”…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.“ -Hebrews 12:2 NASB 1995

I recall when I was in the throes of an eating disorder, and was daily living in a shame cycle. Shame that was so heavy I couldn’t bear to look my Friend, Jesus, in the eyes.

Until one day, my counselor gave me the advice to invite Jesus into the pit with me. The next night, with an ounce of courage, armed with the faith given to me by my Savior Jesus Christ, I extended an invitation to Him. I said, “Jesus, I'm tired. I can’t stop these behaviors. I don’t want to feel this way anymore, so I invite You to sit with me.” 

Even after this invitation, I didn’t change my behaviors that night. However, I did envision my Friend Jesus sitting with me, and from then on, I was no longer alone. I continued to fix my...

Several years ago, my son made the travel baseball team. It was a dream of his to be on this team. He tried out three different times before he finally got accepted.  Baseball quickly became everything to him. He went to every practice, every game, and took private lessons. He gave it all he had, plus some. A year later, he was cut from the team after the coach promised there would be no cuts made. I remember the night we had to tell him, and how he crumbled to the floor in tears. His world had been shattered after he had given everything to it.

That night, I crawled in bed with him. I held him close to me and felt his warm tears run down my arm. I thought about the evening and the events that led up to it.  Were there lessons to be learned? Sure. But at that moment, in bed with him, only one thing mattered- I needed him to feel my arms around him, I needed him to know he was loved and to know I wasn’t going anywhere until I knew he was OK.  

Friends, in...