GIVEAWAY ALERT: You can win the book The Hard Good by this week’s podcast guest. Keep reading to find out how!
Life is full of hard things … loss, betrayal, hurt, disappointment, pain, and anger. In a world riddled by these things—and still reeling from a global pandemic—we may ask, “How can life really be good?”
Well, when author Lisa Whittle lost her beloved dad, she found herself asking this same question and eventually learning that there is good, even within the hard things.
We all have low places in life.
Hospital waiting rooms, funerals, half-empty bank accounts, hard marriages, and chronic illness are just a few. Low places take us to the bottom of ourselves and leave us feeling down.
Friend, you may be walking through a low place right now.
Don’t you just sometimes get tired of dealing with hard stuff?!
You know … strained relationships, difficult bosses, constant conflict, illness, financial stress … hard stuff!
Our hands can droop and our knees can wobble. We can look over our shoulder and think about turning back.
When Phil and I were newlyweds, we were in Wal-Mart one day getting some duplicate keys made. As we waited at the counter, my cell phone rang, and I turned slightly away from Phil to take the call.
(By the way, if you’re a new reader, this might be a good time to tell you I’m blind.)
When I hung up a few minutes later, I reached out to put my arm around Phil’s waist. As I did, I slipped my hand down and patted him on his—well, you know. We were newlyweds, after all!
As I did, I heard him say, “Jennifer, what are you doing?”
Your unspoken broken.
We all have it. It’s that thing in us that we don’t talk about because we don’t know how to put words to it. It’s that feeling that rises in us and makes our throats tighten and our voices tremble.
It’s the disquiet in our soul, the ache we always feel but never get used to; the silent companion who takes up too much room in our hearts. It’s our unspoken broken.
The mom who tries to manage her mentally ill adult son — she feels the sting, the ache. When you see her on Sunday and she smiles and hugs you and asks how your week went, can you hear what is not said? Can you hear her unspoken broken? It is there, screaming to be heard and held and helped.
Can I just tell you how much I appreciate you hanging out with me on my blog and having “Java with Jennifer” this past year?! You dear readers are the best!
And, you let me know by your comments and shares which blogs filled your cup, or lit your fire, or… well… put simply, which blogs were your favorites!
