Inside: The spiritual anchor that helps us loosen our grip on our plans and release the details of our lives back into the hands of the only One who knows exactly what we need.
Certain seasons of life bring a greater urgency to our prayers.
When life hangs in the balance, chaos swirls, and we face more questions than answers.
When we’re watching on the sidelines, quietly—perhaps desperately—hoping for God to intervene in a loved one’s life, praying that they will respond when He does.
Inside: There’s an important difference between grief and disappointment, and here’s why it matters.
On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. The last time the Chiefs played in the NFL championship, the match didn’t go so well for our boys in red. That loss prompted the following thoughts about disappointment, and how it relates to grief.
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I’m not the most rabid football fan in the world, but I still remember how glum I was the day after the Super Bowl in 2021—possibly the worst game the Kansas City Chiefs had played in several years. Recalling the joy and ecstasy that swept over Kansas City when the team won the Super Bowl in 2020 made the disappointment even more poignant.
Inside: The blessing of a snow day, encouraging quotes about waiting and prayer, a lesson I keep relearning and a favorite comfort food. Plus a biblical anchor for life’s emotional roller coasters.
In some ways, January was great. In other ways, it was one long exhausting ride on the struggle bus.
(Please tell me I’m not the only one.)
For me, that bouncy ride was accompanied by a near-complete lack of words. I’d sit down to write and all I could think was, “I got nuthin.’ ” Or I’d delve into my book manuscript and all I could hear inside my head was “just delete the whole thing already.” (I rejected that idea, in case you were wondering.)
Inside: We don’t know why Eve didn’t go straight to God for help when she was first tempted in the garden. But we do know He is ready and willing to rescue us in our times of testing and temptation.
There are some details missing from the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, particulars we might think of as biblical fact that aren’t there at all.
The Bible doesn’t actually say, for example, what their relationship with God really looked like. It doesn’t specify how often they experienced His presence and heard His actual voice.
Inside: My One Word for 2023 came to me much earlier than usual, and while I have a few thoughts about what it might mean, its true significance for the year ahead remains a mystery.
During the Christmas season, the part of the nativity story where Mary “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” struck a different chord with me. (Luke 2:19, KJV)
I’ve always appreciated the reflective part of Mary’s personality. Until recently, though, I’d never thought about what she was actually contemplating.
I mean, yes—the shepherds, the angels, giving birth to the Son of God in a manger—certainly all of that. But what else? Both during that phase of her life and in the coming decades, when she had even greater things to ponder?
In my own season of motherhood, as one daughter nears high-school graduation and the other recently turned 21, I’m realizing that pondering is multifaceted. There’s so much to think about at any given moment: what’s going on right now, what might happen in the future, how did we get to this point, what it all means.
I can’t imagine the depth of Mary’s pondering during Jesus’ ministry, and especially following His death and resurrection. How does a mama even begin to process when all of that is happening right before her eyes?
Once Jesus ascended back into heaven, I’m guessing her pondering moved in a new direction: remembering. His words to great crowds, all the miracles, the quiet conversations they surely had along the way.
Did she remember these events with the Apostle John, who was given the privilege of caring for her in Jesus’ absence? If so, maybe that made the ponderings all the more poignant.
I’ve been thinking about all this lately because my new One Word for 2023 is—drum roll, please—remember.
My word for the next year usually slips into my awareness during the fall months. This one, though, first came to mind last summer. I briefly wondered if I was supposed to change my current word mid-year, but that didn’t feel right, so I stuck with dawn.
Meantime, remember continued to grow on me. As we took Molly’s senior pictures and helped her apply for scholarships. As we watched older sister Lilly bloom at college (an engaging, mature version of her carefree childhood self). As I put together an Instagram reel of Randy and the girls making Christmas cookies over the years.
By the time 2022 ended, remember had wrapped around my heart and mind like a soft, warm blanket. And yet, as with every word I’ve chosen since I began the practice in 2015, its significance in the year ahead remains a mystery.
I wonder what remember will mean to me personally—the daughter of a mom who had Alzheimer’s, the mother of two girls at the cusp of adulthood, a wife of almost 29 years.
I wonder how it will influence my writing, especially my work on a book about losing both of my parents.
I wonder how it will impact my faith, as I uncover what the Bible says about remembering and reflect on God’s faithfulness in my life.
I don’t know how all this will work out, but I do know this: God will go before me and be with me, come what may. (Deut. 31:8)
And He’ll do the same for you too, whether you are in a season of remembering or not.
• • •
Although my word for 2023 came to me earlier than usual, it’s taken me a while to write about it. Life has happened, as it often does. Just this week I’ve had opportunities to actively recall God’s past provision and protection while trying to trust Him for current needs. (God is already using remember in my life, in other words.)
But now I want to know about you. What role does remembering play in your life? Have you chosen a word to guide you this year? (Or do you prefer to read along with other people as they write about their One Words?) Please share in the comments.
♥ Lois
Once Jesus ascended back into heaven, I’m guessing Mary's pondering moved in a different direction: remembering. Share on X As with every word I’ve chosen since I began the practice in 2015, the significance of REMEMBER in the year ahead remains a mystery. Share on XP.S. I’m linking up this week with OneWord2023, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.
Inside: A gentle response that could lower the temperature of contentious arguments, plus advice from my dad about how to become a more gracious person.
I once had a difficult conversation with my dad. The details aren’t important; the point is that our disagreement was intense.
My dad listened to all my arguments. Rather than rebut them with his own, he calmly said, “I don’t look at it that way.”