faith
/fāTH/
Belief in a personal and faithful God who loves us unconditionally; a source of hope and confidence when you feel there is none; the assurance that there is someone greater than you who not only cares but wants to be part of your life
Waiting well. It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? I mean, who likes to wait? I find myself getting anxious and discontent when I am sitting in the waiting room at my doctor’s office and it is only five minutes past my initial appointment
We recently celebrated the first day of spring. The sun has melted away the 20-degree temps we awoke to. Makes me think Mother Nature was hibernating herself. I was born in the spring. My birthday has even landed on Easter a couple times, which
It was just two weeks after Easter in 2005. My Papa was nearing the end of his long battle with cancer. Family and close friends traveled from near and far just to be in his presence one last time. The hospital room grew crowded
I hadn’t really wanted to get up when the alarm went off, but I did because she’d asked me to come. This was the daughter who’d recently begun to like me again, and I wasn’t going to miss it. Josie Love was in art
Winters chill keeps us inside. Inside our homes and inside our heads. I had never noticed before the beauty in winter. The beauty that comes from just stopping and resting and letting go of the chase and hustle, even just for a season. Maybe
My mother had me late in life. So, by the time I was 12, she was nearing the magic age of 50. I remember sitting in her bedroom while she dressed in the mornings. We would talk about my plans for the day. And
Caroline Beidler, MSW, came charging into our world at Grit and Grace Life with a laser-focused sense of direction. Her life has been reclaimed, and she knows it. Her sense of purpose has been clear from the moment she entered our door—no one here
Some of life’s storms come and go with little impact on our daily lives and hardly disrupt our normal routines. Some storms of life are just a bother, leaving no rubble in their passing. But others rush in, demand our attention, and throw us
I’ve always been a fan of walking. Walking with friends or alone has always brought me joy. Last spring when I began teaching remotely from my house, I would slip out during the lunch hour to step away from my computer screen, get some
It all hit within 48 hours of one another. First, my husband left for a week of work travel overseas while our two daughters were sick, hacking and sneezing in between fever-induced sleep. Then, I received word that my dad was admitted to a
What do you do when one of your best college friends moves to the beach? You round up the rest of the gang and head down to see her. This is just what we’ve done for the last several years, and it’s come in
I live in a constant state of interruption. Two minutes ago, my 18-month-old son ripped my half-written grocery list out of my hand while my daughter screamed because she couldn’t find her shoes. One minute ago, my son pulled my daughter’s full-length mirror off
When my pastor recently asked our small group what actions we could commit to taking this week to increase practicing faith in an authentic way, I paused. What came to mind was a series of events from my twenties when life was simple, a
I woke at 1:30 AM. Fully alert and rehashing the events from the previous day. I was angry, anxious, and agitated by people’s lack of integrity. Their unwillingness to be accountable for their actions and words. I choreographed responses, planned for the potential encounter,
I was so overwhelmed last week. And then God met me. But if I hadn’t been paying attention, I don’t think I would have noticed. I took a day off work because I had four doctor’s appointments in one day. The week had been
We found ourselves standing on opposite sides of the front door. I stood on the inside, tentative and shaking. He was positioned on the outside, his hands clenched, forming fists, and his jaw locked firmly in place. We had found ourselves in this position
New beginnings are equally terrifying and exciting, for the same reason: they are unknown. A fresh start, regardless of the purpose, is still uncharted territory. We might have been thrown into it unexpectedly—say, with the loss of a loved one—or perhaps it’s the product
