Our circumstances might be abject, we might not think we can survive for one more day enslaved to illness, but God says, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

Sharing our stories is a vital part of doing life together. The disciples shared their stories and changed the world, not because they were extraordinary men, but because they told about an extraordinary God.

...our stories are who we are, where we begin. They connect us, tearing down walls and shattering isolation. For story is where hope begins.

What if illness - the stripping away of our health, our dreams, our understanding of who we are and what our future holds - is really a gift - God offering Himself to us unencumbered by all the noise, all the things that clutter our hearts and so easily fill our days? Because what if that quiet, stripped-away space is where hope is found? Where God leans in close whispering love to our weary souls until it becomes as familiar as the beating of our own hearts?

Purpose from God's perspective looks entirely different than purpose from culture's perspective.

...we fail to live in the moment. We miss the laughter, beauty and joy in our midst, trading them for stress, frustration, anxiety and anger. We forge ahead consumed with the destination while missing the journey. In a sense, we're taking God's precious gift of presence and time and telling Him it isn't what we want, that we don't have the time.

God has graciously sewn laughter into our days, bright moments tucked among the shadows of illness and pain, and while those moments don't change our circumstances, they can lessen our pain and shift our hearts toward joy.

Chronic illness is hard. Pain is hard. Isolation is hard. The financial cost is hard. Grieving is hard and necessary and sometimes takes far longer than we ever imagined.

Could our plodding, our daily persevering through a life we didn't expect, don't want and didn't choose, actually bring blessing?