Good Grief

Funerals are a strange thing. I once had someone mention how the way we handle death in this country is incredibly unhealthy for the grieving, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it yet.

How are you supposed to grieve?

When I was in my 20’s, I witnessed a young girl die after her wire harness failed during a performance. I received an email shortly afterwards, along with every other audience member, about how to process the incident. It simply detailed how to grieve.

It was the first time someone told me what grieving looked like. Until then, it was always isolated, private, and internal. No one shared their grieving process; what was healthy for them, what was unhealthy. Read More…

Crazy Cycle

This whole parenting gig is hard.

H-A-R-D.

It makes you feel a bit like a crazy person, and some days I feel like I’ve absolutely lost my mind.

I spent the weekends with some BFF’s in Tennessee and it was gorgeous and life giving and fun and the mountains were okay too.

The first night I was like a spunky school girl dancing and prancing at the reality of being out past 7pm or eating dinner with both hands in one setting.

But then the crazy set in.

You know what I’m talking about. The crazy that is when every microbe of your body is yearning is for privacy at home but then the moment you’re separated, you miss miss your baby so bad you never knew why you wanted alone time in the first place.

The crazy that is counting down the literal minutes to bedtime and then as soon as they’re asleep staring longingly into the monitor as if they weren’t just wailing and throwing spaghettios all over your kitchen a few moments ago.

I don’t understand it. I don’t know that I ever will.

But I do know that this is part of it. The ebb and flow of snuggling your babies and smelling their sweet faces to hiding to eat twizzlers in your closet.

Parenting is hard, we’re all a little bit crazy, and everything and everyone is gonna be just fine.

I hope.

Redefining Warrior

Warriors come in all shapes and sizes.

Warriors come in all forms of personality and gender and race and socioeconomic statuses.

But today I want to talk about the warriors that are unseen.

All too often we see strength as the loudest voice, the strongest personality, the puffed chest. But when Jesus came to earth He showed us an entirely different kind of strength.

The kind of strength that is less concerned about potential, and more concerned about mission. Jesus never lived up to his potential, rather he humbled himself and fulfilled his mission.

And thank God he did.

Mother Teresa said, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”

In other words, it’s not programs and buildings that need our attention. It’s people. If we don’t have the time for each other, we’re missing the whole point.

Programs and buildings may bring recognition. The world’s view of success is tempting. It’s validating. It quenches the ache in me that says “I’m only as worthy as they say I am.”

But if I’m living by the praise of man, then I’ll also fall by his criticism.

It hit me hard when I realized I would rather prove myself worthy than have to receive my worth from God. 😳

I take a look around me, at powerful and influential people who the world may never know their names. People who are generating disciples and changing lives because they’re not climbing ladders but believing in themselves enough to stoop low and love well.

I want to be more like them. I want to be more like Jesus.

So pause for just a moment. Forget about your potential.

What’s your mission?

 

 

 

 

“If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” – Philippians 2:3-4 (MSG)

 Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash