *transformations* —
so hold on to Him as your *lifeline.*
*You can’t be undone.*
No matter what went down yesterday, (this year) —
today, (this coming year) is your very own fresh canvas and there really is hope:
*The future is as bright as the faithfulness of God.*
He says to you Himself:
“…don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present.
I’m about to do something brand new…
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert.”
(Isaiah 43:18 MSG)
Right now through your most unlikely desert places,
God is making unbelieveable roads… you better believe it!
Yeah, you can go face the day and this new year with brave joy —
God’s. got. your. back.
That’s all for this year, friends.
Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.
Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again!
Share Whatever Is Good.
December 30, 2023
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [12.30.2023]
Happy, happy, happy (early) New Year!
Some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!
Serving up only the Good Stuff for you right here:
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morganno one captures life quite like she does
In Awe of the God of Creation
2023: Year of Earth Singing of His Glory!
When strangers drive 7 hrs home for Christmas together from the airport when a flight is cancelled….
beautiful!
Miracles or Myths? A Spirited Christmas Debate from the New York Times
(truly a thoughtful read)
Only moving into the new year — because of the hope of what happened in the manger
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Mason (@mason_branstrator)
Oh! What an example of how we could be for each other in 2024 …
Let’s all make 2024 the year to live given – to carry each others burdens.
It may be a green Christmas here on the farm —
but as soon as we get some snow in the new year, it’s kinda inspiring to think about trying snow ART like this!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Hint of Whimsy | North Dakota Newborn Photographer (@hintofwhimsy)
I laughed so hard… & grace upon grace for us all!
a good time to tap dance for the grace of getting to be alive and making it this far, on the cusp of 2024!
A new year…
…maybe a newer, healthier relationship with work?
One (not so easy) Trick to Read About in regards How To Not Burn-Out in 2024
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Karl Fru (@dailyhumanmotivation)
Welcoming 2024 like… goodness, I love this!
…that we all so desperately need in 2023…
Looking for A year of Gratitude and deep joy?Come join US
Ready for a gratitude journal with totally new way to embrace the power of intentional daily gratitude — in a way like you never have seen or known before?
20% off – Each Gratitude & Beatitude Journal comes wrapped with care and love – the perfect gift for a friend or oneself
If you find yourself yearning for a moment’s pause, a breath amidst the rush, consider this an invitation — to begin counting all God’s blessings .
Together, let’s build a daily rhythm of gratitude
A New Year – A New Way of Being
CLICK HERE: Whole Collection of Resources to help you Keep Company with Giver of all GiftsView this post on InstagramA post shared by Ann Voskamp (@annvoskamp)
a few words of encouragement to start the year
make the moments count
When Coming to Day’s End Feels Like Coming to the End of Yourself
{Hope for your New Year}
Cranking this one up here on the farm — a gentle and kinda perfect way to end the year!
…you know how you’re sticking with it & doing that hard thing? You’ve just gotta know, you don’t stand alone, you don’t walk alone, you don’t go alone: “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength” 2 Timothy 4:17
And nothing can happen today, this year, that will stop Him from sticking right there with you & giving you strength to do this thing.
There is nothing to fear in this coming year —
because there is nothing, not mess-ups, not distractions, not less-than-hoped-fors, nothing in the universe that can happen today to separate you from the loving hands of God.
There is nothing to fear no matter what —
because there is nothing, not sickness, not pain, not diagnosis, Not Even Death, nothing in the universe that can ever separate you from the loving hands of God.
There is Never. Anything. to fear — because there is Nothing in the universe that can Ever. separate. you. from the loving hands of God.
So Go Live Brave! His Love Makes You Brave!
That’s all for this year, friends.
Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.
Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again!
Share Whatever Is Good.
December 27, 2023
When Coming to Day’s End Feels Like Coming to the End of Yourself {Hope for your New Year}
There are times in our lives that feel impossible. Weary from long days, we wonder if God sees us or even cares. Beloved friend and author Ruth Schwenk has spent almost two decades ministering to women longing for this peace, all while desperately seeking it herself. Her prayers in Jesus, Calm My Heart, have given hope to millions of women. It’s a joy to welcome Ruth to the front porch today…
Guest Post by Ruth Schwenk
Over the last several years, prayer has been a lifeline for me. Time and time again, all I could do was whisper, “Please God.”
It’s true. In the middle of heartache, we quickly discover we lack power and wisdom- unable to fix our circumstances and unable to figure a way out. Our helplessness hits us head-on, leaving us with just enough strength sometimes to whisper the words, “Please, God, I need You”.
As I continued to face unknowns and heartaches, I became acutely aware of the depth of my need before God. And the more my eyes were opened to the struggles of those around me. The more God was softening my heart toward Him, the more God was helping me see the suffering and hurt of others.
The more God was softening my heart toward Him, the more God was helping me see the suffering and hurt of others.
So, one night a few years ago, as my head hit the pillow after a long day, I typed out a simple prayer on my Facebook page at around midnight. Then I hit post. It simply read,
Lord, I pray for the woman reading this right now. Give her wisdom as she seeks to follow You with her whole heart. Help her to not grow weary in the journey but cling to You for her hope and strength. When the world wants more of her, give her peace that You are enough. Cover her with Your grace and be ever near to her, Lord. Amen.
I had no idea what God would do with that simple prayer – that humble and honest cry of the heart. As it would turn out, my feelings of helplessness would hit home. Thousands of shares and comments poured in as women simply typed back “Amen,” or “You have no idea how much I needed that right now.” Or, “How did you know exactly what I was thinking?!”
“But here is the good news. In all of the groaning and questioning, the feelings of helplessness, there is hope.”
That prayer and its response was a reminder that many women are worn out, weary, and wondering where God is in the middle of their struggles.
The daily troubles of life have a way of bringing us to our knees.
At night, when we are weary from a long day, words can be difficult to find. We struggle to wrap language around our longings, but what we know is that we need God. The psalmist describes in Psalm 6:6-7b what we’ve probably all experienced—
I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief;
But here is the good news. In all of the groaning and questioning, the feelings of helplessness, there is hope. We’ve all hit the pillow at the end of the day and wondered if we can do it all over again tomorrow.
On our own, we can’t.
We come to the end of ourselves at the end of a day so we can begin to experience a new kind of power – fueled by God’s very presence.
This is why the coming to an end of a day can also be the coming to an end of ourselves. We stop trying to figure out all the answers. We cease from our desire to control what is next or what is ahead. We discover how weak we really are in our own resources. We might feel worn out. We groan. Tired and worried, we can weep. And yet this is also where we meet God, who never sleeps and is waiting to give us His hope, assurance, and joy.
Prayer, more than anything, allows us to encounter the Living God. We come to the end of ourselves at the end of a day so we can begin to experience a new kind of power – fueled by God’s very presence.
As 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us, we have a God who cares for us and invites us to “cast all” our anxiety on Him. Prayer is our answer. It is the answer to the worries we face. In prayer, we release feelings of fear, regret, shame, or disappointment. In prayer, we come to the end of ourselves to meet God, the God who cares for us and calms our helpless hearts. We find true comfort in coming to Him.
Ruth Schwenk is a bestselling author of several books and devotionals, founder of the popular blog The Better Mom, and co-host of the podcast Rootlike Faith. Her nightly prayers on Facebook and Instagram have helped millions of women rest in God’s comfort. Ruth lives with her family in the beautiful college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
When coming to the end of a day feels like coming to the end of ourselves, we often struggle to find the words to pray — or even know where to start. We just know we need God. Knowing well this weariness, beloved author Ruth Schwenk comes alongside you, offering encouragement and simple prayers of peace and hope with her brand-new prayer journal, Jesus, Calm My Heart: 365 Prayers to Give You Peace at the Close of Every Day.
Whether you’re exhausted from worry, fear, unanswered prayers, pain, rejection, regret, or lack of joy or purpose, each of these 365 nightly prayers and journaling prompts will infuse hope into your life and help you find hope for your new year. Click here to grab your copy today!
{ Our humble thanks to Bethany House for their partnership in today’s devotional. }
December 23, 2023
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [12.23.2023]
Merry, merry, merry (early) Christmas!
Some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!
Serving up only the Good Stuff for you right here:
theycallhersmith
theycallhersmith
theycallhersmiththe beauty and wonder of the season right here
Hold your people close — and make every moment count…
Love well! Beautiful!
“Christmas is frankly doctrinal” – words you don’t want to miss –
from the late Tim Keller… this is an unspeakable gift leaves to us all…
This brought tears… worth watching more than once… we are all living in a new reality because of what happened in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago…
I went from thinking the Bible was the most boring book ever to seeing the magic in it.
— David Perell (@david_perell) December 22, 2023
Years ago, I realized that the Bible is the foundational book of Western civilization. If I was going to be an educated person, I needed to know what it said. Though I was motivated to learn… pic.twitter.com/CXevIyTUOe
Beyond moving! Undone…
Sitting here all teary eyed having read this.
Here is your free trip to a winter wonderland in Sweden…
Never get over it: The whole earth is full of His glory
“The Babe taken up in the arms of his Mother brings us joy because he takes up arms against the Devil.”
Deeply powerful thoughts to remind us of The Paradox of Christmas.
What would Christmas be without love? … yeah… rain can turn to snow.
This new year, let’s embrace each day with open hearts of Gratitude. Come join A daily journey of living fully right where you are
Gratitude Mugs – the perfect way to start the new year – with a daily reminder to give thanks!
Ready for a gratitude journal with totally new way to embrace the power of intentional daily gratitude — in a way like you never have seen or known before?
20% off – Each Gratitude & Beatitude Journal comes wrapped with care and love – the perfect gift for a friend or oneself
If you find yourself yearning for a moment’s pause, a breath amidst the rush, consider this an invitation — to begin counting all God’s blessings .
Together, let’s build a daily rhythm of gratitude
A New Year – A New Way of Being — fully of joy and gratitude
CLICK HERE: Whole Collection of Resources to help you Keep Company with Giver of all GiftsView this post on InstagramA post shared by Ann Voskamp (@annvoskamp)
so this is a secret to Peace that I just wanted to tuck into your hand as a gift…
Maybe the perfect Christmas song…. on repeat here on the farm
Post of the Week from these Parts
How to Rejoice at Christmas: When Family Feels Tender… so moved & undone by all of your responses to this blog post… so very with each of you…
… and peace on earth!
In the midst of that horror celebrating the One who came so that death might die.
This year, let His wonder awaken you again, captivate you, capture your heart! More Of Jesus Only — and have a STRESS-FREE, WONDER-FULL Christmas.Read the whole Christmas Love Story, Tracing Our holy Family Tree, from Creation to Creche, with all 3 of our Advent Books:
The Greatest Gift
(adult edition)
Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014,
NYTimes Best Seller
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift
(family edition)
Best Inspirational Book
of the Year, CBA, 2016,
NYTimes Best Seller
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift:
Best Devotional &
Gift Book of the Year, Christian Book Association, 2019
(pop-up edition 14 in. tree, 25 days of readings & advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age!)
So you don’t miss out on Jesus this year & the The Greatest Christmas.
So, you and I are kinda really together on this: We don’t want a Christmas that we have to produce, or perform, or perfect; we want a Christmas that holds us —that revives us, remakes us.
A Christmas that restores and re-stories us with a new story, especially this year.
We want a Christmas that whispers Jesus.
A Christmas that whispers that miracles still happen, & no matter what happens, hope happens.
Even, especially, now.
A Christmas that whispers:
No matter what feels beyond fixing, there is One who came from beyond the walls of this world because His heart is fixed on you, smitten with you, completely for you, & you are loved far beyond your wildest hopes & deepest needs, & His arms will carry you far beyond the arms that any of your problems can reach.
A Christmas that whispers to all your unspoken broken:
Don’t give up — because He came down.
You get the Christmas you’ve always wanted & dreamed of —
because you get Jesus —
& He wants you & loves you more than you could ever dream.
(— our gift to you, for the little Christmas you dreamed of, all the free gifts at www.TheGreatestChristmas.com )
[excerpted from our little Facebook family … come join us each day?]
That’s all for this weekend, friends.
Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.
Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again!
Share Whatever Is Good.
December 21, 2023
How to Rejoice At Christmas When Family Feels Tender
On Gaudete Sunday, that third Sunday of Advent when the world lights the joy candle — Gaudete meaning “rejoice” in Latin — it’s our third son, Levi, who stands at the front of the church to preach the Christmas sermon wearing a thrifted flannel plaid shirt and a pair of faded jeans with an old leather belt.
Rejoicing is only sustainable if you can find joy in a story you’d rather get rid of.
Levi first clears his voice, and his lapel mic crackles, and he says that when he was asked to preach, the pastor said he could take whatever tack he chose.
Rejoicing is only sustainable if you can find a meaningful joy in a story you’d rather get rid of.
And because he and his brand new bride of a mere six months are artists, they are going to tell us a story, Aurora illustrating Levi’s words.
But instead of starting with Once upon a time, he starts more like the way Truth always begins: “Once upon a Tree…”
And as he outlines the family tree of Jesus, his bride begins to draw, and our son chokes up speaking of the God who keeps having his vulnerable heart broken by His people who reject Him, lie to Him, wander far from Him, get bored with Him, betray Him — brothers who rape sisters and families who live with incest and lusting liars who begin affairs — and Aurora’s drawing this family tree of God, writing bold at the end of one tree limb: liar …and then another tree branch reads: prostitute … and then: murderer, bastard, adultery….
Branch after branch: unfaithful.
By the time Levi says God doesn’t whitewash his family tree, but comes to our dark to seek and save the lost, everything’s blurring for me because I know a family tree that has branches of mental health dysfunction and alcoholics, whole branches of broken marriages and nervous breakdowns and atheism and estrangement and deep shame and all that is me.
God doesn’t whitewash any of the brokenness in His family tree — but He goes to Calvary’s tree to wash us all clean in spite of our brokenness, to graft into His family tree.
I’ve been the faithless, and one who comes from a long line of the faithless, but all that matters is:
God doesn’t whitewash any of the brokenness in His family tree — but He goes to Calvary’s tree to wash us all clean in spite of our brokenness, to graft us into His family tree.
Who does this? How is this actual reality?
Levi’s choking it back, as Aurora draws wanderers who are gently brought back to the narrow way by the crook of a shepherd’s staff, and then Levi says something that rents me right open:
“The people God breathed life into, made for intimate relationship with Himself, made in His image, they kept wandering away, rebuffing Him, rejecting Him —- but God didn’t remove Himself from their story.”
And all this wet gratitude spills down my cheeks and I’m brushing it back with the back of my hand, and all the messy people who are honest with their less than perfect, painfully messy stories are undone:
What could ever be more moving than God never once removing Himself from our story?
What could ever be more moving than God never once removing Himself from our story?
This is the gift of Christmas:
God doesn’t remove Himself from the part of your story that reeks to high heaven, that you’re the most desperate to move the furthest away from the shame, the heartbreak, and the messiness.
Where everyone else abandons and removes themself from your story — is exactly where God moves closer to hold and restore you in that part of the story.
Dung happens … and dung happens to be exactly where God enters the world.
Family trees twist …. And God isn’t for a moment ashamed of your family tree because His own family tree is worse, and He goes to Calvary’s Tree to defiantly graft you into His family, His heart, His love that straightens everything out in the end for all eternity.
Others may try to remove you from the roster of the righteous, or remove you from the who’s who of those who have made it, who are good enough to be blessed and favored, but God moved Himself out of heaven, to move into your worst dung heaps to prove His love for you is unmoveable.
Others may try to remove you from the roster of the righteous, or remove you from the who’s who of those who have made it, who are good enough to be blessed and favored, but God moved Himself out of heaven, to move into your worst dung heaps to prove His love for you is unmoveable.
That’s what the story of the manger proves: The Divine Love of God wants to be with us in the dung heaps of our stories, and the muck of the manger fertilizes holy hope for all our mire.
God never removes Himself from our story — but moves closer to restore and re-story us —- which is the most moving part of our story.
My heart aches with this burning thanks.
And it’s after Levi takes us from the creation of Eden, to the crèche of Bethlehem, all the way to the cross of Calvary, that he then invites the whole congregation up to the table of communion — that he comes back to take his wife Aurora’s hand, so they can come to the Communion Table together.
And I’m walking behind Levi and Aurora toward the bread and the wine — when I notice exactly what belt he’s wearing with his thrifted shirt and worn jeans.
He’s wearing my father’s belt.
My father’s same old leather belt that I can remember him wearing since I was four. That same braided leather belt Dad bought when we moved to Texas for a tender few months of solace after my baby sister Aimee was crushed and killed in our farmyard.
That same 45 year old belt of my father, who we unexpectedly lost just over three years ago, in the same place, and the same way, as we lost my sister.
On the way to the communion table, I reach out and gently touch the back of Levi’s belt… touch my father’s belt.
It’s on Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, the Joy Sunday, my third son preaches a sermon-story that spans the family tree of God, right past all of our Christmas trees, right to the Calvary tree of restoration… while he’s wearing the belt of the man in our own family tree who was held together by this belt for decades after the traumatic grief aftermath of my sister being killed — until he heartbreakingly left this world, killed the same way she was.
Yet: There isn’t a painful family tree in the world that God can’t powerfully redeem.
There isn’t a painful family tree in the world that God can’t powerfully redeem.
Because the tree of Calvary roots every aching family tree in the soil of hope to bear the fruit of joy – and all our sorrows have a way of making all our joys taste sweeter.
Because in the midst of tender Christmases, in the midst of every single one of our traumatic stories: There is always a way to still rejoice because God is always restoring and re-storying us.
There is always a way to still rejoice because God is always restoring and re-storying us.
Rejoicing is always possible — because God came to the Creche, to go to the Cross, to make all our re-storying possible.
Because even now, after everything, there is a story that holds us all together, rooted in the One who “will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit…and … He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist” (Isaiah 11:1-5).
And all our tender Christmases, and all our messy stories, are faithfully held together by the belt of his righting love, that never removes itself, but moves closer to re-story us.
In these last waiting days of Advent, after family dinners round the table, Levi loosens his belt — and all of us find ourselves bound closer to God, all the flickering candles dancing their brave rejoicing in the dark.
Come, especially If it’s Tender, for a Christmas that restores Rejoicing
3 Award-Winning 25 Day Christmas Devotionals for the Whole FamilyExploring the Family Tree of God — So our Christmas Tree Holds Hope: The Greatest Gift (adult edition): Christian Retailing’s Best award, 2014
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (Family Edition):
Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016 The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019, (pop-up edition with your own 14 inch tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age)
Especially in the hard & the hurting, This is How we can Still have The Greatest little Christmas
December 16, 2023
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [12.16.2023]
Happy, happy, happy weekend!
Some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!
Serving up only the Good Stuff for you right here:
Happy, happy, happy weekend!
Some real, down in the bones JOY to celebrate today! Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!
Serving up only the Good Stuff for you & your people right here:
Meg Loeks
Meg Loeks
Meg Loeks
Meg Loeks
Meg Loeks Wonder is everywhere! Waking to it here!
WOW. …. who maybe needs you to see their story differently —
and start to change your story with them? Beautiful!
Wanna go for a virtual drive to see some pretty amazing light displays?
On The Book Stack at The Farm
Read Evie Polsley’s recent guest post:
If Your Family Feels Kind of Mixed Up
Read Elizabeth Laing Thompson’s recent guest post:
3 Misconceptions About Forgiveness That May be Keeping You Stuck
Read Alan Wright’s recent guest post:
When You’d Really Love to See Things from Jesus’ Perspective
Read Becky Thompson‘s recent guest post:
Hope For The Midnight Moments of Motherhood
View this post on Instagram
Sometimes you have to march to the beat of your best friends drum…
yep, it’s all the little things! To see all the little things as GIFTS!
A brilliant young woman, who is differently abled, starts a cookie company and? Sometimes the way the cookie crumbles – is just the best way!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Tobias Wandall (@w4ndall)
…. I mean, who doesn’t wanna be this Grandpa?!?
Who doesn’t want to get to love people like this?!
You – just have to – have to watch this one!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Metropolitan Museum of Art (@metmuseum)
Still racking up century old dry-cleaning bills? HA! 
About Advent and waiting in the dark: “The only way that waiting can be transformed to this thing that is full of joy… ….is if what we’re waiting for is worth the wait.” – Tish Harrison Warren
(listen to the whole podcast here)
View this post on InstagramA post shared by J A D A ¦ E D W A R D S (@jada_edwards)
Yep, what they said, the whole thing…
this is kinda the whole shebang of Christmas right here
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Boone (@golden_boy_boone)
I think someone just might strongly prefer Saint Nicholas! HA!
HA! Ditto! … hilarious!
This Advent, the tried and true traditions will hold us and the new ones will ignite us and this is the truest story I know:
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Christmas Mugs – a daily reminder of the crux of the Christmas season – Peace, and Joy!
Ready for a gratitude journal with totally new way to embrace the power of intentional daily gratitude — in a way like you never have seen or known before?
50% off – The Light Gift A Voskamp Family Story – A Little Christmas Favourite Read Here
Delightful! Four classic little Christmas Music Boxes – the perfect stocking stuffers!We have the Greatest Little Christmas, when our holidays are about
the wonder of Keeping Company with Him…
CLICK HERE: Whole Collection of Heirloom Pieces to Help you Keep Company with Jesus this Advent… a quick jaunt down the lit canals of Copenhagen, enjoying some of the Christmas lights?
….coming home for Christmas? Or even better — welcome someone into your home this Christmas!
This year, let His wonder awaken you again, captivate you, capture your heart! More Of Jesus Only — and have a STRESS-FREE, WONDER-FULL Christmas.Read the whole Christmas Love Story, Tracing Our holy Family Tree, from Creation to Creche, with all 3 of our Advent Books:
The Greatest Gift
(adult edition)
Best Devotional of the Year, ECPA, 2014,
NYTimes Best Seller
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift
(family edition)
Best Inspirational Book
of the Year, CBA, 2016,
NYTimes Best Seller
The Wonder of the Greatest Gift:
Best Devotional &
Gift Book of the Year, Christian Book Association, 2019
(pop-up edition 14 in. tree, 25 days of readings & advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age!)
So you don’t miss out on Jesus this year & the The Greatest Christmas.
Chills — what celestial choirs may sound like ……
Post of the Week from these Parts [image error]Don’t leave the internet without reading this one?If Your Christmas Holds Some Sadness, Tears & Hardships
Tender & terrible things still happen in what’s supposed to be the happiest season of all.
Gah…. this is a must watch. Teared up and smiled and want to love like this!
Free Gifts for Giving or Hanging — our free gift to you!
Download them all under Free Tools over at TheGreatestChristmas. com
That’s all for this weekend, friends.
Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.
Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again!
Share Whatever Is Good.
December 15, 2023
If Your Christmas Holds Some Sadness, Tears & Hardships
Tender & terrible things still happen in what’s supposed to be the happiest season of all.
On the 9th day of Advent, I cut my hand open on the lid of a tin can — and end up in ER for 4 and a half hours, waiting on 5 stitches.
The only honest thing to say in days like these days is: Tender & terrible things still happen in what’s supposed to be the happiest season of all.
Frankly, in these dark days of Advent— who doesn’t have ragged edges in need of tender mending?
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On the way home from ER, through a dusting-shake of falling snow, my hand wrapped in a dressing and feeling that strange-tingling numb from the needles of freezing needed for one kind doctor to sew up the wee gash, I call my mother.
You can only honestly believe it’s the most wonderful time of the year, if you really see people going through some of the most awful times of their lives — and you choose to enter into their story to be with them.
She’s just had a train-track of staples removed all the way up her knee from the precise slice of knee replacement surgery.
On the hour, with Christmas carols playing in the background, she wince-endures through tears this regiment of exercises in her fierce fight back toward mobility.
Honestly?
You can only honestly believe it’s the most wonderful time of the year, if you really see people going through some of the most awful times of their lives — and you choose to enter into their story to be with them.
As dear Mama fights through tears and pain, as I baby the tenderness of a stitched up hand, I keep trying to read to her each day’s Advent reading, tears often unexpectedly brimming, as we read of all these people in the story of God, that is now our story, as we’re grafted into the family tree of God — Ruth and Rahab, Abraham and Sarah, David and Esther — all with dashed expectations, or exiled and cut off, or experiencing the darkest dark.
As we all wait in the dark of Advent for the birth-pangs of the coming Christ child, we all still sit daily too in the deep dark of the second Advent, waiting through the painful birth-pangs of this broken world for the coming Kingdom of God that already begins to stir.
I ache for my Mama’s pain and I ache that she now lives 7 hrs away from us here.
I ache with missing her, our first Christmas apart in 50 years, and I miss all the Christmases when she was here, and I ache with missing all that once was, how the Farmer and I used to wake up every morning of Advent to a tussling posse of half-a-dozen rambunctious young kids, all anxious and wide-eyed to move the Advent candle one day ahead in our 25 day Advent wreath, all excited to move the silhouette of the heavily pregnant Mary one day closer to the waiting manger and the hovering star, all anticipating the birth of the King.
I could weep for the loss of no longer being a Mom with all her kids under one roof, all under her wings, all circled round and starry-eyed, under the lights of the Christmas tree.
A quiet house can haunt a mother’s heart. And the good launching of kids can still leave a haunted empty nest.
From our kitchen window the other day, I see a white diesel pick-up truck coming down our gravel road, same make and model as my dad’s, and how is this already the third Christmas without his plaid flannel shirts and big old worn hands, and tears fall from out of nowhere, and I choke it out loud to no one in the kitchen, “I… miss … you… Dad…”
What if it’s your heart that feels broken and cut open with a sadness that seems to defy stitches?
The story of Christmas has always held space for the dark side of our stories, for the tears and the traumas, the mourning and all kinds of warring, and deep grief.
Christmas has always been large enough to hold more than only our rejoicing, but to hold every single one of our tears too.
The dark side of the Christmas story is more than King Herod’s decree for every baby boy in Bethlehem to be slaughtered at the end of a sharp knife in a desperate attempt to kill the King of the universe — which leaves all of Ramah crying with this “weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” —- (Matt. 2:18). The dark side of Christmas also has a war in the heavenlies between a dragon about to lunge-devour the newborn child and Michael and the archangels cutting the evil beast out of heaven.
The story of Christmas has always held space for the dark side of our stories, for the tears and the traumas, the mourning and all kinds of warring, and deep grief.
It was back on the 3rd day of Advent that I ask a friend through all this welling emotion,
“Why do I feel so tender these days?”
And it’s true, tears are closer at Christmas because of the beauty and nostalgia of the season because of the twinkling lights and rich traditions and all the gorgeous memories of people we’ve lost and would do anything to just hear them open the back door, the way only they can, and have them home for Christmas just one more time.
When our eyes are bright with tears — maybe we are actually washing away more of the dark to see the light.
Yet this is what she said to me: “I’m tender too, Ann — just eyes always bright with tears this time of year. I wonder if this is what hope is-knowing darkness but always seeking the light.”
And in these dark, tender, and often painful, days of Advent, I keep thinking:
When our eyes are bright with tears — maybe we are actually washing away more of the dark to see the light.
Maybe it’s true, that Jewish proverb: “What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.”
Maybe:
Tears are a kind of cleansing of the dark, so we can see Hope’s light.
I read once how tears cleanse us of stress hormones, how tears “clear the blood of toxins and unwanted chemicals,” how tears return us to emotional equilibrium, how tears literally reset us when we are emotionally overwhelmed by either sadness or joy.
There is deep relief: Regular tears bring deep regulation.
Eyes bright with tears — always see more light. Tears give us the gift of a God-lens and a soul cleanse.
Eyes bright with tears — always see more light.
And a life large enough to hold light — alway holds space for the tears needed to cleanse a bit more of the dark.
“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb – and saw two angels in white… At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there….” which is to say that perhaps Mary only saw the reality of the otherworldly as she really wept. As Wright offers, just maybe: “Tears function as a kind of lens – through which one might just see angels… “
Tears give us the gift of a God-lens and a soul cleanse.
There’s divine comfort in knowing our tears wash away our scales so we can see the divine right here with us.
Christmas time is a time to weep and lament because: There’s divine comfort in knowing our tears wash away our scales so we can see the divine right here with us.
But this may not happen immediately. Mary’s tears may have washed away her scales to immediately see Jesus, but she didn’t immediately recognize him as Jesus, misidentifying Him first as the Gardener.
Tears may give sight, and then time and trust give insight.
Eyes bright with tears — always see more light.
When I sit in the early morning dark by the lights of the Christmas tree, missing so many faces, sit here with this Advent story that speaks of all kinds of brave, broken hearts, who are met with such a divine rescue and healing grace that it brings tears —- and I’m not ashamed of the tears.
There’s never any shame in tears — only an enlightening.
Eyes bright with tears — always see more light.
And I see that more clearly:
Tears are more than a dam breaking because a bit of life broke your heart — tears are a stream that move you closer to other hearts, that move you deeper into the heart of what it means to be honestly human in a heartbreaking world.
And on the 12th day of Advent, with a gashed hand sewn up with 5 stitches, I reach for the phone and call my Mama doing the painful work of moving one scarred knee after surgery, and Christmas lets us process and grieve any way we need.
Because the Babe in the manger, the One who’s come all this way, the little Lord Jesus, He makes space for our crying, and loves us so deeply He weeps with us, carves our names into the palm of His hand, forever scarred by His love for us, and goes to the Cross-Tree so He can wipe away every one of our tears and give us the gift of light that will rescue us from the dark and fulfill us forever.
The star atop the Christmas tree makes the eyes bright with tears — and, even now, all this seeing more light.
Come, especially when it’s hard, & experience a Christmas that restores Hope
3 Award-Winning 25 Day Christmas Devotionals for the Whole FamilyThe Greatest Gift (adult edition): Christian Retailing’s Best award, 2014
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift (Family Edition):
Best Inspirational Book of the Year, CBA, 2016 The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Best Devotional & Gift Book of the Year, CBA, 2019, (pop-up edition with your own 14 inch tree, 25 days of readings, 25 day advent flap calendar, hiding all 25 Biblically inspired ornaments! For any age)
Especially in the hard & the hurting, This is How we can Still have The Greatest little Christmas
December 14, 2023
When you’d Really Love to See Things from Jesus’ Perspective
So Alan Wright pulls in today to with a question: For Christians who want to grow spiritually, it may seem natural to ask, “What would Jesus do?” But what if that’s perhaps the wrong question for the same reason that trying to live by the law is the wrong pursuit—it’s powerless. Trying to be a more patient mother or a more loving husband or a more motivated Christian is noble, but, Wright asks, what if that is futile and deeply exhausting? Some years ago, Alan Wright began consciously pausing and asking Jesus for His eyes. “Jesus, how do You see this?” That prayer changed everything. It’s a grace to welcome Alan to the front porch today as we discover this fresh, daily spiritual discipline of pausing, connecting and looking with Jesus…
Eighteen months ago, my sweet mother began suffering worse in a four-year fight against pancreatic cancer. As she approached her eighty-eighth birthday, her abdominal pain intensified, and an ambulance took her to the hospital on an icy January weekend.
“God, if You are real, I need You to open my eyes because I’m sinking down…”
As Mom’s breathing slowed, my grief ran deep because Mom brought me into the world, and she brought me into the kingdom of God.
I don’t know much about my mom and dad’s meeting or romance at Lenoir–Rhyne College, and I don’t know much about where their marriage went wrong. As an elementary school child, I just knew that Dad drank a lot, Mom cried a lot, and I would have given anything for it all to be better.
But it didn’t get better.
Dad left and Mom cried even more. One night, she couldn’t sleep, and she got on her knees at the foot of the lonely king-size bed and cried out,
“God, if You are real, I need You to open my eyes because I’m sinking down, and if You don’t show me the way, I’ll probably take these three boys with me.”
“When they realized that the Lord wasn’t dead in a grave but alive in their midst, their depression evaporated in a flash. Joy rushed into their hearts, and they sprinted to tell others what they’d seen.“
She was the daughter of a Methodist minister and had been in church all her life, but whatever spiritual vision she’d known previously had become thoroughly obscured by the shame of abandonment and the fear of the future.
So she did all she could do—she cried out in the pitch-dark like a blind beggar. And as she did, the Lord woke up an intercessor in a nearby neighborhood.
The next day, an acquaintance of my mother’s who lived several miles away knocked on the door.
“Mary Ann,” she said, “I haven’t seen you in a while, but last night, I was awakened in the middle of the night and couldn’t get you off my heart. I felt like there was something troubling you, and I spent a long time praying for you. I’ve come today to see if you are all right….”
After explaining the pain of her life, my mother told her acquaintance about her nighttime cry to God, and the dear saint introduced my mom to the reality of Jesus and the healing wonder of the gospel. … Soon, my mother assembled her three boys in the den and told us that God loves us, Jesus is alive, the Bible is the Word of God, and there is hope. We all believed her.
What might have impaired your perception of life? A deep disappointment? A shaming parent? A humiliating defeat? A great grief? A gradual abandonment? A woeful regret? ….
Imagine your self-imposed limits melting away through the lens of Jesus’ perfect love.
Seeing things anew through Jesus’ eyes can change any of us like that—in an instant.
There’s almost no limit to how much we can change when our eyes are opened.
I think of the depressed disciples moping down the dusty road to Emmaus on the first Easter, unaware of the miracle of the empty tomb. When the risen Messiah mysteriously appeared alongside them, the oblivious disciples “stood still, looking sad” (Luke 24:17) because “their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (v. 16). But after a Bible study and a meal with Jesus, “their eyes were opened” (v. 31), and everything changed in an instant. When they realized that the Lord wasn’t dead in a grave but alive in their midst, their depression evaporated in a flash. Joy rushed into their hearts, and they sprinted to tell others what they’d seen.
Seeing things anew through Jesus’ eyes can change any of us like that—in an instant.
And because revelation is a gift from Jesus, it changes us effortlessly. It’s grace at work when we see as Jesus sees.
When we vacation at the beach, my wife likes to start unpacking immediately, but I like to throw off my shoes, dig my toes into the dunes, and greet the surf as if embracing an old friend.
A few years ago, we arrived at the beach at sunset, and the horizon over the western end of Ocean Isle was on fire with red streaks and orange swirls that turned the sand to gold and made the sea glow amber. I stood there for a moment, my breath taken, cheering God’s handiwork.
“Behold what I behold,” Jesus says. “Look through My eyes. See what’s real, what’s important, what’s beautiful . . . and discover joy in the vision.”
Then, urgently, I sprinted inside and beckoned my beloved.
“Anne, you have to see this sunset! It’s glorious!”
“OK,” she said. “I’ll be there in a little while. Let me unload these groceries.”
“All right, but come quick,” I yelled as I dashed out the back door to watch God’s fireworks from the deck.
She didn’t come. Rushing back inside, I cried louder, “Anne, sweetie, come now—sunsets don’t last. You’ll regret missing this one. The milk and eggs and suitcases can wait. Please, honey, come. PLEASE!”
My pleading worked.
Soon, I was holding hands with wonder-full Anne in the dunes and staring at the sky as the sea oats danced and the palm trees clapped in appreciation of God’s artistry. And I was happier because the one I love was seeing the wonder with me.
I think Jesus invites us into discipleship the way I invited my wife into the sunset. “
“Come and you will see,” He says (John 1:39).
Can you feel the Savior’s excitement? He has beauty to share!
“Behold what I behold,” Jesus says.
“Look through My eyes. See what’s real, what’s important, what’s beautiful . . . and discover joy in the vision. Take My hand.
Let Me show you what you’ve been missing.”
Alan Wright is the lead pastor of Reynolda Church in North Carolina, a 110-year-old Presbyterian congregation vibrantly renewed and meeting in four cities, a seven-time author, including The Power to Bless, he hosts a daily thirty-minute radio program that airs nationally on four hundred stations. Pastor Alan is known for empowering people to see their lives in a whole new light through a gospel message of pure grace.
Instead of pain we can see purpose. Instead of opposition, opportunity. Instead of fear, freedom.
Thankfully, Spirit-filled sight isn’t reserved for the spiritually elite. It’s available to all of us through a simple, intimate prayer: “Jesus, how do you see this?” When you see as Jesus sees, you’ll be empowered to
· discover the wonder and beauty you’ve been missing
· clear away needless frustrations and misunderstandings
· take the limits off your life
· see others with genuine compassion and faith
· have hope again for the world through Christ’s victory over sin and death
If you long to live with greater joy, victory, and wonder, let pastor Alan Wright lead you through the Scriptures to the Savior’s side to see everything from his perspective. You’re going to love the view! Visit pastoralan.org for more resources and to subscribe to his Daily Blessing.
[ Our humble thanks to Baker Books for their partnership in today’s devotional. ]
December 11, 2023
Hope For The Midnight Moments of Motherhood
I’m not a stranger to the midnight hours of motherhood—the blur and blinking toward the clock after little hands have reached to rouse me from sleep, or those hours when sleep has been altogether unreachable for angst about what I’d face tomorrow. I’m not a stranger to what my guests, Becky and Susan, call the midnight moments of motherhood either. Those midnight moments when the weight of the day spills into the night—when exhaustion, uncertainty, pain, or grief steal our breath and our peace. It is for these moments that Susan and Becky, a mother-daughter team, offer nightly prayer and hope to their almost-two-million-member online community, Midnight Mom Devotional, and today offer a moment of hope to us. Becky and Susan, welcome to the front porch.
Guest Post by Becky Thompson and Susan K. Pitts
The phone call came under a clear afternoon sky on a day that had started out like any other. I, Susan, was told that my seventy-six-year-old momma, who lived fifteen hundred miles away, was having chest pains and being taken to the hospital. I was concerned, but this had happened before, and a change in medication usually resolved the pain. I expected her to be discharged in about forty-eight hours.
A short time later, I received another call saying that her condition had worsened, and they were trying hard to get her stabilized. I began to pray and intercede. I asked the Lord to heal my mom and to give the doctors wisdom.
Why hadn’t I called her the night before? I had thought about it, but I was so tired. I had things I wanted to tell her. I wanted to hear her voice once more. I just needed extra time, and I begged the Lord for it.
The next call came within the hour. She was gone. The doctors and nurses couldn’t save her. I can only remember saying No! over and over again as the tears poured down my face.
John 20 tells the story of another woman, Mary Magdalene, who was overcome with grief. She was the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus, but the moments leading up to her encounter with the resurrected Christ are heartbreaking.
She looked into the empty tomb, but instead of finding Jesus, she saw two angels.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” John 20:13-16, NIV
Mary was the first person to encounter the resurrected Christ. She was the first one to see Jesus after He rose from the dead. But I often think about those moments just before her greatest joy when she experienced her deepest pain.
I think of Mary’s confusion, profound grief, and overwhelming sorrow. I think of how her eyes were so clouded with tears that she couldn’t recognize Jesus in front of her. And I think about how in an instant, at the mention of her name, she knew it was the Lord standing there.
Momma, in your moments of deep hurt when you weep tears of sorrow, listen carefully for the Lord’s voice, no matter what you are suffering or whom you have lost.
“…in your moments of deep hurt when you weep tears of sorrow, listen carefully for the Lord’s voice, no matter what you are suffering or whom you have lost. Jesus is calling your name.”
Jesus is calling your name.
He is holding you close.
My friend, the empty tomb means hope for all our hurting hearts because it means we will see our loved ones again.
I’ll hear my momma’s voice again when she says my name, Susan. What a glorious day that will be! But even that will not compare to the sound of my Savior calling my name.
Tonight we pray for the momma whose heart aches.
Lord, there are so many reasons mommas grieve. We grieve the loss of dreams, relationships, jobs, or homes. Lord, we mourn the loss of loved ones or children, those we have held in our arms and those we have held only within us. We grieve when we feel all alone.
Lord, You see each momma’s heartache. Your arms are big enough to hold her and her grief. Wrap her in Your love right now, and remind her that You never have and never will leave her. Bring her comfort as only You can.
We ask in Jesus’s name, amen.
Discover hope for all of your midnight moments of motherhood.
In Tonight We Pray for the Momma, USA Today bestselling authors, Becky Thompson and Susan K. Pitts, offer one hundred devotions and prayers for the hard and heavy seasons of motherhood.
Susan K. Pitts is coauthor of the USA Today bestselling Midnight Mom Devotional. She serves alongside her daughter Becky as the codirector and prayer team leader of the Midnight Mom Devotional online community, a ministry dedicated to leading millions of moms in nightly prayer.
Becky Thompson is a USA Today bestselling author and the founder of the Midnight Mom Devotional online community, a ministry gathering millions of women in nightly prayer. Her ministry focuses on restoring peace to the anxious woman’s heart, inviting women into an encounter with God’s presence, and teaching women about the life-changing power of prayer. Through her books and dynamic online resources and courses, Becky connects women to the hope found in Jesus alone.
God is with you in the moments when the light feels dim and you need peace and He will meet you in His love, sustain you in your journey, and bring you hope in the dark as you open the pages of Tonight, We Pray for the Momma
[ Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotional. ]
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