(It looks like I’ve caught the flu, ya’ll…. so I’m sharing a “Day 30” from 2016.

Thank you for the “grace”.)

You know what’s really nice when you have a crummy cold?  Your husband making you homemade chicken soup….

You know what’s even nicer when you still have your crummy cold the next day?  Warmed-up-better-the-next-day-homemade-chicken-soup….shared with the family! Really, it wasn’t just the soup (though it was pretty fantastic!), but it was also the conversation.

We were catching up – checking in – looking ahead….you know, the things you do to connect when everyone is leading busy lives – pretty ordinary stuff, really, when the conversation turned to a neighbor who had stopped Tom in the front yard and asked to meet Boaz (the dog.)  In between Boaz’s feats of running, jumping, fetching and looking all around adorable, the neighbor began sharing some of her life’s struggles and very deep loss.  It’s amazing what people are hungry to share with you when they sense you care to listen….

One of the driving forces behind my decision to not only write another Lenten blog but to focus it around loss and healing is my present up close and personal view of not just suffering, but suffering….as a Christian.  I realized nothing I had been taught in all my years of learning to follow Jesus had prepared me for the type of pain that endures.  And I’ve been wondering why that is….do we think perhaps it makes Jesus “look bad” when we endure pain as a believer?  Are we so culturally bent on happiness being the opposite of grief that one is seen as “good” and the other “bad”?  Why do we try to quantify pain as being “less” or “worse” than someone else’s?  Big questions…..and this is what I’ve come up with so far……

Grace.

Grace for the grieving.  Grace for those who judge.  Grace for the proud.  Grace for the weak.  Grace for the suffering.  Grace for the confused.  Grace for the broken….

Grace for us.

This journey is hard.  There is a point in every day that the thought goes through my mind that I just wish….I wish….things could go back to how they were.  I don’t want to feel this sadness and pain.  I want the blissful ignorance that nothing bad could happen to us….but life isn’t lived in reverse.  And I stubbornly refuse to believe that the best days of our lives are back there existing only in memories….I do believe in the resurrection, not only of Jesus, but of all of our broken dreams.  And what gives me the strength and the courage to dare to believe is this grace, that meets me where I am and doesn’t look away in embarrassment or discomfort at my tears.  It’s persistent and fierce and pursues us with a passion that flows from the very heart of God.

So many of you have shared with me your own tender stories of faith and heartache, and I am so honored and humbled to walk this Lenten journey with you.  This I know….He still loves you.  He sees you.  He has new plans for you.  If He can bring new life to my oh so wounded heart I know He can for yours as well!

This beautiful song by Hillsong has found its way into my heart these past several months – it’s been a regular walking companion.  =)  It reminds me that healing….hope….freedom are all gifts that come to me through the grace of Christ who raises the broken to life…..and that’s pretty amazing.  <3

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Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)
Hillsong Worship