Someone's Praying for You

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Someone's Praying for You

Christ Jesus who died—more than that,

who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God

and is also interceding for us.

Romans 8:34 NIV

A notification flashed across my phone’s screen as I ambled through my morning routine. I swiped to read the words enclosed in a gray bubble: “I’m praying for you today.”

 

When my friend shared her message with me, she had no idea I had endured a restless night of sleep. My mind had looped through a series of questions: How will I accomplish the endless tasks on my to-do list? When will God answer my prayer for my loved one? And where will I get the resources I need to fulfill a commitment?

 

During the night, I vacillated between giving my worries to the Lord and trying to figure out how to solve my own problems. But instantly, peace washed over me as....

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An Anchor of Hope for Your Soul

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An Anchor of Hope for Your Soul

We have this hope as an

anchor for the soul,

firm and secure.

Hebrews 6:19a NIV

I slathered sunscreen on my shoulders as my husband turned the key to our speedboat. The motor roared to life. He shifted the accelerator and pointed the bow to the farthest side of the lake. The boat’s hull split the water, and we jumped over the wakes in our path. My husband enjoyed racing across the lake, so I braced myself in my seat. Closing my eyes, I prayed, “Lord, meet me here.”

In the weeks before our outing on the water, I had wrestled with health setbacks. The headaches that I thought were gone had suddenly reappeared, and my nights included more time awake than asleep. The weight of my pain, along with a handful of other personal struggles, weighed on my heart, and I questioned if hope had grown wings and flown away.

Within minutes, we reached the....

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When Trouble Sets You Aside

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When Trouble Sets You Aside

Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
    the Lord hears when I call to him.

Psalm 4:3 ESV

Shadows from the morning sunlight danced across my bedroom ceiling and caught my eye as I awoke, but it was difficult to welcome its presence.  After another fitful night of sleep, my physical forecast for that day appeared the same as the long stretch of days preceding it: sprinkled with gloom and containing a splash of doom.

Years had passed since…

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A Reason to Hold on to Hope

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A Reason to Hold on to Hope

HOPE is a beautiful four letter word.

But sometimes it’s hard to hold onto hope when all I see are the struggles, strife, and hardships in the world around me. Constant reports of growing crime rates, increasing prices, and rising global conflicts fill my newsfeed. And that’s besides the difficulties to get by day to day in my own life. It’s enough for me to question whether there is any hope left in this world.

In the Old Testament the prophet Jeremiah endured his own battles with hopelessness, both internally and externally. He was appointed to spread God’s Word in a time when people…..

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Daily Treasure Guest Appearance

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Daily Treasure Guest Appearance

I’m honored to be a guest writer at the Daily Treasure blog this week.

Below is an excerpt of the introduction provided by Sharon Betters and the links for each day will follow. I’m also including a link to the Help & Hope podcast where I joined Sharon to share more of my story of chronic illness and God’s faithfulness through it.

Sharon’s intro begins:

Dear Friends,

Ann Swindell, a Help & Hope podcast guest and founder of Writing with Grace, introduced me to Rosann Coulon when I asked her if she could recommend some of her students as guest writers for Daily Treasure. I’m so grateful to Ann for this connection. Rosann not only wrote this week’s devotions but also joined me as a guest on the Help & Hope podcast. In Monday’s devotional, Rosann shared Psalm 34:6 as Today’s Treasure: 

THIS POOR MAN CRIED AND THE LORD HEARD HIM AND DELIVERED HIM OUT OF ALL HIS TROUBLES.

These words immediately took me back to 1968. I was twenty years old, living in Indiana by myself, brokenhearted by my break up with the young man who would later become my husband. I was lonely, afraid, and uncertain of my future. In those days, churches never locked their doors, so out of desperation for hope, I slipped into the little church I attended and walked up to the Communion Table where I found an open Bible. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I whispered, “Lord, help me. I don’t know how to do this.” The Bible was open to Psalm 34 and truly, the words were like fresh water for a parched soul. Rosann’s experience with this hope-filled chapter reminded me once more of God’s faithfulness to a broken-hearted young woman, not only then, but throughout my entire life. On her blog, Leavingawell.com Rosann explains her mission:

“I’ve served in church ministry in some capacity most of my life and now feel compelled to offer encouragement to women who find themselves heartbroken, burned out, and struggling to be enough. All of these things led me into a valley of dis-ease physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually….

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Seven Promises that Remain in Changing Seasons

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Seven Promises that Remain in Changing Seasons

“For I the Lord do not change.”

Malachi 3:6a ESV

Red and gold leaves flutter in the wind. They flow from one tree among hundreds that are still stuck in summer. The tree is lit on fire with seasonal change and hails the first visible sign of fall. Once again, I am reminded that this life is ever-changing.

Just as nature cycles through seasons, we all experience different seasons in this life. Seasons of difficulty, loss, and loneliness come to everyone. And so do seasons of beauty, joy, and fruitfulness. I’ve experienced the ups and downs––and know that more are sure to come.

While I survey the tree in its metamorphosis, I’m prompted to question: In the midst of change, what things are certain to remain?

There are promises found in God’s Word that offer us hope and….

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The Gift of Comfort

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The Gift of Comfort

I’m honored to be a guest on The Love Offering Blog with Rachael Adam’s. You can read an excerpt below and follow the link to read the full devotion.

One of the most powerful statements I’ve ever heard is, “I know.”

When my life was plagued by years of chronic illness brought on by Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, I often felt that no one in the world understood me. Questions swirled in my mind. Why me? Why this? And when will it end?

After one particularly long battle with insomnia that rolled in for several weeks, depression sank my heart into a bottomless pit. I could see no way out of the spiritual and physical struggle that I faced. Curled into a ball on my couch, a whisper slipped out, “Lord, help me.” At that moment, the phone rang and I answered to hear the kind voice of my aunt. “Rosann, I was praying for you and wanted to see how you are doing?”

“Not good.” I choked out the pain that consumed me and I told her about the drudgery I faced.

“I know.” Her compassion seeped through the line; it was all I needed to hear to gain composure.

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Replacing Lies with God's Truths

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Replacing Lies with God's Truths

Holding the crisp pages in my trembling hands, I kneeled and spread the note before the Lord. My sense of direction, peace, and joy was lost. The enemy’s whispers had become resounding. I realized the only way to regain steadiness was to go to God for answers. It was time to face the enemy’s lies that had replaced God’s truths in my life: the lies that kept me bound to fear, disappointment, and discouragement.

The paper I held so tightly contained the lies from the enemy that constantly swam in my mind. And I came to petition God for reassurance of the truth. At the Holy Spirit's prompting, I searched His Word to find out His answer to the taunts, and I replaced them with the truth.

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When Only Peace Will Do

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When Only Peace Will Do

And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”

Mark 10:51 ESV

I could hear the low rumble of my car’s motor as the cool air from the ac blew strands of hair into my face. The summer heat in the South pushed a band of perspiration across my forehead, and with one swipe of my hand I pushed back the hair, patted the sweat, and wiped a stray tear from my eye.

The summer of 2019 was a rough season for me as depression sunk deep into my soul. The welcome of new crops to the local farms signaled new life all around me, but I felt like I was slowly dying. I couldn’t contribute this heaviness to just one thing. There was a list of uncertainties consuming me.

That’s why, for the second time on that same Sunday, I drove back to church in hopes of hearing something that would shake me out of the doldrums that I felt locked inside. As my grip tightened around the steering wheel, I whispered the same words again, “Help me, Lord.”

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Finding Beauty in the Darkness

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Finding Beauty in the Darkness

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5 ESV

The weather report revealed snow actively falling which sent me bounding across the hardwood floors to open the door and peer outside. Snow is so rare here in the South that when it comes I don’t want to miss it. At first glance I could not see it. Its beauty was obscured by the darkness of the night. It was only when I shifted my gaze to the streetlight that I could see the wisps of powder circling in the air. My soul quieted as the fluffy flakes fell. I wanted to perch by the window in a state of wonder at the glory showering down from heaven.



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A Christmas Prayer for Grieving Hearts

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A Christmas Prayer for Grieving Hearts

Today is the day.


I sit here staring at the twinkling white lights on my Christmas tree as “Silent Night, Holy Night––All is calm, All is bright,” rings softly in my ears. But I’m struggling to stay calm and things don’t feel so bright. There’s a knot in my stomach and a choke in my throat as I walk through this day with a weight on my chest that I can't bear on my own. The beauty and the pain of the season intertwines together. And I wonder if this is what it truly means to hold joy in one hand while grief weighs heavy in the other.

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Steadiness in Changing Seasons

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Steadiness in Changing Seasons

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV

Spring turned into summer, and summer has turned into fall. I’m not completely sure how it all happened so fast. Time does fly.

I sit staring out the balcony window as leaves flutter from the trees in bright hues of gold, orange, and red. The temperature is 68 degrees (today’s high), and it will be followed by a low of 43 degrees tonight. I don’t know what your dream temperature is, but these days are like heaven to me. I would like for it to stay like this forever. But nothing in this life remains the same. It is ever changing––leaving us with the before and after.

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Glorious Hope in Despair

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Glorious Hope in Despair

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.” (Psalm 42:1 NASB)

My hands tremble and my body shakes uncontrollably as the cold air of loss blows deep into the hollows of my soul. Like a broken record, I keep hearing the words, “He has passed…He has passed.” In my mind, I’m running away. It’s as though my heart has grown feet and they leap in response to the runner’s gunshot as I speed to out-run my opponent—in this case, reality.

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Finding Provision in Praise

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Finding Provision in Praise

“Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” (Psalm 47:6 NKJV)

Anxious thoughts and an unsteady heart propelled me to my quiet place on the porch. Sitting in the old, paint-peeled rocking chair, I slowly began rocking as I opened my Bible. I plead with God to give me the words to pray because I felt empty.

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When I Need Comfort

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When I Need Comfort

“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you”. (John 14:18 KJV)

In times of uncertainty, we look for someone to tell us that we’re going to be okay. We want assurance that we’re going to make it through to the other side and be better for it. For me, that woman was my grandmother. And, according to my recollection, my grandmother was a towering woman.

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Three Keys After a Chronic Illness Diagnosis

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Three Keys After a Chronic Illness Diagnosis

After receiving a chronic illness diagnosis of Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Disorder, my world as I knew it shattered. Joy, excitement, and happiness were replaced by shock, fear, disillusionment, and despair.

Waking to a broken body, mind, and spirit at the young age of twenty-six-years-old left me reeling,
What will this mean for my present and my future? What will it cost personally and financially? The loss of independence and dreams seemed daunting.

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Beautifully Broken: The Chronic Illness Diagnosis

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Beautifully Broken: The Chronic Illness Diagnosis

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24-25 KJV)

I stepped into the doctor’s office with trepidation. I had read enough online to be almost certain of the looming diagnosis. Honestly, I had avoided setting the appointment earlier in hopes that the symptoms would disappear, or miraculous healing would occur.

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Finding God’s Provision in Panic

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Finding God’s Provision in Panic

“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” (Exodus 13:21 ESV)

Slowing to a stop, I began surveying my surroundings. Cars blocked me on all sides. My breathing became shallow, my heart rate quickened, and my clammy hands clutched the steering wheel––with tunnel vision, my head swam. I was stuck!

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The God Who Hears Our Cries

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The God Who Hears Our Cries

"This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles." (Psalm 34:6 KJV)

Looking into the mirror, the dark under-eye circles were evident on my thinning face. I hardly recognized the gaunt person staring back at me as I questioned how much weight I had lost. The totality of the loss was sinking in.

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Trembling Faith: When Doubt Begins to Whisper

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Trembling Faith: When Doubt Begins to Whisper

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 ESV)

A lady once shared her testimony of healing from cancer. She attributed it to ”trusting and never doubting.” At the time, I was in a dry, barren wilderness and could see no way out. I was trembling. I was questioning everything I believed. Honestly, I was wavering. I thought, “Oh well, there goes my miracle. I’m never getting out of this pit.”

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