This is a season of constraints. Remote learning at home. Social distancing. Celebrating holidays during a pandemic. Navigating a contentious election.
This week, our kids were home for three days due to a few Covid cases at school, which meant a return to distance learning (which Marilee really enjoyed experiencing from bed) and a renewed commitment to limit our in-person interaction with friends. I’ve been reading Suffer Strong by Jay and Katherine Wolf as I prepare to interview Katherine soon for the next season of the podcast. I was so struck by her words:
The kingdom of God is rarely more alive than when we invite God into the place of our deepest constraints.
I feel constrained by time, by my role as a mother, by my needy body, by my bad decisions about food and drink, by what I consider the bad decisions of other people…What if I asked God to enter into all those constraints and come alive?
{Speaking of constraints, my interview with Katherine was postponed because she fell on Sunday and tore multiple ligaments in her knee. Here’s what she says after her fall: “Our hearts don’t have to get smaller and more self-protecting after heartbreak. They can actually be put back together to be softer, bigger, and more open to others than before. And if that kind of heart could result from suffering, then I’m willing to wake up tomorrow to persevere through more of it. And you should too.”} If you haven’t already, follow Hope Heals.
Continue reading with Amy Julia:
- Uncertainty, Control, and the Election
- Faith Is Trusting in the End of the Story
- Human Suffering Is Not the Only Point of Connection
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