This past week my husband and I received some soul-crushing news. A dear friend of ours had ended his own life. While we knew that he had wrestled over the years with seasons of depression, most people would never have guessed that he had any such struggle.

He was one of the kindest, most effervescent, and most selfless people I’ve known. He loved the Lord and his family. He faithfully served the Church. But away from watchful eyes and in the private spaces of his heart and mind, he struggled. He fought until the very end to try to overcome the darkness and depression, clinging to His faith and Scriptures such as Psalm 143.

​To say that his family and friends are gutted, not only to have lost him but in such a way as this, is an understatement. There are no words. For the past days, even now, it is all I can think about. 

The world today is rife with instability and struggles that seem to have no answers. Jesus told us in John 16:33 that there would be times like this.

The good news is that as believers we don’t have to be overcome with the instability, tribulation, and trouble in the world. The rest of that verse gives Jesus’ words of comfort.

The question for us as believers is not IF there is darkness and trouble to deal with in this sin-cursed world. The question is HOW do we deal with this darkness?

Sometimes it’s hard to write about what’s going on in your heart and life while it’s happening. A testimony is easier to share when you can give it an ending that makes everyone say, “Amen!” Recently, though, God has been teaching me that life isn’t always about resolutions. Sometimes He teaches us the most when it seems like every detail of our lives is “in-process.”
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Early in October, my husband and I learned that we are expecting our first baby. I think I experienced a mild shock. It took four tests and a doctor’s appointment to convince me that I was, in fact, pregnant.

Over the past few years, I’ve gone from terrified at the very idea of having kids to a great desire to have children. On October 1, my 29th birthday, I even wished that this year would be the year. 

We don’t know a lot more than we do know. For this reason, we spend a large portion of our lives preparing for things that may never happen.

•  We have car insurance in case we crash.
• We have life insurance in case we die before our loved ones.
• We have smoke alarms in case there is a fire.
• We wear a life jacket in case we fall into the water.

 
We make these kinds of plans because it is responsible to prepare for the future the best way we know how. 

We don’t always just plan for the unknown, though. Often, we worry about it too. “The Big Unknown” becomes more worrisome to us than death and taxes because we don’t know what it is. 

Our guest blogger, Debbie, has been missing in action around here for almost a year now. 

Like many of us in 2020, she's been on an unexpected journey. But Debbie's journey was different than the journey most of us have been on over the past several months. Her journey included not only all that COVID brought to our world, her journey also included that dreaded "C" word--cancer.

We all know someone who has been on the cancer journey. Maybe, you've even traveled that road yourself. The greatest thing to know is that as Christian women, as women of God, we know that we do not travel that road alone! Not only do we not travel the road alone, but God also gives us unique opportunities to share the road with those who come behind us. Today, Debbie shares that road with us in the third of a 3-part series--4 Things I Learned From My Cancer Journey.

Our guest blogger, Debbie, has been missing in action around here for almost a year now. 

Like many of us in 2020, she's been on an unexpected journey. But Debbie's journey was different than the journey most of us have been on over the past several months. Her journey included not only all that COVID brought to our world, her journey also included that dreaded "C" word--cancer.

We all know someone who has been on the cancer journey. Maybe, you've even traveled that road yourself. The greatest thing to know is that as Christian women, as women of God, we know that we do not travel that road alone! Not only do we not travel the road alone, but God also gives us unique opportunities to share the road with those who come behind us. Today, Debbie shares that road with us in the first of a 3-part series--The Unexpected Journey.