Radical hope. Compassionate change. Equipping those affected by chronic physical and mental illness through community and education rooted in Jesus Christ.
Radical hope. Compassionate change. Equipping those affected by chronic physical and mental illness through community and education rooted in Jesus Christ.
This is part two in a two-part series entitled: Field Notes of Pain ….. There was this youth group kid that whittled. You know, the art of taking a piece of wood and turning it into a troll or something. He did that. And he was good. I was fascinated – first, that a high…
Yesterday, I drove by fields of sunflowers, their happy faces tracking the constant sun. All day, the stems, the east-facing halves, grow and lengthen, bending their flower heads to keep up with the westward-moving light. All night, their west-side stems grow, oscillating their heavy yellow faces back to the east. I envy the surety of…
As a chronic illness warrior, there is a lot on my plate. Normal life responsibilities, additional medical struggles that most don’t have to worry about and the desire to enjoy life and all that it offers. The last thing I need is to do more than what is absolutely necessary and to do things that…
There is nothing easy about watching others struggle with chronic illness. In watching, we suffer too. There are two answers, one is community, the other is God. Watchers, we are not Saints “I’m okay.” “I’ve got this.” “Honestly, it’s fine, I promise.” Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we are only a Watcher and…
Do your best to offer to help do some of that work if you can. The hidden labor is real and exhausting, despite being hidden. ... Understand if they cancel plans at the last minute. Empty their dishwasher or fold their laundry while they’re on the phone.
I can’t remember a time when chronic depression wasn’t a nemesis for me. As a child I often felt an overwhelming sadness and wept without understanding why. Now I’m a 67-year-old Christian college professor who still wanders occasionally into the dark fog of hopelessness. As an adult, a number of acquaintances have said things to…
I don’t like living with scarcity. I don’t like having just enough to meet my needs. I don’t like being dependent. It makes me feel vulnerable. In my economy, I want a full oil flask and overflowing flour jar. #ChronicJoy #DiscoveringHope
O God of the Broken Beautiful,
You take the most common, ordinary things and transform them
into nourishment for body and soul.
Thank you for feeding us well.
We began with gratitude, Lord,
but we need to also make space for lament today.
Our hearts are broken,
We are people who always hold some kind of pain... #ChronicJoy #DiscoveringHope #prayer
Read more God of the Broken Beautiful: A Prayer from Jeremiah 29
By the time you read this, I’ll be feeling much better. Therapy will have commenced, medications will have been adjusted, and clinging to the One who clings to the brokenhearted will have kept me affixed to a drip line of peace. I can say this with some confidence, for it’s not my first time off…
I well remember the day I packed my bags to move to the Land of Affliction. I had lived in the Land of Ease for 35 years and, to tell you the truth, I took most things for granted. I never really appreciated the fact that I could just pick up and leave the house…
