Grace on a Thursday: Reading between the posts

I go in and out of blogging.

Some weeks, I can write and write and write. Others, I can barely pull a meal together for dinner, barely make it through the day in one piece, barely anything.

Those struggles aren't always reflected in my posts. It's not that I'm hiding anything. I'm simply forced to drop out for a while. Instead of reading about my days, you may notice my absence from the online world. I stop reading around, I can't find time or energy to comment and participate in the many blogs I enjoy. I post sporadically. And I'm sure most don't notice at all. So many other words and lovely photographs are happy to fill in the gaps I've left behind by my quiet exit.

But today I'm thinking about those spaces, between my posts, particularly when my words are few. Sometimes my jobs and my burdens must push blogging aside. Especially in those spaces, I need grace.

You can be sure, in the quiet, that God is generously offering it to me. And chances are, I'm trying to work out what God is working in. I'm working truth from my brain to my heart, pulling in my emotions and walking in faith. Letting grace be enough. These things take time.

I have a feeling you need grace in the quiet spaces too. Because you're busy, you're hurt, you're fighting the good fight, you're working out your faith in this broken place with broken people and then facing your own brokenness at the same time. It is not easy to live life well. To endure, patiently, courageously.

Between your posts and beautifully executed crafts and recipes, I know grace is at work. Sometimes I notice when you don't post for a week, and I wonder about those pages in your story, flipping by quietly. I know so many women who are hurting. It seems every friend of mine is in a serious battle of some sort. And yet, all that battling is not getting fleshed out online. It often can't be, I understand. Nor should it be, in many cases.

But I know battles are there. I have them. You have them. The places where our hearts are most tried and tested are the pages between our posts. I want to remember that.

So I pray grace over you today, whether you're happily blogging, or withdrawing for a time. May you feel the Lord's favor wrap around you, and meet you in those places. He is enough for you. {Do you believe that?}

In my story, the chapters I can share, I do. And the rest is made up of layers of grace, the sweet favor my Lord has for me. A favor and a delight I don't deserve. A favor that lifts my head and gives me words for tomorrow.