BY MARY DEMUTH:

To surrender the healing journey is to let go of the expectations for how the pathway will look. It means looking realistically at what happened back then, then giving God permission to do something new.

BY MARY DEMUTH:

What if our act of patience, fueled by the Spirit within us, was not merely so we could endure our adult children’s choices, but for our betterment? What if this is not about our kids at all, but about our relationship with God? 

BY MARY DEMUTH:

With anxiety reigning, it’s no wonder we believe if that one conundrum was solved, our lives would sing. And yet, our minds naively hang our hopes on an outcome, and we forget that God is working in and through every circumstance, even when things don’t go the way we wanted or planned.

STORY BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: I was in the throes of grief from the unwanted end of my marriage when a friend recommended I go on a silent retreat. So, naively hoping the experience would expedite my healing, I wandered into the desert for three whole days. Completely and utterly alone. In complete and utter silence.

POEM BY KAREN ABEYTA:No body breathless or casket to cradle the weight of death. No funeral or tombstone to mark the passing when death dies unseen.

BY CHRISTY BOULWARE:Loneliness thrives when we don’t know who belongs where or when we keep everyone at a distance to stay “safe.” We were not meant to walk alone. Even Jesus had a Mary.

ARTICLE BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: Whether you're navigating a painful relationship or supporting someone who is, these seven resources offer helpful insight and healing.

ARTICLE BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: Her anguish compels her forward, and with tissues twisting in her trembling hands, Sarah shares her concerns about Rick’s excessive drinking and terrifying temper.

REFLECTION BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: When you came to understand she was worthy of safety, dignity, and kindness, you would return to her. Because you believed her, and loved her, and celebrated her. Because she was not invisible. And she was not nothin’.

ARTICLE BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: July 4th weekend was supposed to be a celebration. In a matter of hours, my quiet Hill Country town became catastrophic front-page news.

REFLECTION BY CHRISTINE CRAWFORD: What if our hurts, questions, and doubts are the very thresholds where we are most tenderly met, deeply known, carefully held, gently stretched, and finally made whole?

ARTICLE BY KAT ARMSTRONG: The cost of obedience you can’t post on socials, the pain in the offering only a few will be privy to. You might feel lonely as you process the upheaval. After all, you likely love what you are leaving. Take heart.

ARTICLE BY KELLEY MATHEWS: 2024 brought a steady stream of changes that felt more like the waves we encountered on the Oregon beach this summer—wild, rough, anticipated yet often unpredictable, and beautiful.

MUSIC BY ELIZABETH STEWART: Musician Elizabeth Stewart shares her heart and story of struggling with hope and faith after loss.

READING BY ELIZABETH STEWART: How lovely is the place where you live, O Lord who rules over all! I desperately want to be in the courts of the Lord’s temple. My heart and my entire being shout for joy to the living God.

READING BY ELIZABETH STEWART: A favorite prayer from The Valley of Vision (Authur Bennett, Editor) for those suffering from loss or struggling with faith.

POEM BY RACHEL JOY WELCHER: When will you realize, oh my soul, that there will always be a child born on the same day that someone else dies?

POEM BY RACHEL JOY WELCHER: You bring the dog with you when you think I'm sad.

REFLECTION BY KATIE FOX: What can we say about art and beauty in the face of mass shootings, war, evil, and destruction? Why discuss poetry, when the world feels like it's on fire? What can beauty and the arts offer to us when we’ve lost everything we hold dear?

The kitchen window framed the scene | the proud posturing, the wild gesturing. | And I, with linen towel twisting | between fretting fingers, watched | as a broken boy extended his hand, | demanding honor from kindness.