The title of this blog post is “Field Notes on Persisting When Things Are Hard.”

I would like to clarify right off the bat that when I say “things,” I don’t just mean one part of life. I mean everything. This is encouragement for when it feels like the fire is legitimately going to take you out, no matter which way you turn. When it feels like the fire is closing in on you and it’s impossible to take a deep breath. 

I’ve been there. And today I’d like to share some of the field notes I’ve written down in various journals throughout the heat of the moment(s). I pray these words bless you, give you a peek behind the curtain, and provide you some handlebars to hold onto as you navigate whatever winding road is before you. Below my words are the Bible verses I cling to during hard times. There is hope! This isn’t the end! I believe the God who walked with you into this trial is going to be right beside you as you walk out of it. With you and for you always. xo

• I am human. As high as I fly in the good times, I am human. I’m prone to the valley; I’m not immune from coming face to face with the darkness. And that doesn’t mean I’ve failed. It means I’m human. 

• At every moment, God is with me and wants to speak to me. 

• All I can do is all I can do. 

• I came home for lunch today, and Mitch met me at the house. He knew the day unraveled the second I stepped foot in the office. After some tears (okay, a lot of tears) and “I can’t do this anymore” and “when will this end”s, he tenderly grabbed me by the shoulders and said, “You just have to make it to 5:00 p.m. You may have to work until 11:00 p.m. tonight, but 5:00 p.m. is your next checkpoint. This is how I got through my hell-ish work season, and it’s how you’ll get through yours. Just make it to the next bite-size mark on the clock, come up for air, and the set another finish line in the future. You are going to make it through.” I think those words saved me. 

• Just think of what an abundant and open mind could do. Think of how absolutely far that could help take me today.

• Every single day I’m faced with this deep frustration and the temptation to quit. I get so discouraged I don’t know what to do with it. Lately, I’ve felt that every single day. And every single day that I don’t quit is a victory. That is reason to be proud and reason to believe I will make it through.

• Even getting to this point was such a miracle — the Lord worked so many miracles to bring me here. So why would the next part of the story be any different?

• I am working hard, doing my best, and going above and beyond where I can. I am proud of my work. I am proud of how hard I’m working. I have seen tremendous growth in myself. And I am allowed to be proud.

• God is real and in me and for me and I get to spend all of eternity with Him (!!!!!!!!).

More encouraging words…

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inners self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”  –2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” –Romans 8:26

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” –Romans 5:3-5

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” –Psalm 23:4

“I waited patiently before the Lord, he inclined my ear to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” –Psalm 40:1-3

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the deserts, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” –Isaiah 43:18-21

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P.S. A List of Promises from God and Words for the Weary Mornings

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