What do you do when you long for relationships that don’t seem to long for you back?

I’ve spent a lot of my life being the inviter.

“You would love this.”
“Come with us.”
“I want to experience this with you.”

But what happens when you realize you’re the one standing on the outside, longing to be considered?

This weekend, the Lord began showing me something about grief, family, belonging, and the exhausting ache of trying to control what we simply cannot control.

Maybe you’ve felt it too.

Maybe you’ve wondered:

Am I too much?
Am I not enough?
Why am I always the one reaching?

And maybe the invitation you’ve been longing for isn't coming from another person at all.

Maybe it’s from God.

I wrote about it—the memories, the grief, the longing, the family table, and what the Lord whispered to my heart in the middle of it all.

“You can extend the invitation, but you cannot change the heart. Only I can do that.”

If you’ve ever longed to be invited, I think this one might meet you right where you are.

When You Long to Be Invited

We all have a story. One we asked for and one we didn't.

My dogs and I took off for a long walk through the forest. The world was quiet, except for my mouth-breathing protection brigade. 🐾

As we made our way back home, my gate opened to the magnificent view of our land and home. But my gaze shifted to a place in the field where the earth is scorched.

Not just with dying grass.

It is where a tectonic plate shifted in our life and family, and lava flowed out of grief all over me and those I love.

There were hopes and dreams there.

Wedding planning. The pitter-patter of little feet. Work and school schedules. Home-cooked meals. Laughter and tears.

Love bloomed there.

And then, in a moment, the story we envisioned became the story we never asked for.

The slideshow in my mind quickly flipped in slow motion to my frantic beating on their door, the officer creeping through my gate, the slow-motion fall to the ground, and the eerie wailing echoing through the forest.

The story they didn't ask for.
The story I didn't ask for.

But as I turned my gaze across the pasture, I saw our cross standing majestically on the hill.

And Holy Spirit reminded me of something I want to share with you today...

Even in the midst of the story I never wanted, GOD was there. And GOD is still here.

⬇️ Keep reading...

When Death Knocks Again

"Today I will rise. I will cry with hope because I know death does not have the final word. Not physical death, or the death of hopes and dreams attached to the stories I have told myself.

Will you rise again with me today? When the death of the story you have told yourself may be shattering at your feet? Will you cry with hope, trusting in a God who is writing your story for His glory?

Walk with me by faith... tell yourself one more time: you can do hard things—you already have."

Much love, Chrissy