Beautiful Between

living fully in the now & not yet

When hope hurts, here’s what you need to do

I know, it happens every year. I see the photos in my feeds, too: rings and flowers and first looks and all the trappings of idyllic wedding days. I can’t keep track of all the #bestdayever captions, the gorgeous honeymoon photos, or the engagement announcements. As Jessica Faith says, “It can seem like all social […]

This is what you need to know if the darkness never lifts

I sat at a stoplight, trembling with anxiety’s rattle and hum. The sky was bleak with charcoal clouds seemed to mirror my soul. The familiar fog of depression had rolled in and I was weary of the struggle. It was exhausting: wrestling to be whole, never shaking the bone-deep loneliness. The fog formed a dense […]

This is how to find the sense of purpose you’re missing

This newlywed season is strange and lovely, the end and birth of two lives at once. I hoped and prayed for years to be here. Now, I wouldn’t change it for the world. But there are some things that surprise me about this season, longings unexpected sprouting up. Huge life changes breed questions of near-existential […]

My body wouldn’t break…so I couldn’t heal

girl sitting on curb

“I’m fine,” I say. I’m regaining consciousness. I feel the heat rising from the blacktop and the sun beating down. My head feels full of sloshing liquid. A panic starts to rise in my chest, a shuddering heartbeat and a trembling in my limbs, but I shut it out. I imagine a door slamming shut […]

Guest Post: The One Thing That Saved Me After My Suicide Attempt

Note: I am so honored to host my new friend Steve Austin as he courageously shares his story of messy grace and redemption. (To read the original post about Steve’s suicide attempt, just click here.) If you’ve known dark days, are tired of a picture of Jesus that only brings condemnation, or are just plain weary, this […]