Reassurance
Drossy is Messy – Reflections after Ten Years
10 years.
120 months.
3,652 days
Such a long, painful, and holy bestowment.
How? Just how?
Finding Strength When Hope is Deferred
by Kerry Tittle
Oftentimes, the most celebrated holiday can feel like anything but the happiest time of the year. This year the Lord has revealed more hurting hearts to me than Christmas cheer.
But maybe the hardest part for me is being so heavy laden in my own struggles that I don’t know how to help the ones I love.
Battlefields and Gauntlets
by Kerry Tittle
A few years ago I was asked to tell my story at a Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) national conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There was nothing unusual about this until a man walked in the room. There in the front row sat David Powlison. I made it through but not without the overwhelming feeling of insecurity and inability. Then it happened. The email that announced his diagnosis with stage IV pancreatic cancer. WHY God!?!
Five Years and Still Hoping Against Hope
By Kerry Tittle
1,826 days. 43,829 hours. My new world doesn’t seem that old, but the numbers say it has been five years since the tornado ripped through and destroyed my life taking my husband and precious daughters. Five years since I have heard their laugh. Five years since we had a trauma free life. Five years.
But I recently was struck by this statement about Abraham: “In hope he believed against hope.” Romans 4:18a
Shoe Drop God
By Kerry Tittle
During the late 19th century, “waiting for the other shoe to drop” became a common phrase among tenants with thin floors and noisy upstairs neighbors, but over the years, it has developed connotation of waiting for the next “bad thing” to happen. Sometimes as a Christian it feels like God has many shoes.
Resolutions for the Suffering Christian – Do and Live
by Kerry Tittle
Dear suffering Christian, it’s that time of year again. The time you have to come up with an obligatory resolution to better yourself and the world around you. The time we try to keep up with the seemingly perfect people who post their latest well intentioned resolves to help their perfect life become even more so.
Five Reasons to Read the Bible When You Feel Absolutely Nothing
by Stephen Altrogge
I sit down early in the morning, Bible in hand, super charged coffee by my side. The world is asleep. My kids are asleep. Heck, I’m still asleep. I finish, and I feel…nothing. Did anything really “happen” during the time I read the Bible? Why should I even continue when it just feels like I’m going through the motions?
The Heartbreak of a Prodigal
by Kerry Tittle and Butch Walker
There is just something gut wrenching about seeing a weeping parent begging for salvation on behalf of a child. Whether the child is young or an adult the experience is equally as painful. Sometimes the very words, “I will pray for you” can hurt worse when it seems your own prayers have been ineffective.
Abandoned
by Kerry Tittle
As I am desperately trying to crawl to the edge of this chasm that separates me from God, Romans 8:38 echoes in the corners of my mind. But when you are in the pervasive throes of grief there is an overwhelming sense of abandonment.
Go Away Mara
by Kerry Tittle
This week will close on the fourth anniversary of the day that shattered my life. There is always a dread that escorts me to this day. Obviously, the disturbing memories are difficult, but I deal with those daily. There is another dread: the dawning of a “New Year” that puts yet another dark year behind me without a clue of what lies ahead.
But I believe the hardest part of this journey is the fight for Truth.
No Walk in the Park
by Kerry Tittle
I’ve noticed that the word walk comes up often in the language of “Christianese”. We refer to our “walk” with the Lord or maybe simply our “walk”. When people hear this, it somehow gives the impression of a delightful stroll with our Savior – serene and uneventful.
If we were to be honest, walking with God is rarely, if ever, a walk in the park – especially when it involves journeying through a wilderness.
The Merciful Fire of Trials
by Kerry Tittle
Merciful? When I was younger I was always told that mercy was being spared of what you really deserved. It seems counterintuitive that trials can be merciful.
Having both nothing and everything
by Isabella Tittle
I recall the morning of April 28th like I do no other. I remember opening my eyes only to see an unfamiliar ceiling. I tried to look around but I was unable to move my head side to side. I finally recalled why I was there. I remembered the tornado. I couldn’t believe it. I had nothing. I lost my Dad and two older sisters. I lost everything I owned.
My Unwanted Guest
by Kerry Tittle
Depression. I will never forget the day we met. You were intrusive, unwanted and refused to leave.
His Fellowship in our Sufferings
by Butch Walker
Suffering makes us feel alone. It isolates. No one has ever felt like me.
Paradoxically, we both seek to withdraw and long to know that we are not alone.
One of the most frequent divine encouragements is “Fear not, I am with you” and there is a special type of divine fellowship in suffering.
The Yoke of Understanding
by Butch Walker
How can we reconcile an “easy and light” yoke with Jesus’ promises that we would suffer and have trouble in this world? Certainly we don’t see the circumstances of Jesus’ life being easy or light. He experienced great agony and pain and, if we are yoked to him, promised that we would also. Yet He offers “rest for your souls.”
Be Still
by Kerry Tittle
When life presses in on us, we tend to look at the circumstance long and hard and not give a thought to the history of God’s faithfulness. And God says be silent.