Bless Your Heart and Home

by his grace, through his word, for our joy, to his glory.

comfort, encouragement, and suffering

When Women Run the Race that Christ Has Already Won for Them

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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

In Hebrews 11, we read of those “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38). “By faith,” they conquered kingdoms, obtained promises, and put foreign armies to flight, but they also were stoned, sawn in two, and killed with the sword. Destitute, afflicted, and mistreated, these souls are that great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us.

And then I start to look a bit more closely at that list of faithful men and women, and I see Sarah, a woman who laughed with incredulity upon hearing the promise of God and then lied and denied it when the Lord asked why she laughed. And how did Rahab get into the “Hall of Faith?” She was a prostitute. David made the cut to be on the list, and he was both an adulterer and murderer.

I could continue through the list, pointing to the souls listed and pointing out what the Bible says about their flaws and faults, and it would only serve to bring the message home more sweetly: their lives witness to faith in the Promised Messiah, the Savior of needy, sinful men and women.…

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Oh, There’s No Place Like Home {for the holidays}

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Ten years ago last week, with joy too great for words, I welcomed my sweetheart home for the holidays. And ten years ago today, he put a ring on it.

Fresh from Middle Eastern soil, he was thin and tired, but God had brought him home. He was safely back home to his family and to me, and all the world seemed right that Christmas.

Members of the armed forces are not the only ones who dream of being home for Christmas. College students return home to their families, new grandbabies are brought home to proud grandparents, and empty nesters keep watch at the front door for car headlights to top the driveway late on Christmas Eve. Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays.

But the ache for those who are missing home this year is also keenly felt throughout the season. Loneliness is often felt more acutely this week than at any other time of the year. Perhaps money is too tight this season for the flight home, or the job keeps your alarm clock buzzing like usual during Christmas week. Sometimes, going home is just not an option, and the disappointment rubs raw.

Even those who will be waking up Christmas morning to the sights, sounds, and smells of mama’s breakfast or to children’s happy squeals, we too are sometimes surprised by the ache in our hearts for who else we’re missing…..grandmothers and grandfathers who are absent, wombs and cradles found empty, and estranged family members who don’t show up.

In our joy this Christmas, and in our heart’s ache for home, why don’t we indulge our pinings for a bit? Because that familiar ache in your soul to be home is a precious shadow of the eternal home for which we long….

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Come Kneel Before the Manger-King

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Christmas is the most beautiful time of the year, but it’s also a very difficult season for many people. In all the hurry to hang the lights, trim the tree, and fill the stockings, the season knows how to draw out our deepest feelings of loneliness and sorrow.

If you’ll come aside with me for a few moments, my prayer is to point you to the Manger-King in such a way that your heart is filled with hope and peace as you’re reminded of Who this holy infant is. Come kneel beside the manger heavy-hearted, and hear the soul-lifting words of the Messiah….

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Christ Removes the Curse of Criticism

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The greatest regret I have in my life is relationships broken by my poor handling of criticism. For many years, I felt unjustly accused and misunderstood by those close to me, and so, I was indignant and heartbroken by what I felt were unfair accusations.

With incredulity, I asked myself for years, How could they say those things or think that way about me?

But God has been relentlessly shattering my arrogant heart and puncturing every weeping wound with the beauty of his good news. The gospel breaks the chains of guilt and pride, enlightening dark and shadowy strongholds of self-righteousness and self-promotion.

The raw truth of the gospel — that Christ died for my sins, that he was buried, that he was raised for my justification, and that he always lives to make intercession for me — helps me to make sense of my violent reactions to criticism. It teaches me how to respond to criticism, whether or not I believe it’s warranted….

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Glimpsing God’s Glory Makes Christmas Worth It

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A few months ago, my little pink bundle gasped in her first breath and screamed her first cry. With a warm blanket wrapped around us both, I patted her womb-wet hair and shoulders and murmured comfort to her as she laid her head upon my chest. I breathed in my beautiful fresh-birthed baby, and I saw her open her eyes to gaze at her daddy and me.

With the scent of baby awash in my heart this Christmas, I peer into the manger with new-mommy, sleep-deprived eyes. I see that soft-cheeked infant in the manger, fresh from the womb of his mother, Mary, and he’s opened His eyes to look upon His creation…his mother, her husband Joseph, camels and donkeys and cattle, shepherds and sheep.

My heart startles me these December days with unfounded fears that overwhelm and even disable me. All of my what-ifs topple good rationale, and I haunt the house when I should be sleeping, simply to confirm that latches are latched, locks are locked, and children breathe easy in their beds. It’s not just my eyes that are heavy this winter, for my anxious heart sifts worries, feeding schedules, and fevers, suddenly remembering I haven’t placed that Christmas gift order, and I guess we’ll just forgo mailing Christmas cards yet again this year.

Celebrating the Baby in the manger feels like just one more burden to add to my already full plate….

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Christmas for the Bruised and Broken

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For several years, the Christmas season filled my heart with struggles more than any other time of the year. Holidays often seemed harder to bear when my husband and I were timing them around fertility medications and bloodwork. Then five years ago, we miscarried our first little baby at the end of December. And then the self-inflicted pressure I felt during the holidays only complicated my struggle to make it through the daily weight of depression and grief after we miscarried a second child.

Many people find the holiday season especially heart-wrenching. The empty seats around the dinner table and the absence of loved ones amplifies the pain that we may push away in our busyness for most of the year. At Christmastime we often feel especially barren. Especially broken. Especially empty….

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