about this site

Seven years ago was the happiest time of my life.  Work was filled with purpose. I was seeing people encouraged through volunteer ministry at church.  The people I loved were healthy and happy. But then, everything changed. All of a sudden came a series of losses. Painful beyond words.

For more than 20 years I have served in formal ministries and informal ministries.  Everything from small groups to women’s ministry to just seeking to come close and walk with those who are hurting as they navigate the storms of their own lives.  I even created a website (currently being remodeled!) to help people understand the Bible. But when everything in my life felt like it was falling apart, I needed the truth of God’s promises like never before. I needed the solid, unbreakable, deep truths of the Bible, to find true hope for joy that could push back against the pain.

Over the years, people have asked me how I’ve processed the losses in my life.  How am I doing?  When I say I’m doing well, some seem to think I am just pretending or posturing. When I say I’m feeling hope and joy, I’m met with everything from skepticism to disbelief.   But it’s true. 

Not that there is never a new heart break.  Even as I write this, I am separated from people I deeply love.  But when our ultimate hope is in Christ, even sorrows of life can’t steal our joy.  

Everyone’s journey through life is different.  Some of you reading have suffered much more than I can imagine.  If that’s you, my heart breaks for what you are going through. Your experience may be far above my pain grade. I’m not a professional therapist or theologian.  I’m a Christian, perhaps much like you, who’s spent the past 40 years studying God’s word and mining for the deep truths that we can hold on to through life’s storms. This is a place for sharing some of those deep truths from the Bible that have been such an encouragement to me. 

I created this blog for people who are hurting.  People who may feel now the way I felt those 7 years ago.  Often, in times of loss we hear cliches full of wishful thinking.  But when life was at its hardest for me, wishes did not work.  I needed true hope.

If you are looking for encouragement in the middle of a difficult situation, I hope you’ll find some here.    

For true hope and joy,

~m

~m

(A real person 🙂, not AI)