I empower faith-based women like you to recover well after discovering their husband's or significant others struggle with the dark places on the internet. Every Monday you'll receive encouragement and other carefully curated content to help you heal and find the freedom you desire.
It's okay if the fireworks don't fix anything
|
This week, America turns 250. The Semiquincentennial, now there's a mouthful. 🎆 We're celebrating some birthdays in our house, too. Dave turns another year older on July 3, and our daughter-in-love Emily celebrates on the Fourth itself. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than that. And I will confess: I become an absolute child at a fireworks show. Wide eyes. Audible oohs and aahs. Zero dignity. Every single time. There's something about the way they explode into color against a dark sky that just gets me. What’s Been On My Heart Maybe that image is sitting with you differently than it is with me right now. Because sometimes life is the dark sky. And the sparkle everyone else sees doesn't reach where you're standing. You showed up anyway. The outfit went on. The smile appeared at the right moments. You even made potato salad for the picnic. But the smile never reached your eyes. And somewhere in the middle of the celebration, you wanted to disappear. Dear one, I see you. More importantly, God sees you. Not the performance. Not the smile you manufactured for the afternoon. You—the one who is exhausted, aching, quietly wondering how much longer you can keep this up. King David knew what it was to grieve in the middle of everyone else's noise. And he wrote this: "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." — Psalm 56:8 (NLT) Your tears are not wasted, dramatic, or too much. Every single one is known to him. You are not invisible in a crowd. God has not lost track of you in the chaos. And performing joy you don't yet feel? Not expected. Healing doesn't run on a holiday schedule. Pain doesn't take a long weekend off. However, God never leaves you. Ever. Something for You You know those problems that are too big, too deep, too tangled for any human solution? The ones you carry quietly because explaining them feels impossible. And part of you wonders if even God can get there. This song is for you this week. Let it remind you that he's already there. 👉 "God Problems," listen here 🙏🏻 A Prayer for You Dear God, as we celebrate 250 years of this nation, thank you for the founding fathers who looked to your ways and principles as its foundation. Thank you for your faithfulness to this country and to Reader. When life feels chaotic and overwhelming, remind Reader that you are close. You promise your presence and your provision at all times, and that promise never expires. Open Reader's heart and mind to moments of genuine joy this week: unexpected ones, quiet ones, the kind that don't have to be performed. And protect Reader's heart, God. You know exactly what it needs. Amen. |
Kirsten D Samuel LLC
I empower faith-based women like you to recover well after discovering their husband's or significant others struggle with the dark places on the internet. Every Monday you'll receive encouragement and other carefully curated content to help you heal and find the freedom you desire.
Dave and I stood at our window on July 4th, watching a thunderstorm roll over the city like a held breath finally released. Lightning split the sky. Torrential rain flooded the streets below us. Then came the fog, thick and low, swallowing the skyline whole. We could hear fireworks somewhere inside it, but we just couldn't see them. One weather forecaster put it perfectly: the clouds changed colors, but nobody got the whole show. Disappointing, sure. But thank God for a livestream from...
Dave and I stopped into a favorite old-time soda shop on our trip last week. The kind of place that still makes hand-scooped shakes, malts, and sodas the real way: actual ice cream and a long spoon, because it's so thick you need the spoon. We indulged. Completely. And sitting there, I kept thinking: it's these small things. Memories you've made before and choose to make again. The particular joy of being close enough to someone to share something ordinary together. Connection you can only...
Have you ever walked into a room and felt like everyone else got the memo, and you didn't? Last week started there for me. That hollow, slightly embarrassing feeling of being the odd one out. Not excluded exactly. Just off to the side. But God had other plans. By the end of that same week, Dave and I had found a whole new family. Complete strangers became beloved people, right in front of our eyes. Once again, God proved himself faithful in the most unexpected setting—a cruise ship, of all...