suffering – Page 2 – Christy Wilkens

How to pray when the answer is already no: A primer

This is not a simplistic “God never closes a door without opening a window” speech. It’s just a reminder that a negative (or absent) response does not have to mean the end of a relationship with God.

And so, we deepen

I believe now, in my bones, that God is in control and will order all these scary moments into a beautiful whole, someday.

Don’t I? I think I do. Right?

Following God’s will is not a free pass from suffering

In asking us to willingly choose a cross and do work, God does not promise us any immunity from failure or from other suffering.

To my brothers and sisters in the trenches

Welcome, new readers! This blog has grown a lot in the last two weeks, and I am really, really grateful that you are here, however you found your way. Many of you have chimed in with wonderful, supportive comments, and I am so glad to know that you have identified pieces of yourself in pieces…

It is well with my soul

God has drawn beautiful goodness forth out of the rubble and ashes. He makes ALL things new, even the raggedy souls of beaten-down special needs mamas.

The sick and the suffering are a powerful icon of Christ

Everywhere we went in Lourdes, the gaze of the beloved was turned upon us. The effect of this gaze, on both the bestower and the object, was transformative.

Suffering, redemption, and standing in the gap

The darkness never wins. The suffering cannot prevail. But that does not mean the suffering is not real, that it did not happen.

3 ways to live Lent when you are already in the desert

If you, like me, are in the desert this Lent, consider a different kind of spiritual practice for the next 40 days. Hold on to the ice cream, but work on the attitude.

The girl in the bubble

Lately, a troubling situation has been occurring with some regularity. Many of my friends, enduring trials and suffering of their own, explicitly downplay the seriousness of those situations in recounting them to me. They use phrases that are meant to acknowledge the profundity and difference of what we have endured this year; that acknowledgment, I…