“It’s time to get back on the horse,” or “Don’t you think it’s time to get on Tinder?” or my favorite, “Do you want to die alone?” The advice came from both Christian and secular friends. As I was grieving the loss of my marriage, suddenly I felt pressure to put myself out there.

Whether you are the survivor of a broken marriage, a destroyed friendship, a severed family relationship, or tense partnership with a work colleague, you may find yourself in a place where you feel both disappointed in others and yourself. How do we navigate our way through the terrible emotional baggage that comes with broken relationships?

Waiting on the Lord is no easy matter, but when we can’t walk our talk, we fall into the danger of becoming hypocrites despite our best intentions.

God may allow a relationship to end in order to move people into the ministries he has in mind for them. Our goal is to not allow bitterness and hard feelings to get in the way of following God’s calling in our lives.

But taking a leap of faith is no easy matter at all. In fact, it is an incredible act of bravery and it is one that Christians must do daily even as they live in a broken world. Believers embrace hope in a faith that promises that God loves us and wants good for us even when it often appears that God has no plans to prosper us at all.

All my life, I considered myself an emotionally steady person. I didn’t have mood swings and I wasn’t someone who lashed out irrationally at others. But…grief was a game changer.

“It’s time to get back on the horse,” or “Don’t you think it’s time to get on Tinder?” or my favorite, “Do you want to die alone?” The advice came from both Christian and secular friends. As I was grieving the loss of my marriage, suddenly I felt pressure to put myself out there.

We have a short period of beauty and youth, some of us anyway, and then an agonizing slow decline towards death and despair. God, why did you sign me up for this? Is this really what life is?

I realized in that moment, that spot cleaning was not enough. The revelation hit me that often the dirtiest things in our lives are not obvious.

When that can of worms is really a priceless treasure.

The truth can be brutal at times and without grace possibly more than many of us can bear. Living without truth, however, is even worse.

In the aftermath of another election night, I am reminded yet again of why I put my faith in God and not in politics. Like everyone else, I certainly have my views and opinions about legislation, culture wars, identity politics, and all the rest of the hot button issues that have led to so much division and name calling, but I also hold the lessons I learned from my divorce close to heart and this has shaped my view on politics.

As I write this blog, my heart grieves. My sister has lost a husband and our whole family has lost our rock. Matt was taken from us in a tragic car accident just a few short days ago.

One of the greatest spiritual challenges of our lives is to find a way to age gracefully. What does aging gracefully even mean? In my younger days, I thought the term referred to a willingness to accept graying hair, finding and making peace with our aging bodes and accepting our growing limitations. But aging gracefully is much more than an acceptance of our physical reality.

I am the first to admit, when tragedy strikes, the journey through that tunnel of suffering is straight out awful. I have only compassion and care for other women and men going through the tunnel I traveled through, but my hope for you is to remember that suffering is not without purpose.

“Those of us who are single are not exactly the walking dead but we are certainly made to feel like the walking incomplete. When I was still reeling from my separation from my husband, I remember feeling rather bitter and cynical as I looked at happy couples. “

I have tossed what is sacred and holy to those who will neither value or understand its worth. I sought approval from those who were firmly centered in worldly values rather than God and found myself disappointed when they did not recognize my spiritual offerings. When you toss what is sacred to people who do not value it, you are often left angry and bitter.