We want our students to know that God loves them, loves others, and created them for a purpose. But we don't just believe it for them; we believe it for all people - every.single.person.

At our Monday meeting, I shared a passage from Lamentations that is so common with our team. You can find it at Hobby Lobby right now.

"Because of the Lord's faithful love, we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, "The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will put my hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24 

But that wasn't the verse I started with. I went back further, where you hear the brokenness in the author's words. You can feel his feelings of hopelessness. Instead of starting with verse 22, I began in verse 16. 

"He ground my teeth with gravel and made me cower in the dust. I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. Then I thought, "My future is lost, as well as my hope from the Lord." Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood, and the poison. I continually remember them and have become depressed." Lamentations 3:16-20

Radical honesty: I started there because much of 2023 felt this way for me. We tragically lost my brother-in-law on January 12th, and one month later, we said goodbye to our son and daughter, who'd lived with us for over three years. So when I say I could feel the depth of weariness in these words, I mean feel it down to my bones. I shared with them that the part that relieved me was in verse 21 when he called to mind why he could have hope ....*insert all the signs and fancy writing of verses 22-24*. His flesh, his humanness, would have left him there. It would have left him stuck in despair. Instead, he chose to put his hope in the Lord. He told his mind it was wrong, and his Lord was worthy of his hope. 

It doesn't say his life was so easy peasy he hoped in the Lord because ...duh. It says he was depressed. He had no peace anywhere he looked. It says his face was in the gravel. 

So I asked our team if your teammate was in this dark place - write out what you would say to them. Each of them was so quick to have the kindest, caring words to pick up and support their friends. It was so easy for them. Immediate really. 

But then I asked, what if you were as kind and caring to yourself on the hard days as you are to your teammates, your students, and your friends? Imagine the change of heart if we could remember to speak to ourselves as we talk to our best friends. 

So I ask you, what if you dared to speak to yourself with compassion and endless mercies the way God does?