devotions - faith for every season

There is a lie we quietly believe about grief. That if we are really grieving, we cannot possibly be joyful. That if we smile too soon, people will think we didn’t care. But sorrow and hope can sit in the same soul. You can hold sorrow in one hand and hope in the other. You can cry and still believe. You can ache and still worship. Grief does not cancel joy. It just changes it. Some of my most read devotions are about grief, and I think that's because it's something we all

If you're not a dog person, I'm not a you person... kidding, maybe? If you've been around me long enough you know that I've got two dogs —Hawk, my little beagle dachshund mix. Beyond stubborn. The nose and bark of a beagle. Long, determined body of a dachshund. Low to the ground, but convinced he's ten feet tall. And Polly—my American Foxhound/Treeing Walker Coonhound. Long legs for days. Sensitive, she NEVER barks. And those deep sad hound-dog eyes that tell you she could do

The definition of grief... the complex, multifaceted emotional, physical, and psychological response to a significant loss—such as death, divorce, job loss, or illness. Grief isn’t always in the form of losing a loved one, but I think it’s one everyone can relate to. Grief caught up to me recently while I was running. Not when my legs were tired. Not when I couldn't catch my breath. But somewhere in the middle—when my body found its rhythm and my mind finally had room to wan