Joy: Grief & Gratitude

“…many had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.” -John 11:19-20

“Ask someone what they are most grateful for, and they will tell you a story about one of the worst things that has happened to them,” the retreat leader opened with. While I heard this more than a decade ago, I continue to find it to be true as people tell me the stories of their lives. 

The best friendships are often forged through navigating unspeakable loss. While we would never choose the difficult path, those who companion us when hardships come or who have survived similar devastations share a shorthand of sorts with us. 

As you reflect on experiences of hardship in your life, name the people who were with you in and through it. What unexpected friendships have been formed in your life? When have you bonded with someone through a loss or grief or the need of a miracle? Take a moment to offer a prayer of thanksgiving or blessing for those relationships in your life. 

We are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email at some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com with your order number and the name of the retailer, and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (Your email address won’t be used or sold for any other purpose.)

Pre-Order Now

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post?  Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Comfort: Jesus Taught Friendship

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”  And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. – John 11:28-29

How wonderful to have Jesus’ friendship with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus recorded in the gospels for us to reflect on today.  The ingredients of lifelong friendship are present.  They spend time together, with Jesus visiting the siblings’ home on multiple occasions.  Jesus listened to his friends’ concerns and struggles and responded with teaching, mutuality, and deep care.  The famously short verse, “Jesus wept” is contained here in the story of Jesus’ friendship with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  Raising Lazarus from the dead was an act of sacrificial care, since it led to further alienation from the contemporary religious leaders.

What must it have been like to have an embodied friendship with God?  To have a laugh or deep cry with Jesus?  What is amazing in this story though isn’t just that these siblings were able to have a friendship with Jesus, but that Jesus responded in mutual delight and care towards his friends.  In other words, God wants to be friends with us.  Additionally, in love and friendship, God sent Jesus into the world to teach us and show us how to be friends.  

Jesus modeled friendship for us showing us how to love others and be friends with one another.  Visit one another, listen to each other, demonstrate your kindness in loving action towards each other – Jesus “spoke” his advice on friendship through his actions.

Thank you for reaching out to us in friendship through example and action in Jesus.  We are thankful for friendships that provide glimpses of you and your love for all of us. AMEN

As part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration, we are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email at some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com with your order number and the name of the retailer and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (Your email address won’t be used or sold for any other purpose.) 

Preorder Now!

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

Comfort & Joy: Readings & Practice for Advent

Thank you, thank you for all your preorders! Thank you for participating in our 12 Days of Christmas celebration earlier this month. We look forward celebrating Advent with you in November and December!

Filled with reflections, poetry, blessings, practices and recipes Comfort & Joy is a wonderful resource for those wanting to engage the Christmas season with intention.

Preorder Now

As part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration, we are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email at some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com with your order number and the name of the retailer and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (Your email address won’t be used or sold for any other purpose.) 

Joy: The Practice of Holding Space

“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home…” -Job 2:11

Nearly everyone can list unhelpful comments they received in grocery store aisles and school pick up lines in the wake of tragedy. Many of us have attempted a note of condolence only to struggle to know what to write. Avoiding the acquaintance with the diagnosis or simply sticking to small talk when first encountering the bereaved are things we’ve done out of fear of saying the wrong thing. 

But it seems the only wrong thing when it comes to grief in friendship, is ghosting. Companioning, being with our friends in their darkest valleys, is the gift that friendship has to offer. We do not need to fix, solve or heal anything. We need to show up. To be willing to hold space, despite our own discomfort and wonderings.

In the coming days, be intentional about building your capacity for holding space. When a friend, co-worker or family member expresses distress, try pausing before responding. Curate a gentle response that indicates care such as that sounds difficult or I’m sorry you are dealing with this or tell me more. Try offering a limited response paired with attentive listening instead of mitigating or silver-lining the situation. 

Who in your life could use the gift of companionship today? 

We are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email at some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com with your order number and the name of the retailer, and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (Your email address won’t be used or sold for any other purpose.)

Pre-Order Now

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post?  Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Comfort: Listening with Kindness

“They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.”  Job 2:13 NRSV

The ability to be present with ourselves and with others can be a difficult skill to develop. Not only is the outside noise intense (which we sometimes have little control over), we often pursue ways to fill our minds and distract ourselves.  Music playing in the background, an abundance of rapid images before us as we drive quickly from one place to another, or our smart phones beeping and buzzing, their very presence on the table or in our pocket a distraction from focusing.

To be still and present with the emotions and experiences of our own inner lives and those of others requires perseverance.  However, listening with kindness to our own internal dialog and listening with care to others is a gift worth the time and effort.

Focused listening is the cornerstone for any meaningful friendship.

In today’s scripture selection Job’s friends displayed embodied listening.  They traveled from their homes to just sit with Job.  They were listening even before Job was speaking.  (As the story develops later in Job, perhaps they would have been better friends if they had just stuck with the listening instead of offering advice.)

How can you embody listening this week, befriending your own inner voices and listening with focus to friends and loved ones around you?

God, thank you for listening so intently to our prayers.  May we respond in the same way, listening deeply for your voice and responding with kind listening towards ourselves and others. AMEN

As part of our 12 Days of Christmas celebration, we are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email at some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com with your order number and the name of the retailer and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (Your email address won’t be used or sold for any other purpose.) 

Preorder Now!

Joy: Releasing Our Control

“When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.” -Ruth 1:18

Radical acceptance is the spiritual discipline of “letting go and letting God”. Acceptance empowers those around you, whether they are friends or family, and acknowledges your own humanity. As with all disciplines it doesn’t just happen overnight but is the result of life events, our own choices, and the work of the Holy Spirit.

This week consider participating in one of these practices, acknowledging that acceptance is a choice we can make again and again.

Choose a word that expresses your intention towards acceptance of a particular person or situation.  Write that word on a sticky note and place it on your bathroom mirror (or another prominent place).  When you see the word each day remind yourself that you are working towards radical acceptance.  God is in the situation.

Pray for a person or situation that you struggle to release. Visualize holding it in your palm. Stretch out your hand and imagine giving the person or situation into God’s hands.

Lay down on your back with your palms open along your sides. Focus on your body and any areas of tension. Relax those areas and your whole body. It might be helpful to start at the top of your head and think consciously about relaxing each muscle from your eyelids to your toes.

My oldest son headed off to college last year. I had to practice some releasing of control!

Order Comfort and Joy: Readings and Practices for Advent and receive a preorder bonus as part of our 12 Days of Christmas is July celebration! 

We are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email at some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com with your order number and the name of the retailer and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (Your email address won’t be used or sold for any other purpose.) 

Preorder Now

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post?  Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

Comfort: Radical Release

“When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.” -Ruth 1:18

SflyProxyVersion 1;

Motherhood is a fraught endeavor. Whether you long to be a mother, have a strained or enmeshed relationship with your own mother, have gained a mother-in-law or become a mother-in-law, our culture is quick to point out the many ways motherhood can be done wrong. 

The story of Ruth, recorded in scripture has a number of significant threads, but perhaps most overlooked is the friendship forged through marriage and grief. There aren’t many biblical instructions for in-laws, yet this account offers us some precious ideas. 

Bonded through hardship, Ruth and Naomi demonstrate a commitment to and companionship with one another that is a blessing to be hoped for (but never guaranteed). The reality is that families aren’t always friends. We may not choose who joins our family life, but we can choose how we respond to each other. 

In the midst of her heartache, Naomi prays that her daughters-in-law will have everything she has lost. She releases them from any obligations, freeing them from responsibility to and for her in hopes of their thriving. 

How might you be a blessing to others in your network, even when you face hardship, grief and loss? How might you pray for, release and respond to those who share life with you? 

Strengthen my commitments, God, that in companioning others through grief and hardship I may be a blessing. Amen.

We are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email at some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com with your order number and the name of the retailer, and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (Your email address won’t be used or sold for any other purpose.)

Pre-Order Now

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.

We hope this brings you some comfort and joy! Do you know someone who would be inspired by today’s post?  Please share Some Comfort and Joy with them. Be sure to subscribe and never miss a post.

12th Day of Christmas in July & the Preorder Bonus!

Did you know making a preorder on Amazon for your favorite author’s new book is a little like leaving a nice tip for your favorite coffee barista?

When you preorder a book on Amazon it helps that book move up in Amazon’s search results.  So, for example, if you preorder Comfort and Joy: Readings and Practices for Advent by Sherah-Leigh Gerber and Gwen Lantz you will be helping other readers find our book when they complete a search on Amazon for Advent books.  So, it’s possible that your preorder will help someone who has never heard of Some Comfort and Joy find our book!

AND we are delighted to share with you a preorder bonus created in collaboration with and offered by our publisher, Herald Press. Just send us an email* with your order number and the name of the retailer to some.comfortandjoy@gmail.com and you will receive an email in reply with a blessing, a recipe card, and a breath prayer/coloring page. (all elements from our book – so a bit of a sneak peek!).  

Thank you for every preorder; we are grateful for each one.  For the rest of the month of July we hope you find meaning and encouragement in our series on friendship.

*(Your email address won’t be used or sold for any purpose other than to send you your pre-order bonus.)

Preorder your copy today

Preorder Now!

Friendship Series for July!

The lyrics from a song about God’s faithfulness danced through my mind as I prepared with Sherah-Leigh to share our new series on friendship. Meaningful friendships through different stages of my life have been one way that I have experienced God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Healthy friendships are a gift from God and can also be a balancing act. It is true that life and relationships have their ups and downs. Our series contains reflections on letting go and on leaning in. There are reminders to listen quietly, and conversely, to take action. 

Each week we will share with you a “Comfort” (which offers a reflection on a friendship from the Bible) and a “Joy” (which will share a practice or action you could try). If you’ve subscribed to our blog, Comforts arrive in your inbox on Mondays and Joys on Thursdays.

We will also be celebrating the fast approaching September 3rd release of our Advent book this month with “Christmas in July” posts.  We look forward to each of you joining in the fun give-aways and sharing our book joy with many of your friends. 

We hope you are reminded and encouraged through this series to reach out in friendship to others and remain thankful for the companions you have had the joy to know. 

May the Holy Spirit give you special grace to know when to listen, when to speak, when to reach out in love, and when to accept the love of others.

If you haven’t already signed up to receive Some Comfort & Joy posts in your email inbox, you can do that here!

After you sign-up, be sure to check your inbox for the WordPress email to complete your registration.

Preorder Comfort and Joy: Readings and Practices for Advent! 

Preorder Now

Some Comfort and Joy was developed as a devotional resource that follows the rhythms and seasons of the liturgical year from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective.