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When childhood illness strikes someone we know, it tugs on our heartstrings. We want to help, but what can we do? As a mother who has endured an extended hospital stay with her newborn son and a few unexpected medical crises thereafter, and as the founder of a nonprofit that ministers to families navigating medical crises, I’d like to share 10 practical ways you can help a family when a child is seriously ill.... continue reading
My wife and I learned halfway through our first pregnancy that our son was not going to survive. A medical condition which we had never heard of introduced an agony we had never known. The doctors told us that our son would continue growing in the womb but would not live after delivery. Jillian would endure the discomfort of pregnancy and the excruciating pain of labor. But we would not come home with our son, Eli.... continue reading
Every part of our stories is something caught between poetry and passing comments. One moment, the sun is rising and the birds are welcoming a new day as the breeze floats across the marshes. The next, you drop the almost-ready avocado you found at the grocery store and lament that it’s probably ruined. (Spoiler alert: you just paid almost two dollars for a ruined avocado.)... continue reading
When you think about it, joy in suffering makes no sense apart from God’s grace, yet this is the testimony of believers throughout church history. Take, for example, the Christians to whom the apostle Peter sent his first epistle. He addressed them as “elect exiles of the dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1).... continue reading
We could spend all our limited time and energy chasing answers to our questions. It's certainly tempting to think that if we only caught them, we'd be satisfied. But what if God intended our questions to drive us to him—the satisfier of our souls—instead?... continue reading
There will be a day when every child of God will be invited to the one funeral that we will all want to attend: we will be invited to the funeral of death.
Yes, it really is true—death will die and eternally be no more. Along with it will die all the grief, pain, fear, sadness, suffering, and loss that death always drags with it. The completely righteous life of Jesus, the acceptable sacrifice of Jesus, and the victorious resurrection of Jesus, all accomplished on our behalf, guarantee that the enemy of everyone living—death—will finally and forever die.... continue reading
Joseph named his second son “Ephraim,” which sounds like the Hebrew word for “fruitful.” He gives his reason for choosing this name in Genesis 41:52: "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." My first reaction to this name was negative. I didn’t want to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. I wanted my affliction to end. ... continue reading
Few situations are more frustrating than an argument with that family member during Christmas dinner. However, not everyone is in the position to have family tussles over turkey. You may have a strained relationship with certain family members because of ongoing conflict. There may be injustice and abuse, or simply absence. ... continue reading
This is the real key to the secret. Christ was the most important thing in Paul’s universe. Whatever his personal achievements or failures, his triumphs or his challenges, they were like garbage to him (which is a polite English translation of the original word, which meant something more like sewage!). Paul wanted to pursue Christ.... continue reading
