Curating this weekly collection becomes more difficult every time. To avoid overwhelming you, I try to limit each post to only five articles I deem worthy of your time. But the number of excellent writers and the number of worthy words are plentiful. Today, I opened my list of articles I want to share with you and counted no less than seventeen—just from the past seven days! We are indeed blessed readers!
If you enjoy curated content like this, follow Amber Thiessen’s blog too. Every Friday, she posts her own curated list of worthy words called “My Mosaic”.
This week on the blog: The Good Ol’ Days
BUT IF NOT, HOW TO FACE OUR FIERY TRIALS WITH FAITH | CARA RAY
“The question of “but if not” is the hardest part when we stand before our own fiery trials. We know God is able, but he doesn’t always deliver in the ways we hoped. Whether the outcome is life or death, safety or tragedy, acceptance or rejection, will we stand true if deliverance doesn’t come?”
SAFEST PLACE | SUSAN LAFFERTY
“We heard it repeated. Often. ‘Being in the center of God’s will is the safest place to be.’ Well, yes. But safest can be interpreted in different ways. We were living in a city where Taliban congregated and proliferated. One political party’s slogan read ‘Sell your televisions and buy guns.’ As they sought to overthrow the ruling party by force. Safest was not the first word that came to mind.”
FROM GRUMBLING TO GRATITUDE | AMBER THIESSEN
“At the finish line of a marathon you see runners ending the race with a joyful smile on their face, proud of their accomplishment, moving to find their family and give them hugs. … There’s other runners, though. Limply trudging across the line, weary and exhausted, crumbling into a heap… Having completed the marathon of assignments and readings, I was the second runner at the finish line.“
GIFTS FORGED IN GRIEF | BRITTANY LEE ALLEN
“I’m beginning to understand more and more each day why my Mamaw enjoyed her garden so much—why I’d find her holding coffee in a porcelain mug, sitting on a white chair among her flowers each morning. I know her wise eyes have seen much sorrow. I wonder if it was grief that led her to put her hands to the ground.”
HANDLING BEHEMOTHS, LEVIATHANS, AND THOSE OTHER MONSTERS OF LIFE | SYLVIA SCHROEDER
“Have you ever been in a situation which cornered you? Have you ever felt there was no clear direction or path to follow? Or have circumstances so tangled you, you thought release would never come, as if some unrelenting shackle would forever hold you captive? I have. Somewhere in life, probably most of us have been prisoner to ‘no-way-out.'”
