When my husband experienced a sudden loss of vision, we made a precarious visit the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The explanation requires lots of words that spell-check doesn’t recognize, but suffice it to say, we had a scare. Our schedule was filled with hours of waiting and intermittent appointments and tests. We waited in the lobby, lab, cafeteria, exam room, coffee shop, atrium, and elevator. The kind folks there know you’ll have some time on your hands, so they provide a few … [Read more...]
Mourning Dashed Hopes: Biblical Wisdom for Changing Seasons
This is the first article in our summer series, Stories of Hope--modern stories of people who placed their hope in Christ and felt--at first--disappointed with his plan, purpose, or timing much like the biblical characters of Remarkable Hope. I'm thrilled to introduce Christine Chappell. Christine is the author of Clean Home, Messy Heart, the host of The Hope + Help Project podcast, and is a guest contributor at Desiring God. She writes frequently about depression, motherhood, and counseling … [Read more...]
Summer Series: Stories of Hope
We’ve thought a lot about “hope” this year, haven’t we? We know we ought to place our hope in Christ alone and not in other people, not in preferable circumstances, and not even in the changed behavior of loved ones. But what does that look like in 2019? We look at Bible people like John the Baptist and Mary, and we clearly see their unwavering hope in Christ in the midst of disappointment, devastation, and even death. But I wonder, and maybe you do too, if these folks had it just a wee bit … [Read more...]
What was in Mary’s Heart on that Skull-shaped Hill?
For those who’ve grown up in church, the Easter story is a familiar one. So familiar are the words hope and doubt, death and resurrection, that the true meaning of them lose their splendor. Sometimes their familiarity in our Easter vocabulary even breeds a heart-level boredom. So, when I was cruising through the Easter story a few years ago, I was shocked to find a verse I’d never noticed. Surely I’d read it before. At the very least I’d heard it. But I had certainly never stopped to consider … [Read more...]
The Remedy for Disappointment
It wasn’t the worst place for a baby to sleep, but I didn’t like the thought of putting a baby in a laundry basket. For a newborn it would be safe and portable, but I felt ashamed. Our second son was born ten weeks premature. A job change, a move, and his premature birth had drained our bank account. Our first son, just 14 months old at the time, was still in the crib and a new bed for him was not in the budget. We’d been financially responsible, made the wisest decisions we could, but … [Read more...]
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