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Someone needs to hear this today: “For the Lord

Someone needs to hear this today:

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.””
‭‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

#encouragingwordstoday #encouragement #hopefortoday #morningvibes #goodmorning #prayer #praying #waves #hope #lifeinthemiddle #hopewriterlife #hopewriter #writerlife #amwriting

For years I searched for a clever hook to share ho

For years I searched for a clever hook to share how to navigate grief and loss while growing in faith to trust Jesus.

I searched for some interest or unique spin and came up short.

Bottom line, I learned, I’m not that interesting. Sometimes my life is pretty boring. As someone wrote in a book review for my memoir after my daughter died … I’m just a “regular person.”

Yep, I’m just a regular person without glitz and glamour staying warm on this blustery cold (-30 windchill) day.

And yet it’s through this regular life that I encountered an extraordinary God who deserves all glory and praise.

He redeems my heartbreak and breathes life into my weary soul.

He steadies my feet as I follow Him on unknown adventures, tripping and slipping as I go knowing He catches me when I fall.

He takes a regular, ordinary, middle-of-life gal and transforms her into His beloved.

And that’s worth sharing - because it’s nothing I’ve done or earned or continue to do.

It’s all about Him, what He’s done, and will continue to do.

“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

#hopefortoday #lifeinthemiddle #encouragement #walkbyfaith #encouragingwordstoday #writerlife #hopewriter #hope #genx #genxers #writingtoinspire #inspiringthoughts

23. Happy day of your birth, sweet girl. I love

23.

Happy day of your birth, sweet girl.

I love you bigger than the time and space that separate us. Always. 💜
. . . . . . . .

“My great-great-grandmother’s portrait hung in the university up until the Revolution. By then, the truth of their romance had been reduced to a simply fairy tale. And, while Cinderella and her prince did live happily ever after, the point, gentlemen, is that they lived.” – Grand Dame, Ever After

Tears fill my eyes every time the end of the movie, Ever After, rolls around. The point of my tears isn’t so much because Cinderella and her prince get to live happily ever after. No, it’s the words the Grand Dame shares in the final moments of the film:

The point is that they lived.

Every life is worth celebrating, but so often, we miss celebrating life when we stare in the face of death and grief.

My child died
Every time I meet someone new and they ask about my kids, I have to decide which number to share. Then comes the common follow-up question: how old are they now? Welcome to one of the top struggles of a grieving parent: how many children do you say you have? How much information are you up for sharing? Are your feelings in check with your tears tucked far enough away without one escaping down your cheek as you answer?

When I share my daughter died, the conversation often goes one of two ways: an abrupt halt as awkwardness stifles further discussion, or an unsteady tiptoe through the details as the one listening absorbs the shocking information.

Either way, I wish our words would drift back to the truth I’m learning to embrace: the point is that my daughter lived.

. . . . . . . .
You can read the rest of this post I wrote on her 16th birthday a few years ago … words that still ring true today … on my blog: https://kimfindlay.com/writing/faith/on-birthdays-after-the-death-of-a-child/

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.
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#hopefortoday #lifeinthemiddle #loveneverdies #childloss #childlossawareness #childlosssurvivor #childlossgrief #childlossmother #grief #griefjourney #hopewriterlife #hopewriter #writerlife

A blessing for 2023: May we be a people, strong a

A blessing for 2023:

May we be a people, strong and courageous, who look to God as our strength because He is our strength.

May we not merely pull up our bootstraps but walk in step with the One who made us and sustains us.

May we embrace the work entrusted to us, the work of our hands and our hearts, the work He called and prepared for each of us to do.

And let us not be paralyzed by fear or discouragement, but may we grow in perseverance for the Lord, our God, is with us.

Amen.

And amen.

#blessing #happynewyear2023 #lifeinthemiddle ##hopefortoday #amwriting #writerlife #hopewriterlife #prayer #prayerlife #prayerchangesthings

Hope is coming … it is always darkest before the

Hope is coming … it is always darkest before the dawn.

…

#merrychristmas #lifeinthemiddle #hope #hopewriterlife #hopewriter #moon #nightsky #resilience #jesus #jesuschrist #hopeinjesus

Some things are worth saying out loud. I remember

Some things are worth saying out loud.

I remember … so I don’t forget.

The faithful love of the Lord endures forever. 💜

#childloss #childlossawareness #neverforget
#grief #griefjourney #griefawareness #lifeinthemiddle #writerlife #hopewriterlife #encouragingwordstoday

I remember. I remember the smell of her hair and

I remember.

I remember the smell of her hair and the curve of her cheek.

I remember the sound of her giggle and the feel of her arms wrapped around my neck.

I remember the love she squeezed into every ounce of her five years.

I remember the morning that smoke poured from our home as she took her last breath.

I remember the tears I shed and those that felt stuck, unable to fall.

I remember the silence, the darkness, the fear that suffocated me.

I remember reading about tears He collected and comfort extended.

I remember begging to see goodness in the face of such destruction.

I remember the stirring of hope that defied logic and my experience of deep grief.

I remember the peace that settled me when my circumstances were anything but.

I remember the words of love and grace that leapt from the page and settled in my soul.

I remember His faithfulness and mercy arising each day with the morning sun.

Never running out.

Always enough.

I remember speaking those words to others.

Once.

Twice.

Again and again.

I remember people asking if I talked about anything else.

I remember being warned not to be a “one-trick pony” with one story to tell.

I remember being asked if it was time to move on.

I remember gazing at her picture and the life I’ve missed as the warmth from my tears left a trail of love down my cheek.

I remember the faithfulness of God who parted the Red Sea as I stood at the edge of the sea and He parted a way through my grief.

I remember and I will sing of His goodness with every breath that I take.

I remember that one day my sorrow and grief will end as I stand with her hand wrapped snuggly in mine, and there will be no more tears or sorrow or death to separate us.

I remember so I don’t forget. The faithful love of the Lord endures forever and ever.

#lifeinthemiddle #grief #griefjourney #griefawareness #childloss #childlossawareness #hope #hopefortoday #loveendures #faith #writerlife #amwriting #hopewriterlife

May you know you matter 💜 #hopefortoday #lifei

May you know you matter 💜

#hopefortoday #lifeinthemiddle #encouragement #encouragingwomen #womenencouragingwomen #encouragingwords #hope #faithjourney #faith #writingtoinspire #writer #writerscommunity

A prayer for you 💜 #prayer #encouragement #lif

A prayer for you 💜

#prayer #encouragement #lifeinthemiddle #hopefortoday #hopefortomorrow #writerlife #womenencouragingwomen #encouragingwords #faith #faithlife #writerlife

May you, the ones carrying sorrow and sadness this

May you, the ones carrying sorrow and sadness this Christmas, may you experience the promise nestled within this verse.

“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.” Psalms‬ ‭126‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This verse is not a command to stop your crying, but a hope-filled promise declaring that your tears matter.

And when entrusted to the One who dearly loves you, tears WILL give way to joy.

Not happiness - that fleeting feeling the world promises, but the deep-seeded, life-transforming joy that sees and trusts and rests in the goodness of God no matter what.

For joy is not a feeling we muster up on our own, but a gift from the One who created you and walks beside you all the days of your life.

#lifeinthemiddle #hopefortoday #encouragingwordstoday #encouragement #grief #griefjourney #griefsupport #childloss #childlosssurvivor #childlosssupport #childlossgrief #grieving #hope

I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. That

I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. That may seem odd for a couple of reasons:

1 - it’s possible we’ve never met.

2 - it’s possible we haven’t seen each other in a while.

But I still think about you and wonder how you’re doing and if you, like me, often need encouragement or prayer?

I shared these pictures the other day in my Stories but wondered if you missed the invitation.

Scroll through to the end, and then let me know how I can pray for you today.

“And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

#prayer #lifeinthemiddle #encouragment #loveoneanother #supporteachother #together #thisrootedlife #therootedlife #writerlife

When the unthinkable happens to you once, it’s n

When the unthinkable happens to you once, it’s not uncommon to wonder if it will happen again, and again, and again.

Call it a trauma response, neuropathways being formed, or what-have-you but what I know is that after fire destroyed my home and my daughter died, fear began writing a script.

What if there’s another fire?

What if something happens to your older daughter?

What if . . . What if . . . What if . . .

Because “what if” actually happened, other “what ifs” seem plausible, possible, waiting to drop.

Over the past decade and a half, I’ve worked to rewrite the script fear demanded I follow. The Bible calls is praise.

Slowly, ever so slowly, as I read about God’s character and who the Bible says He is, He filled me with strength to shift my gaze from my fears and what ifs to Jesus. I learned about His unending love and compassion, His tenderness for those who are weak and heavy-hearted, how He stepped into the “what-if” and created “what-will-never-be-again.”

Death. Through His sacrifice, He created the way to eternal life ensuring death will not have the final say.

My feet and hands are steadier these days when “what if” comes to call. Yes, the pit in my stomach still drops and the script begins to scroll . . . But now I more quickly shift my gaze to the true Author of life so I can say with confidence . . . “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.” Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Lord, draw near to the one reading these words. Help them rewrite the script fear wants to instill so they, too, can praise you with their whole heart. Amen.

#encouragement #goodmorning #morninginspiration #morningvibes #lifeinthemiddle #forgood #amwriting #writerlife #encouragingwords #encouragingwomen #faithwalk #hopewriter #hope

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