You Never Know Who is Struggling. Go Easy on Them.

I wanted to introduce everyone to my new little site with a giveaway and a celebration. But instead, I have a friend who just lost her dad, another friend whose son just got a hard diagnosis, friends with job changes, and family fighting for health. So the giveaways will be here soon enough and the celebration will come, but for today, I have something on my heart that I needed to hear and I hope it will encourage you today.

Go easy.

At first, it was go easy on the strangers:

The ones you see in the store.

The ones taking a few extra minutes checking out.

The one who cut you off in the McDonalds’ drive through.

We never know what people are going though. They could have losses or stresses or questions or hurts. Those marking the anniversary of a death. Those in the middle of divorce. Those struggling with an anxious teenager. Those struggling with infertility. There are no labels. No neon lights that say, “I’m struggling today. Please, please, just be kind.”

So go easy.

Then, I felt this message as an encouragement to go easy on the ones closest to me:

The college daughter away from home questioning her major.

The high schooler wondering about his future and what college will be like.

The high schooler with the classes that are meant for college trying to succeed.

For the middle schooler trying to make his way growing and changing every day.

For my husband who wants to provide in every way and leads us well.

I think I know what is going on in their hearts, at work, and at school, but I don’t really. I don’t hear what they hear around them, what they see in the halls, or what they hear from themselves. Chore fights, independence struggles, and tough conversations…I need to go easy on them.

Those you tuck in at night, the ones who you text making sure they got back to school safely, those faces you kiss goodbye, the ones that never, ever, put the new toilet roll on…go easy on them.

And lastly, it is almost a whisper I hear, but I hear it all the same:

Go easy on yourself.

When I compare, when I struggle, when I wonder why I don’t have what she has or I don’t look like her. When I want more from myself and I do want I don’t want to do, God is not surprised.

He is not glaring at me, prodding me for more, wishing I was different, asking me to change for Him to love me because He loves me just as I am because I am His.

The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him,
So it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us—
And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.
(Lamentations 3:25-27)

So here is my new space on the web. It is a place where I hope you will find encouragement, resources for good, and a Hope that will last. Sharing the Grace that comes God, the Grace that sustains, and the good gift of His great love, this is a place where I want you to hear:

Go easy on yourself.

You are loved. You are welcome. You are beloved. And I am so glad you are here!