A Grit and Grace Life of Faith

Choosing Hard Things Is Never Easy, but Always Worth It

This school year has already exceeded my wildest expectations. My son Charlie does not like change, suffers from anxiety, and had been saying several weeks prior that he did not want to go back to school. However, in the meantime he attended an incredible week of therapy disguised as camp (thank you, Bethany Christian Services), where he learned a lot about dealing with his fears and anxiety. He was also assigned a classroom at school where he already knew the teacher, in the same building that he is familiar with, and with two friends that he is crazy about. This classroom also happens to have a guinea pig named Hotdog, which has proven to be like therapy on its own. Charlie tells me that […]

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Building Faith: Growing in Your Relationship with God

By Darlene Brock / Faith

You have begun this journey, one of faith in Christ … a relationship that will not only last a lifetime but through all of eternity. Is that the end of the story? Do you just settle in—contentedly relaxing in the knowledge that your eternal destiny is secure? Or is there more? Well of course there is more, a lot more! Every relationship you have ever begun has potential, but it needs a personal investment to experience its genuine richness and depth. This is equally true of your relationship with your Heavenly Father—you need to work on building faith in Him. The reality that He desires, as well as offers, a rich and rewarding relationship with you is nearly beyond comprehension. The first

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Overcoming Bitterness When You Don’t Get the Credit You Deserve

By Kelsey Adam / Faith

Have you ever worked so hard on something only to have your effort go unnoticed? Or worse, has someone else taken the credit you deserve? I have, and if you have too then maybe you’ve also struggled with bitterness. Bitterness is one of the most destructive and dangerous human emotions, and if it’s not dealt with it can destroy a person. Bitterness can rob you of your peace and joy. It is an open door for Satan to control your life. It can hurt or destroy your relationship with your family, a friend, or even a coworker. But we want to be recognized. We want credit where credit is due. But God doesn’t call us to get the credit. Let me repeat, God does not call us

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The Seesaw Aftermath of Losing My Husband to Suicide

By Clare Marlow / Faith

I have never been able to reconcile my seesawing beliefs about suicide. About the suicide of my first husband, Gary. He was handsome, fit, smart, playful, an adventurer. I loved him deeply and he deeply loved me. He cared about my heart and my dreams. He was a fun and tender and wise father to his children. A man who never took a sick day off work, jogged three miles a day, loved God, was a gifted storyteller, and made long-lasting friends every single place he went. A man whose death packed a church that seats 600 even though we were relatively new to our home across the country from where we grew up and lived for decades. A man who kept

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Battered Faith: Holding On to Hope Even When You Struggle

By Darlene Brock / Faith

I was 13 years old when I was diagnosed with a muscular disease called Myasthenia Gravis. I had a year of repeated testing before the final diagnosis was made. Yet even with the naming of my illness, I was fortunate. The level of disability that came with my current symptoms was minor: limitations of physical exertion, muscle weakness, and frequent fatigue. I was a young teen and rather headstrong (little has changed in that regard), so I took the medication prescribed and determined to live my life to the fullest … rebellion and all. Seasons of Battered Faith Several years later, I was working a full-time job that I loved, living the single life in an apartment located in the art district,

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Holding Out for a More Powerful Yes

By Barbara Hill / Faith

It’s been a busy season to say the least. It’s not uncommon that Friday arrives and I can’t even remember how I got there. It’s like when you’re so deep in thought while you’re driving that you get a case of auto-pilot amnesia or something (totally just made that up), and can’t even remember how you got to your destination. I’m sure all of us have experienced busy seasons, or just busy lives, and like me, you discover how difficult it is to be present in the moment because of being distracted by the thing you need to do next. I’ve always been the type of person that wants to “do it all”. I want to think that I have some special

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Our Story: From Pregnant Widow to Family of Four

By Ashby Duval / Faith

This is Part 3 of Ashby’s story. Be sure to catch up if you missed Part 1 or Part 2. I used to have a florally framed paper titled “Our Family Purpose” on my fridge. At the top of the paper was written “Jesus, Ashby and Trooper” and below was a list of things I wanted our lives to be about: loving and serving others, pursuing Biblical truth, being generous, etc. In my mind, this was our family and I had no desire for it to grow. I felt like I had won the lottery with my late husband, Spencer, and I knew I would see him again in heaven. So in the meantime I was focusing on my son, Trooper, and whatever ministry opportunities

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Skillet's Korey Cooper Talks About Marriage, Motherhood, and Rock 'n' Roll

Skillet’s Korey Cooper Talks Music, Faith and Family

By Darlene Brock / Faith

A multi-platinum record-selling, international touring rock band is hardly the first place one would look to discover the formula for a great marriage. Celebrities of any type are not generally known for their ability to begin, build, and maintain healthy relationships. However, the year I heard that one couple was celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary in the midst of headlining a major tour, I had to find out more. Success for a unique couple living in an unusual world. Enter John and Korey Cooper of the rock band, Skillet. In order to discover how they made it to this marriage landmark, I had the opportunity to speak to Korey. She gave me some insight into their unusual pairing, living in an unusual

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How to Read Your Bible: For Beginners

By Ashley Johnson / Faith

On the day that America celebrates freedom, I was handcuffed with the diagnosis of Alopecia Areata (a stress-induced autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss). You’d think that finding two bald spots the size of baseballs on my scalp would be troubling enough, but it was actually the list of “mights” streaming from the doctor’s mouth that created my ocean of fear: “You might only have these two spots and nothing more. You might develop more spots. You might lose all of your hair… and your eyebrows, eyelashes, and all of your body hair. This might be for a season of life; it might be forever—or it might come and go throughout your life. Really the only predictable thing about Alopecia is that

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How to Pray: For Beginners

By Ashby Duval / Faith

If you are anything like me, you have probably felt intimidated by prayer at some point in your life. Am I doing it right? Wow, they really say beautiful prayers and mine aren’t like that! Did it work? Did He hear me? Should I be kneeling? Does it count if I say it in my mind? Is there a way to pray where God definitely answers? For prayer 101, let’s go directly to the Source to get these answers. Jesus addresses our questions by telling us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give

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You’re a Piece of Work, but There’s Grace for You

By Ashley Johnson / Faith

My friend invited me to read a book about gospel-centered parenting with her, and I agreed, which is funny because I’m not actually parenting yet. I’m pregnant for the first time, so I felt a little silly when I picked up the book—but I like this friend and was excited for the chance to spend more time with her. As it turns out, I needed this book—right here, right now. Not because I needed tips on how to parent my rounded belly, but because I needed to read about the kind of Father God is to me. With every chapter I read, my sense of awe and gratitude has grown because I’m seeing God in new ways—specifically as the perfect parent He

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Can God Use Messy People? (Video)

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / Faith

— Want to read about a present-day woman who made a pretty messy mistake? Read How My Husband and I Survived My Affair and see how capable God is despite our shortcomings. Maybe you’ve found yourself in the middle of an unexpected, unwanted situation. You’ll find hope in this woman’s story: I Never Wanted to Be a Pregnant Widow. Perhaps you just need to read about how much God loves you, and how he loved you even before you were born (while knowing you’d make all those mistakes in the future). Don’t miss You Are Loved More Than You Know. #gritandgracelife

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The Gift of Accepting a Pardon

By Darlene Brock / Faith

What good is forgiveness if we don’t accept it? In 1829, George Wilson was found guilty of murder in a court of law and given a death sentence. But Wilson had some friends who believed he should escape the penalty he was given and petitioned President Andrew Jackson for a pardon. Jackson granted the pardon, which was brought to the prison and given to Wilson. To everyone’s surprise, Wilson said, “I am going to hang.” Never before had someone refused a pardon, so the courts didn’t know what to do. Discussion went all the way to the Supreme Court, where Justice John Marshall gave this ruling: “A pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which depends upon the acceptance by the

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Losing My Hair Made Me Beautiful

By Ashley Johnson / Faith

Every so often, I look at all of my thick, long hair and I’m overwhelmed… There was a season of life when I lost it all to Alopecia Areata, and I had accepted that I might never have my own hair on my head again. Through it all, I learned two very important lessons: 1. How to take a hard blow and then muster up the grit to keep pushing forward and 2. Recognize that the only way I can do so is by the grace of God. When I began to lose my hair, I began to feel a bit less… human. I felt weird, ugly, and certainly not whole. But God corrected me; He showed me that I am beautiful simply because I am His creation, and more importantly

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This Is Your Brain on FOMO

By Kitti Murray / Faith

It happened again this morning. I was noodling around on Instagram as the coffee sputtered into the pot and my eyes adjusted to daylight. And there it was, in saturated color, something one of our adult kids had planned that we weren’t invited to. This would not, should not, be a big deal if not for a condition we call FOMO—fear of missing out—that I suspect is written in the DNA of most extroverts. Those people who can fall asleep on the couch in a roomful of chatting people at a party? I’m not one of those. I might miss something. The other extroverts in our family and I joke about FOMO all the time. But today I realized its power over

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Can a Setback in Life Be Turned Around for Good?

By Darlene Brock / Faith

I am a “ponderer.” I see the tough things in my life, the lives around me, and the world at large and try to figure out why. Why is it so difficult? Why do we suffer injustice? Why is there so much heartache? Then I continue a mental debate that can span hours. It often creates a complete sadness that ends in me wishing for the day when this earth as it is would end. It really is a bit of a worthless exercise. I then have to accept that all of life’s answers aren’t mine and choose to surrender to one of the anchors of my faith, which is hope. But there were years when my choice of hope was laced with a vague

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5 Things I've Learned in a Decade of Wifing

10 Things I Learned in a Decade of Wifing

By Julie (Graham) Bender / Relationships, Faith

As I approached my 10 year wedding anniversary, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the lessons I’d learned through a decade of wifing, as I like to call it. There are hundreds of things I’ve learned about me, him, and certainly about God, so I decided to make a list of the lessons that have been life-changing. 1. Age isn’t an excuse to quit. I was a mere 21 years old when we said, “I do.” That’s pretty rare these days. “Getting married young,” is a common excuse I hear when it gets hard and people are looking for reasons to “escape” the marriage. I’ve heard it a lot during my wedded days—friends, celebrities, and strangers alike often cite it, but marriage is

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