bless your heart

The Secret to Becoming a Woman who Laughs

May 22, 2014 by amanda 23 Comments

My family recently buried the most beautiful, confident, and gracious woman I have ever known — my dear grandmother. She is my hero and role model, and I pray to have even a portion of the grace and honor and loving influence that she possessed. But, I know a little secret about her that the average friend in her sewing club, the neighbor who received her Morning Glory Muffins, and the visiting revival pastor might not have ever guessed: she laughed at the future.

My grandmother had known and tasted first hand the Valley of the Shadow. She knew God, and she knew grief. She knew that He was faithful and that His love and grace was enough.…

Celebrating Mother’s Day {when mother’s day is hard}

May 7, 2014 by amanda 10 Comments

Three very short years ago, I was a basketcase on Mother’s Day weekend. After several years of infertility, we had just lost our first child through an early miscarriage. Mother’s Day that year seemed especially cruel and agonizing to me — a childless mother.

Mother’s Day (well, all holidays, really) can be hard for those without a mother, those who want to be mothers, and even for those who struggle as a mother. But, just as any other day presents opportunity, Mother’s Day especially presents opportunity for us to offer thanks to God, offer petitions to and pour out our hearts to God, and pray for one another — even if our culture’s celebration of the day tends to remind us of what has been taken away rather than what we have been given.

After a particularly embarrassing Sunday one year where I was reduced to a sniveling mess in the middle of the pastor’s Mother’s Day sermon in 1 Samuel 1 about Hannah, I stopped going to church on Mother’s Day Sunday….

How to Weep with Those Who Weep

April 17, 2014 by amanda 4 Comments

Before college, the tragedies surrounding those I loved were kept to a minimum. I had some elderly friends who died, but they had lived long lives, loved the Lord, and were missed greatly by many people. Others that I heard of that had passed away were not people that I knew well or saw often. Seriously, the greatest loss during my childhood had been my cat’s untimely death on the day of my 11th birthday. I truly had no idea how to weep with those who weep.

But recently, it’s been different. Many of my close and lifelong friends are dealing with intense grief and loss….

God’s Impossible Standard of Forgiveness

April 4, 2014 by amanda 3 Comments

In Matthew 6, Jesus said, “Pray, then, in this way: …forgive us our debts, AS WE ALSO HAVE FORGIVEN OUR DEBTORS.” Wow. God’s impossible standard of forgiveness.

What a high calling that we have received from God. I’ll be honest with you: I want to be forgiven by God so much more than I am willing to forgive those who have hurt me or committed wrongs against me.…

bless your heart

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