💙 Peace: For Weary Hearts

Together is where we find hope.

In case you haven’t heard it recently: Your feelings are valued. Your fears are valid. You are loved. So, so loved. And you will never—not for one second—walk alone.

We’ve heard and read so many words this week, haven’t we? Ones that have been shouted, yes, but also ones that have been acted on and never uttered aloud.

I’ve been thinking of you, and how I might offer some semblance of words that point toward hope instead of hate, words that heal instead of harm. But I’ll be honest: When we’re hurt, it’s so easy to want to hurt others. I’m not immune to this. None of us are.

When my kids have a hard day, when they’re anxious or scared, they often take it out on me. Because I’m safe. Because they know that no matter what, I am for them. I am with them. I love them.

I love them with a mother’s love that can not be extinguished by their fire.

They pound on my chest and cry hot tears, and they know I will not be scared of their emotions. Of them.

There is nothing, not a single thing, that would prevent me from loving them.

This is the love we receive from the One who made us. The one who bears our burdens and absorbs the violence of our fists as we cry, as we shout.

God is not afraid of our humanity. We can’t show God something about ourselves that is not already known.

We yell. We scream. We cry.

And the same arms that were outstretched on the cross hold in the tenderest, fiercest embrace that pulls us in until our voices are left hoarse, and we can only hear a heartbeat whispering, “I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.”

Together is Where We Find Hope

I had the honor of spending time with a We Choose Welcome cohort last night.

This grassroots group of women from across the country have gathered weekly to learn how they might, in faith, use their voices to have brave conversations about immigration, to build and cultivate a welcome movement from their tables at home to the halls of Congress. Inspired by Scripture, they have linked arms to take impactful action for the vulnerable in their personal lives and by advocating for more just immigration policies.

“I don’t know what to tell them,” I told my husband. “I don’t have a lot of hope to share.”

“Maybe together is where we find hope,” he offered.

I showed up full of my own worst worries and worn-out wonderings. We shared. We prayed with the breath in our lungs and the tears on our cheeks. We practiced Lectio Divina and walked through the Examen. We wrote short liturgies of our own.

Little by little, the tightness around my chest loosened its grip. Our time together via computer screens and across time zones did not change circumstances, but—by the grace of God, the loving Parent who wraps us in the most powerful, profound, perfect love—it did change me.

Borrow This Prayer

We took time to do a little fill-in-the-blank prayer. (Similar to what’s in the back of Every Season Sacred.) I created this prompt to help them prepare for their advocacy work, but I did not realize how much I would need it, too.

If it feels helpful, consider grabbing a journal or opening a Word doc and filling in the blanks to this short prayer.

"O God of _______,

as I prepare for _______,

grant me the courage to _______

and the wisdom to _______

in the face of _______."

If you’re comfortable, would you consider sharing your prayer with us?

After all, together is where we find hope.

(Comments open for everyone today.)

Parenting for Peace

I wrote this in the “Peace” chapter of Every Season Sacred. Maybe there’s something here for us now, too:

While on a writing retreat, I stumbled upon a stack of vintage books for fifty cents apiece. My eyes fell on a small pamphlet about peacemaking from the 1980s that stopped me in my tracks.

On the first page, it said, “Nurturing the spiritual potential of our children is also essential for developing peacemakers. Peacemaking calls for risk taking and suffering. Whether it is finding the courage to reconcile oneself with another person, or challenging a government policy or policy maker, peacemakers must pay a price. But so did Jesus!”

In our parenting, it’s important to remember that Jesus went first, inviting us into a true and abundant peace that is so much bigger than false unity or passive peacekeeping. When we truly pursue peace, we come alongside the marginalized and oppressed, just like Jesus did. We call out the belovedness we see in others. We seek to heal where others intend to hurt or harm.

And like Jesus, we don’t bow to the whims of the empire, of those in power. We worship God—and God alone. We realize that our words and actions may ruffle feathers, but in our peacemaking, we don’t resign ourselves to false unity, saying, “Peace, peace when there is no peace,” as the prophet Jeremiah warned about (see Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11).

If parenting for peace feels overwhelming, take heart. We are not in this alone. Begin to pass on peace to your child by reminding them of their belovedness. Show them that they can choose to live a life that flows from the peace of Christ—that we love because He first loved us (see 1 John 4:19).

Our children are not too young to follow Jesus into ways of peace. They can create peace at the playground. Not only can they choose not to bully, but they can defend the one who is being hurt. Peacemaking isn’t passive—it’s an active stance. This kind of peace is fueled by Christ’s power and passion, and it creates spaces where everyone’s belovedness is honored.

As contemplative writer, mother, and peacemaker Osheta Moore says, “Peace is fierce—it has to be, because violence and discord won’t go down without a fight. Those who wield peace in the face of the world’s violence do it fiercely.”

The prophet Jeremiah was daunted by the life God had for him. Jeremiah felt like he was too young to enter the work that God invited him into. But here’s what he sensed the Lord telling him: “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you” ( Jeremiah 1:7-8, niv).

We can point even our youngest children away from the hurt hurled by the world and toward a God who heals.

I ended up finding a couple of quarters to purchase the little booklet. As I walked through the trees, I read, “We need to teach our children about a healing God, who loves and forgives unconditionally. Without self-esteem and compassion, our children will never become peacemakers—the people who are willing to work for change, reach out to the suffering, and take a stand against injustice.”

Breathe In, Breathe Out

When our hearts ache for justice and peace, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the weight of the world and wonder, Is God really near? In moments when our minds spiral and hearts ache, breath prayer can help us ground ourselves, returning to the quiet assurance that God is here, even in the tension and the turmoil.

INHALE: God of justice and truth,

EXHALE: You will not leave or forsake us.

Words to Borrow

Below are some excerpts from Every Season Sacred. As my friend and fellow author Aundi Kolber says, take what you need. (I can not think of a better time to preorder her new book, Take What You Need: Soft Words for Hard Days.)

For the Ache of Empathy

I deeply value being awake to the world, as Jesus was.

While this means I am more prone to notice the beauty in a candle’s flicker or a sparrow’s song, it also means I feel the weight of the world deep in my chest.

I lament and grieve that so much suffering exists.

As a mother, I ache to protect my children from this pain.

As a follower of Christ, I know I must release my need for control.

For Not Giving Up

By the grace of God, I will continue learning humility and lamenting the ways I’ve gotten it wrong so the Author of justice and truth will do a new thing in me, even in the wilderness (see Isaiah 43:19).

For Raising Kids to Care

Your children are never too young—or too old—to talk with about the inequities and evils of this world…As followers of Christ, we don’t parent as those without hope. May we invite Christ to illuminate the ways we may have been proclaiming the love of God while living in a way that hurt others.

A Prayer for “What Now?”

O Comforter who weeps, help us to sit in a spirit of peace as we wade into these conversations, but help us not to resist our own deep emotions.

Help us to embrace our humanity and, in turn, be a family that believes it’s right and righteous for all of us to be upset about injustice.

Help us to repent of and lament any harm we may have caused, and heal us from the ways we may have benefited from or been hurt by oppressive systems that are not of You.

O reconciling Christ, who calls us to be peacemakers, we pray for true unity, rooted in Your justice.

And in all things, help our family to turn from the worn-out ways of the world to the life-giving ways of Your Kingdom, now and forevermore. Amen.

For Entering into Pain

He shares his emotions, and we do our best to affirm them. We share our feelings too. We think of ways to process hard things—talking with parents, taking belly breaths, journaling, drawing, praying, turning to a comforting psalm in the Bible, sharing with a therapist.

We talk about evil in the world—and the goodness that exists too.

I work hard to avoid partaking in spiritual bypassing (using faith language to dismiss or avoid hard things) or delving into toxic positivity (minimizing pain by insisting on a positive outlook). But I also share what I believe to be true: that Jesus left us the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who will never leave us (see John 14:25-31).

For Parenting in a Weary World

Though I sometimes dream of wrapping my children in Bubble Wrap, protecting them from the world’s hard edges, I know that’s not what God asks of me.

Though we ache to protect our children’s innocence, our role as parents is to guide them and journey alongside them as they traverse this world—a world that is full of great beauty but also marked with injustice, suffering, and death…

Our role as parents who follow Christ is to introduce them to a living Hope that shows us a better way.

Our job is not to shield our children from every heart-wrenching headline; it’s to help them make sense of the world around them. As parents, we may feel terrified to wade into complex topics, especially when we haven’t seen it modeled well by our peers or our families of origin.

Spend just a few minutes on social media, and you’ll see that the norm for dealing with the latest trending news is to hurl insults, to harm instead of heal.

If we don’t model empathy, nuance, and understanding when we talk to our children about the real pain in our world, they will turn elsewhere to get their questions answered.

A Prayer for Remembering

Help us to remember that while speaking up against racism and working for justice may cost us something, it will never cost our souls. We know the fight against racism starts at home.

Help our family to live boldly in love, knowing that nobody is free until we are all free.

When given a choice, may we choose community. May we choose the love of neighbor, which flows out of the love of God—a love that overcomes.

A Prayer of Lament

O gracious God, we come to You with weary hearts and wary minds. This world is not as it should be. All around us, we feel the aftershocks of sin and death.

We lament the ways we have become numb to suffering. We lament how we have contributed to a culture of violence, and we ask for Your forgiveness. Form us into people who make peace.

Help us to bring every part of our lives to You, giving You our questions. May we go out into the world, empowered by Your Spirit, as a healing presence instead of a harmful one.

O Jesus, though the world erupts in violence, we know that death does not have the final word. Thank You for keeping a record of our every tear, and thank You for giving us new hope—and a new way to live. Amen.

A Prayer for Kids & Families

Dear Jesus, be with us when we’re scared.

Help us to remember that You are with us and that Your Spirit will never leave us. When we’re afraid or when bad things happen, remind us that You’re near.

Thank You for giving us the hope that someday there will be no more tears. Help us to be brave enough to share when we’re sad or scared. Help us to be strong enough to stand up for what’s right.

We love You, and we know that You love us with a love that fills every galaxy—and then some! Amen.

Songs for A Weary World

I created this playlist to go along with the “Weary World” section of prayers in my book To Light Their Way.

Maybe you’ll find a song here that speaks to your soul.

Breath Prayers for the Week Ahead

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If you’re looking for more breath prayers, liturgies, and reflections, you can find them in my books To Light Their Way and Every Season Sacred.

Breath Prayers for Monday - Friday

This week, I invite you to join in these simple, grounding prayers. Each day’s breath prayer reminds us of God’s steady presence through whatever the day brings. May these small moments of stillness bring calm and clarity.