Let’s explore the tough stuff together.

BY REBECCA CARRELL:

Rebecca Carrell has spent over a decade researching, praying through, and teaching on grief and lament. Here she shares a fabulous DTS chapel talk and the beautiful, gut-wrenching piece she wrote after losing a sixteen-year-old girl named Brooklyn. This is your permission to grieve.

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.

A RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: I've been sitting with silence a lot the last two years—learning to embrace it, to let it teach me, to serve as an invitation from God himself, waiting for us just beyond the noise of our lives. As we close out the Draw Near Dwell Well series, consider these resources as companions on your journey.

FROM DR. ALISON COOK: When stress hits, do you notice yourself defaulting to the scroll, the worry spiral, the mental loops you can't seem to escape?

BY ERIKA TOVI: When I begin my internship, I’m vulnerable, deferential, and insecure. I do almost anything I’m asked because I believe it’s good for my character. People describe me as sweet. So, so sweet.

BY KARYSSA A. ALLEN AND TALITHA SUMMERS: Jesus called the church to represent Him on earth, but Christians too often fall short.

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