Michele Cushatt's Blog, page 2
February 14, 2023
A Love Letter
Hi, friends. It’s been too long, I know. Although I don’t expect you to wait around for a new blog post to drop :), I apologize for my unexplained absence. The reasons for my silence are complicated, some painful, many private. Over the next weeks and months, I plan to share some of what I’ve been learning in this wilderness of sorts.
For today, I wrote you a love letter. This is not a typical blog post, no catchy headline or 3-point takeaway. Instead, it’s a reminder of three simple but securin...
November 17, 2020
Podcast Episode 15: A God Who We Can Experience With Each Other
Here we are friends, walking the final few steps of our Relentless journey together- looking for the presence of God in the midst of our suffering, and what a road it has been! But we have jus...
November 3, 2020
Podcast Episode 14: A God Whose Presence Lives in You
Have you ever had a friend message you exactly what you needed to hear at the perfect moment? A few years ago, I received word that a friend I’d journeyed through Cancer simultaneously with had just been admitted into hospice care. It took my breath away. I was mourning in the mountains, when a friend messaged me this:
“To inspire someone is way more than making them happy or amazed or even more than making them feel good. I...
October 20, 2020
Podcast Episode 13: A God Who Is With You in Pain, Suffering, and Death
Suffering is a great unifier, because all of us experience it and it puts all of us on the same ground. It’s also the great divider because it forces us to choose. We cannot stay neutral when dealing with suffering. We either have to believe in God even more or we have to reject him completely. There’s no middle ground.
When asked why they don’t believe in God, a vast majority of people would reference the ...
October 6, 2020
Podcast Episode 12: A God Who Is With You in Your Hunger
“I’m staaaaaarving.” Anyone else’s kiddos claim this on a regular basis?
In July of 2011, we received a phone call that would change our lives forever. Three little kids, whose mama couldn’t care for them anymore, needed a home. Twenty-four hours later we picked them up and brought them home as our own. For their first meal in their new home I had brilliantly planned Kraft mac & cheese and watermelon, because this was no...
September 22, 2020
Podcast Episode 11: A God Who is with You in the Process
Have you ever walked into a room and felt completely out of place? Like somehow there was something inherently flawed about you? That for some reason you just did not belong? Perhaps it’s happened to you from within a room you were even invited into. This room could’ve been real- a home, an office, a church, but it also could’ve been figurative- Facebook, Instagram, social media.
A few years ago, my family and I went ice ...
September 8, 2020
Podcast Episode 10: A God Who is With You In Your Doubt
I love math. Always have. Just today, I felt a small thrill when my kids returned from school (AKA their computers in the kitchen, thankyouCovid) with a math problem they needed my assistance with. The reason? An equation is straightforward, solvable, with a clear conclusion.
I wish faith were more like algebra.
Instead, faith sometimes reminds me of the tedious, makemewannapullmyhairout, task of untangling my headphones. I...
August 25, 2020
Relentless Podcast Episode 9: A God Who is with You in Your Humanity
Chemo and radiation were complete, and I was hopeful I could finally enjoy a long-overdue meeting with my counselor, a little too hopeful…
It was approximately ten minutes into the session when it happened. I puked. First on her office carpet; next, into her very cute, very permeable wicker wastebasket. I apologized profusely while she graciously reassured me, moving about to help clean and comfort.
What a mess.
I mean ...
August 11, 2020
Relentless Podcast Episode 8: A God Who is With You When You Reach the End of Yourself
“Is there more than just shame at the end of this rope?”
It had been an exceptionally hard day, and coming from someone battling Cancer for the third time, that was really saying something. Treatment had been especially brutal, and I was in desperate need of support. I logged onto Facebook, and posted a simple request for prayer from my community, something I rarely resort to. After just a few minutes...
June 23, 2020
Relentless Podcast, Episode 7: For When Church Leaders Fail
I thought they’d come to offer compassion and support. Instead, they’d come to criticize and correct.
I was desperate for comfort, maybe some wisdom or guidance. What I received was something quite different. When I look back on that day, the memories still feel painful. I am no longer the young girl I once was. And yet these church leaders whom I’d loved and respected for most of my life left me heaped in accusation and shame...
