I was recently introduced to you after listening to you on Peace Talks. I immediately ordered “The Matter of Little Losses” and have just started digging into it. I love the way you shape words and how you put language to things k struggle to articulate. Thank you for sharing this prayer. It is timely in my life.
Rachel, thank you for sharing this and showing up here. So encourages my heart to hear from yours, and to know The Matter of Little Losses is meeting you where you are. Hope it continues to speak to you. Keep in touch as it does. Grace to you.
Rachel, this finds me in a raw and vulnerable place this morning. Truth be known, this sensitive space has held me the last few weeks or longer. However Rebecca and I have been on vacation that started on 6/25 with seeing old friends, going to an art retreat, then ending our trip with old friends. We arrived back home last night.
I believe the postponement of dealing with issues at the church I work at and truly entering vacation for rest and peace and friendship has actually intensified my emotions. At least it feels like it this morning. We are entering a season of transition! Both at the church where I'm an associate pastor, but also personally it feels. The unknown is a lot, and the known, very little. While the trust in the work of God is real and present...the impatience in the unknowing is also very real and present.
Thanks for the article today and the reference to the older essay, and specifically the prayer. It definitely calms this exhausted and anxious soul.
Oh Robert, I can feel the emotion in your words here. I know our stories are different, but this is very similar to the season my family is. I've been explaining it to everyone as a sort of limbo. We are held in suspense, right? Not outright falling. But, to be held in the unknown. The in-between. The transition. To be sustained in it. Patient trust, indeed. Sharing with you what I shared in another comment. After I sent out this letter, I found myself thinking: Just because the work is slow doesn't mean it's sad.
Though grief is a guarantee in this season, for you and I both, I do hope the slow work of God cultivates deep, deep wells of gratitude and joy.
Always good to hear from you. Send a "hello" to Rebecca.
Hello Rachel. I definitely feel like I am at a standstill while life is moving forward. Internally at a standstill. And I am tired. But the sweet moments are sweet and the occasional laughter is needed. I love you Rachel. I thank God for giving you what you needed exactly when you need it. He is good like that.
Yes, the sweet moments are sweet...sweet enough even to sustain us through. After I pressed publish on this note, I found myself thinking: Just because the work is slow doesn't mean it's sad. Hoping that's true for you today. Grace to you, as you wait and wake through each day of this season.
Dearest Rachel, I am leaving a comment now, then going back to read though the prayer slowly. As you already know, there are disconnections within my family and I am WAITING on the Lord to heal the wounds and reconnect us all. There is still joy to be found and laughter to fully participate in, alongside the loss. You are a treasure, just in case no one has told you that today. <3 xo
In the waiting, may you be the breath of kind and gracious air that brings a kind of hope and healing reminiscent of God himself. I know this waiting. It is hard but holy work. ♡
Been juggling life with two kiddos (a 6 year old and a 1 year old) while husband works quite a bit and feeling bad for not being more creatively productive. Thanks for the reminder that it’s ok to notice where I am and lean into what this season looks like. Even if it’s mostly me taking pictures of moments I hope to paint eventually. Or maybe not. Who knows. Whatever it is, I’m paying attention and that feels important. Thanks for sharing and the reminder to pay attention.
Dear Rachel, I could see you in the supermarket, (grocery store where you live) counting pennies and making sure you had enough to pay for the groceries. I’ve had about 7 years break from that stringent life, but here I am heading back into it again. Reliant on the slow work of God. I have raised 7children, mostly alone, or worse, with a man who made it so much harder, and they were long hard years of restraint and survival Those years are gone, the 7 children are all, nearly adults, and I am free to live and love. So, I find myself grumpy at the thought that I must enter a period of restraint again. But it’s different this time- that’s what I know in my head, but I’m still waiting, and wondering, and hoping it won’t be for all the rest of my years to come. Yes the unknowns are tiring. The intermediate, passing through times, necessitate holding hands with grief, but not staying there. I’m just thankful for the reminder today, of the commonality of our journeys with others- for the shared strength in knowing God and hanging on, and travelling for a while in the cool shade of the Rachels and the Chardins of the world. Also, I so wish I could be a paid subscriber to support your grocery store visits. I will remain open to that hope and see what God provides. Sending my love and thanks.
Your comments here are gift enough. No need to toss pennies my way. It's the comments and community that are priceless to me. A true labor of ♡.
And, Joy, I know that survival life, and the restraint. Do I know it well. In the days ahead, I wish you wisdom to know all that you truly need and all that can be set aside for tomorrow's tomorrows. As you hang on, feel God holding onto you. Our only lack is thinking, even for one second, that He's let go. ♡
Rachel, a beautiful piece and it makes me think that in my life at least one of my areas may be in the pause of the wait while anotherisn't. . For me it about loving this pause wait and not getting impatient or afraid. For example I had a year off from my day job as a film make-up artist and in that time I spent writing, long Bible studies, walks. So my day job was in a pause. But then when I went back to work in June my writing was in a pause. Hope that makes sense.
So wild how we can survive through the most drastic shifts, but then when we look to nature and see the constant shift in seasons, it makes so much sense. We weren't created to settled into one long, linear path. In all our going, moving, pausing, and changing, life is coming to life. Hard but holy work, indeed. ♡
Thank you for the balm of remembering that patience isn't wasted time. It's been a trying time for us both in different ways, but reading your words always brings me back to the peace I felt that one time we met in person, and I wouldn't notice the peace without the chaos surrounding me. Praying you experience the same peace you blessed me with, my dear friend.
I know you are praying and waiting through much, right now. The deepest of dreams. May you find a well of uncanny strength and hope, more than enough to carry you through the season ahead. ♡
Vulnerable to say, but I'm waiting for hope to show her face again. Waiting to see God's hands and hear God's voice. It's hard to keep trudging forward when it feels blind. Trust. It's not for the faint of heart.
What you are walking and wanting to trust through is no small thing. I hope that hope slips in quiet and unassuming, hiding in plain sight. Though physical strength is few and far between these days, I hope that hope becomes the strength of your soul, beautiful Tiffany. ♡
I was recently introduced to you after listening to you on Peace Talks. I immediately ordered “The Matter of Little Losses” and have just started digging into it. I love the way you shape words and how you put language to things k struggle to articulate. Thank you for sharing this prayer. It is timely in my life.
Rachel, thank you for sharing this and showing up here. So encourages my heart to hear from yours, and to know The Matter of Little Losses is meeting you where you are. Hope it continues to speak to you. Keep in touch as it does. Grace to you.
Rachel, this finds me in a raw and vulnerable place this morning. Truth be known, this sensitive space has held me the last few weeks or longer. However Rebecca and I have been on vacation that started on 6/25 with seeing old friends, going to an art retreat, then ending our trip with old friends. We arrived back home last night.
I believe the postponement of dealing with issues at the church I work at and truly entering vacation for rest and peace and friendship has actually intensified my emotions. At least it feels like it this morning. We are entering a season of transition! Both at the church where I'm an associate pastor, but also personally it feels. The unknown is a lot, and the known, very little. While the trust in the work of God is real and present...the impatience in the unknowing is also very real and present.
Thanks for the article today and the reference to the older essay, and specifically the prayer. It definitely calms this exhausted and anxious soul.
Oh Robert, I can feel the emotion in your words here. I know our stories are different, but this is very similar to the season my family is. I've been explaining it to everyone as a sort of limbo. We are held in suspense, right? Not outright falling. But, to be held in the unknown. The in-between. The transition. To be sustained in it. Patient trust, indeed. Sharing with you what I shared in another comment. After I sent out this letter, I found myself thinking: Just because the work is slow doesn't mean it's sad.
Though grief is a guarantee in this season, for you and I both, I do hope the slow work of God cultivates deep, deep wells of gratitude and joy.
Always good to hear from you. Send a "hello" to Rebecca.
Dear Rachel
You are so on my heart in the waiting
How do I find you?
Hello Rachel. I definitely feel like I am at a standstill while life is moving forward. Internally at a standstill. And I am tired. But the sweet moments are sweet and the occasional laughter is needed. I love you Rachel. I thank God for giving you what you needed exactly when you need it. He is good like that.
Yes, the sweet moments are sweet...sweet enough even to sustain us through. After I pressed publish on this note, I found myself thinking: Just because the work is slow doesn't mean it's sad. Hoping that's true for you today. Grace to you, as you wait and wake through each day of this season.
Touched my heart today.
Humbled to know these words met you.
🫶🏼🫶🏼 that is one of those prayers that only gains meaning over time. Oof.
It's like a magic trick, right? How it can mean more now than it did then. A most gracious gift. From Teilhard de Chardin, and from you.
🥹
Dearest Rachel, I am leaving a comment now, then going back to read though the prayer slowly. As you already know, there are disconnections within my family and I am WAITING on the Lord to heal the wounds and reconnect us all. There is still joy to be found and laughter to fully participate in, alongside the loss. You are a treasure, just in case no one has told you that today. <3 xo
In the waiting, may you be the breath of kind and gracious air that brings a kind of hope and healing reminiscent of God himself. I know this waiting. It is hard but holy work. ♡
Been juggling life with two kiddos (a 6 year old and a 1 year old) while husband works quite a bit and feeling bad for not being more creatively productive. Thanks for the reminder that it’s ok to notice where I am and lean into what this season looks like. Even if it’s mostly me taking pictures of moments I hope to paint eventually. Or maybe not. Who knows. Whatever it is, I’m paying attention and that feels important. Thanks for sharing and the reminder to pay attention.
Always, always okay. Lean into your season with grace. The only way to see the goodness that is really there. ♡
Amen.
♡♡♡
Dear Rachel, I could see you in the supermarket, (grocery store where you live) counting pennies and making sure you had enough to pay for the groceries. I’ve had about 7 years break from that stringent life, but here I am heading back into it again. Reliant on the slow work of God. I have raised 7children, mostly alone, or worse, with a man who made it so much harder, and they were long hard years of restraint and survival Those years are gone, the 7 children are all, nearly adults, and I am free to live and love. So, I find myself grumpy at the thought that I must enter a period of restraint again. But it’s different this time- that’s what I know in my head, but I’m still waiting, and wondering, and hoping it won’t be for all the rest of my years to come. Yes the unknowns are tiring. The intermediate, passing through times, necessitate holding hands with grief, but not staying there. I’m just thankful for the reminder today, of the commonality of our journeys with others- for the shared strength in knowing God and hanging on, and travelling for a while in the cool shade of the Rachels and the Chardins of the world. Also, I so wish I could be a paid subscriber to support your grocery store visits. I will remain open to that hope and see what God provides. Sending my love and thanks.
Your comments here are gift enough. No need to toss pennies my way. It's the comments and community that are priceless to me. A true labor of ♡.
And, Joy, I know that survival life, and the restraint. Do I know it well. In the days ahead, I wish you wisdom to know all that you truly need and all that can be set aside for tomorrow's tomorrows. As you hang on, feel God holding onto you. Our only lack is thinking, even for one second, that He's let go. ♡
Rachel, a beautiful piece and it makes me think that in my life at least one of my areas may be in the pause of the wait while anotherisn't. . For me it about loving this pause wait and not getting impatient or afraid. For example I had a year off from my day job as a film make-up artist and in that time I spent writing, long Bible studies, walks. So my day job was in a pause. But then when I went back to work in June my writing was in a pause. Hope that makes sense.
So wild how we can survive through the most drastic shifts, but then when we look to nature and see the constant shift in seasons, it makes so much sense. We weren't created to settled into one long, linear path. In all our going, moving, pausing, and changing, life is coming to life. Hard but holy work, indeed. ♡
So well said. Brings ebb and flow to mind.
Thank you for the balm of remembering that patience isn't wasted time. It's been a trying time for us both in different ways, but reading your words always brings me back to the peace I felt that one time we met in person, and I wouldn't notice the peace without the chaos surrounding me. Praying you experience the same peace you blessed me with, my dear friend.
I know you are praying and waiting through much, right now. The deepest of dreams. May you find a well of uncanny strength and hope, more than enough to carry you through the season ahead. ♡
Vulnerable to say, but I'm waiting for hope to show her face again. Waiting to see God's hands and hear God's voice. It's hard to keep trudging forward when it feels blind. Trust. It's not for the faint of heart.
What you are walking and wanting to trust through is no small thing. I hope that hope slips in quiet and unassuming, hiding in plain sight. Though physical strength is few and far between these days, I hope that hope becomes the strength of your soul, beautiful Tiffany. ♡