I have learned that I cannot continuously give away pieces of who I am to appease other people. The priority has to be, first and foremost, “I am God’s child, God’s prize possession,” and I have to accept who God tells me that I am. The tunnel did not get the final word; God did, and God’s truth became the light that led me forward.

The call is not always to run faster, but to keep running. Even a slow, halting step forward is still faithfulness.

Maybe hope isn’t meant to feel strong all the time. Maybe hope, in its truest form, is quieter than that. Smaller. More stubborn.

Is misery ever necessary? Could God be protecting us from something we cannot yet see?

“This awful moment wasn’t going to be the end of my story. When life feels impossibly hard, it’s easy to wonder if things will ever get easier. But in the very place where I fell apart, God began to rebuild something beautiful."

You are my Calm amidst the storm, and I know You will never forsake me—not now, not tomorrow, not ever.

By Barb Lownsbury The swish-swish of the windshield wipers kept rhythm as I searched through the dreary, rainy parking lot for a close...