Mosaic (Sept 19)

Grief has a way of making the familiar feel foreign.

Your body feels weighed down while your mind stays fuzzy, like you’re moving through thick fog. Life doesn’t slow down to match your pace. Instead, it charges ahead—and you just get swept along, trying to keep up.

Lifting weights. Coaching soccer.

Checking in on Dad without letting him know you’re checking in on him.

Homework, supper, lunches, laundry. Check. Check. Check.

Meetings, birthday parties, volleyball practice.

It’s an ordinary week, really—just life, in all its everyday busyness.

And yet, everything feels different.

In the middle of the chaos, I’ve found myself clinging to the quiet moments before the house wakes up. When the world is still, the Word speaks. When whispered pleas for strength and courage rise up, He hears. In those dawn moments, God gently lifts my gaze from my grief to His promises.

Kevin DeYoung’s words echo in my mind:

“It’s not wrong to be tired. It’s not wrong to feel overwhelmed. It’s not wrong to go through seasons of complete chaos. What is wrong and heartbreakingly foolish and wonderfully avoidable—is to live a life with more craziness than we want because we have less Jesus than we need.” (Crazy Busy)

I can’t make the grief go away, but I can choose where I turn in it.

When life feels heavy, and my heart aches, I need more Jesus, not more hustle.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” (Ps. 28:7)

This week, that verse has become my breath prayer—quietly spoken while folding laundry, in the car to the next activity, or walking into another meeting.

Even when everything around me spins, He remains steady.Even when my heart is heavy, He is my strength.

Where do you need more Jesus in the middle of your own chaos this week?

In Articles

Male Friendship is Declining. Wives Can Help | Winfree Brisley

A convicting read on how we can better support our husbands as they grow strong, godly friendships.

God's Word is Good For You | Glenna Marshall

Habits can be hard, especially when it comes to God's Word. Whether it's our own struggle with self-discipline, the illusion of self-sufficiency or unbelief, our time in the Word can get put to the wayside. Glenna points out 7 reasons Scripture is good for us. I know for us this week, reason 2 hit home for me-God's Word comforts us when we're suffering.

Shatter Your Kid-Centered Kingdom | Jen Oshman

As a parent, I've definitely felt this angst of balancing kids and extracurriculars, regularly discerning the good, best and better. I was challenged and encouraged by her words: "When we forego what our culture deems best and instead chase God's best, it is in fact our kids' best. When we serve God and not our children, our children actually benefit. It's good for our children to be dethroned and for God to be enthroned."

Reading as Rebellion | Trevin Wax (TGC)

Not new truths, by any means, but important for our own postures of watchfulness: "Your attention is a sacred resource. That’s why so many organizations are after it. Life in the digital age is designed to capture your attention through perpetual distraction. To divert your powers of concentration so your eyes are drawn this way or that." So, Trevin invites us to, "rebel for your soul. Reading isn't just a rebellion for the sake of your mind; it's rebellion for the good of your heart. Reading is war in service of worship." (and if you want a place to find good books, check out my reviews page or message me!)

Joy Comes With the Morning | Marissa Bondurant

"Jesus entered into as corrupt a world as we are currently experiencing. And for some reason, as his first miracle, he chose to participate in a celebration and add to the bountiful joy that was present in that event (John 2)." Marissa reminds us that, even when our hearts are heavy, we can still reflect His heart by embracing joy and celebrating God’s goodness.

Wrinkles That Testify | Beth Ferguson (GCD)

"The psalmist, likely an older man himself, pleads with God, “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (Ps. 71:18). That prayer strikes me with both tenderness and urgency. He does not ask for endless vitality or for his youth to return. His longing is not to avoid aging, but to age faithfully, to keep speaking of God’s might until the next generation is ready to carry God’s story forward."