Sometimes We Need to be Reminded There’s Always Hope

Beth Vogtanxiety, brokenness, challenges, choices, crisis, encouragement, expectations, Faith, grace, grief, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Scripture, suffering, trust 10 Comments

@bethvogt “There’s always hope,” my daughter Amy said. “I’ll hope in a minute,” I told her. I was sitting down, leaning over, grappling with some unexpected news. Unwanted news. The kind that takes your breath away, even as your eyes sting with tears. You know what I mean, right? For just a minute, you lose your grip on hope … …

What Helps Us Clean Out Our Mental Junk Drawers?

Beth Vogtacceptance, anxiety, brokenness, challenges, change, choices, crisis, emotions, encouragement, expectations, Faith, family, Fear, Friendship, grace, grief, hope, Life, listen, Love, mental health, perseverance, perspective, Reality, Relationships, Scripture, stress, suffering 12 Comments

  My friend Mary and I went for an early morning walk the other day. During our weekly walks, we take turns talking about life in an honest, here’s-what’s-going-on-with-me kind of way. Mary invited me to go first, so after discussing my latest ups and downs, I yielded the, um, sidewalk to Mary. As we neared the end of our …

Life is Hard … and There is Still Reason to Hope

Beth Vogtchallenges, choices, crisis, encouragement, expectations, grace, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, stress, suffering, trust 17 Comments

@bethvogt   I’ve backed away from this blog post numerous times. I’ve rethought the topic, but the theme continues to sit there and stare at me without blinking. Life is hard. Yes, I’m the same woman who just blogged about wearing Life is Good T-shirts as a reminder to look for the good in life. But sometimes circumstances weigh us …

Choosing to Love Louder

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, brokenness, challenges, choices, crisis, grace, In Others' Words, Life, Love, perspective, Quotes, Relationships, suffering 10 Comments

  This week has hemorrhaged heartache – and the week’s not even done yet. We’ve all watched the news or read the headlines, grappling with the horrific actions of others. And no matter how many times a news anchor or a journalist attempts to better explain the who and how of the tragedies, their words can’t strip away the pain. …

In Others’ Words: What Suffering Requires

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, Quotes, suffering 6 Comments

Everyone suffers. I don’t think anyone would argue with that statement. We might argue with with how much someone suffers — whether someone’s suffering is worse than another person’s … or ours. We might argue with the wrongness or rightness of the suffering. But no one get’s a bye on suffering. The question then becomes suffering plus what allows us …