When Larissa met Ian at college in 2005, she never dreamed she'd one day be his wife ... and his caretaker. After a tragic accident left Ian without the ability to speak, walk or care for himself, she did what any woman in love would do: she married him.
"There will always be the older white woman in Walmart who stared at us with sheer disgust, or the African-American mother who looked at us and just shook her head.”
In this modern age of perpetual consumption—news, entertainment, food, and endless digital stimulation—the idea of voluntarily going without feels almost...radical. Yet for the earliest...
"I could feel hot, salty tears coming down my face. I sat and cried silently... I was scrunching myself up against the wall as far as I could. All of a sudden, someone from behind us taps on the guy’s shoulder..."
In churches across America, a quiet but consequential conversation is unfolding. It often begins with a question—sometimes whispered, sometimes posted publicly on social media....
"$7.44. That was the harsh number that stared back at me. My heart sank, my mind spun, and my emotions exploded with upset and frustration... I ranted, cursed, and berated myself to his open ear."
"I prayed on my knees for 33 years... Even if you shut your eyes while praying, make sure they are metaphorically wide open. Because my prayers didn't "work!"
"Underneath His command of not yet is the theme of Be Still. Man, that’s hard. Once you know God has something for you, it’s hard to be still and wait for His timing."
"I stood in a bathroom alone. I placed my hand on my very pregnant belly which housed our two babies, I smiled through puffy eyes and a broken heart, and I snapped a picture. I posted it on Facebook and said, 'Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the 3 of us.' I didn’t know where my husband was..."
"It’s a question only you can answer, and it’s a struggle most of us face. So if you find yourself more irritable and stressed on Sunday mornings than anything then maybe it’s time for a heart change. Sundays are made for rest. It’s time to find it."
So as the girls expressed the same desire as me for sunshine, I called them over to pray about it with me. As we looked out the window at the gray sky and down at my phone at an even gloomier forecast we prayed...
