![Can I Live My Life With Open Hands? [Episode 18 with Laura Story] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/01_10_2019_Pod_18_CanILiveMyLifeWithOpenHands_Dec.jpg)
About five or six years ago, I went through a season where I struggled with depression, which included insomnia.
One night, I vividly remember sitting in a red chair in our bedroom, trying to pray. Yet, I couldn’t really focus on praying. I knew the Lord was there, but I still felt low and empty.
The radio was on, and it was then that I heard a song that touched me in a way nothing else could. It was “Blessings” by Laura Story.
![Can I Control Anger So It Doesn't Control Me? [Episode 4] jpg](https://www.jenniferrothschild.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/10_04_2018_Pod_4_HandleOnAnger.jpg)
Years ago, when Phil was finishing up his Ph.D., we had a little money, a little time, and a little boy. All in all, it was really a happy season of life—with one little exception.
Actually, it wasn’t so little.
I was overwhelmed with stress and couldn’t figure out how to manage it.
Ever felt like that?
“We’re overcome with deep sadness to be at this point.”
That was my friend’s response to the hard place she and her husband had found themselves.
Her beloved mother had been in and out of institutions because of mental illness and now, they had to make a hard, soul-tearing decision about her guardianship.
For years, they rallied, they loved, they emptied their savings for the best treatment centers, and they fought, trusted, and never gave up hope. And, now they felt like they were giving up her mom to an uncertain future.
Garth Brooks crooned he had friends in “low places.” Girl, we do too.
Life has lots of low places. Hospital waiting rooms, funerals, diminishing bank accounts, hard marriages, illness, and physical limitations are just a few. Low places take us to the bottom of ourselves and leave us feeling down.
Everyone has a low place in their life. Sadly, many of us have had several.
But we’re not alone when it comes to low places. There were many in the pages of Scripture—people who had times when they felt abandoned, scared, and weary.
Do you ever wonder if God has dropped the pen and stopped writing your life story? You know, when your life doesn’t happen like you wanted or seems less important or interesting than someone else’s life, you can question what God is up to. My friend, author Ashleigh Slater knows exactly how that feels and that’s why I’ve asked her to join us for Java today.
So, if you, like me, battle the tendency and temptation to compare your story with others’ stories, you’ll really benefit from these three truths Ashleigh reminds us to be purposeful to tell ourselves. I just love this and I know you will too.
Pour your coffee and settle in. Take it away Ashleigh!
“No matter what happens today,” I gently reminded my two daughters, “God is writing your individual stories, and you can trust Him.”
Both girls were about to audition in New York City for the national tour of a Tony-Award winning musical. It was an audition we’d spent weeks preparing for—not only vocally, but also emotionally.
What would happen if you just got still? Would the world as you know it fall apart? Would you?
Sometimes we stay busy to outrun our fear of failure or keep us distracted from thinking. Sometimes, when we are overwhelmed by sorrow or stress, we just long to fix something, clean something … you know, do something!
