About the Author

A three-time tongue cancer survivor and mama of children from “hard places," Michele Cushatt is a (reluctant) expert on pain, trauma and the deep human need for connection. Her most recent book, "A Faith That Will Not Fail" delivers 10 practices to help you build up your faith when your...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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Comments

  1. SO TRUE! Great reminder of the process Jesus endured on the cross ~talk about hard!~ to glorify God & save me/us. Thank you for sharing. Helps spur me to greater gratitude & worship on this Lord’s day.

  2. Thank you for this reading! It has touched me more than you know and I needed it today more than ever! I recently was in a wreck and my whole life is changed as well as the ones around me. Husband and children. I have under gone 2 Kidney surgeries and waiting on another while living with a tube out of my right kidney and it also took all my front top and bottom teeth that I can’t fix until my kidney is good. The battlefields I have been fighting has opened my eyes to what is right in front of me. Their importance and every detail the little moments hold within. I have not found a new normal as I feel myself not wanting to go their. I miss the way things were but I too should know whatever I’m going although I may want to break like the tree, I should also know he will bring me out. He’s preparing the season before me and for you!
    Thank you

    • Dova,

      Asking God to send His healing touch to your body. May the needed surgery happen soon so other things can be fixed. In the waiting I pray you feel His presence & allow Him to work in you. May you be more aware of the blessings & goodness of God.

      XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Hugs from Watauga TN)

      Blessings 🙂

    • Oh, Dova, it is so difficult to come to terms with a body that isn’t what it once was, that doesn’t work as it once did. I get it. My heart is with you, my friend. It’s okay to grieve what’s been lost while simultaneously searching for the gift in what is. They can co-exist. Press on, Sister. So much love for you.

  3. I, too, am a mom of children from hard places. Yes, waiting can be so hard; the unknowns of the final results, situations where your “hands are tied”, people in your life that do more harm than good, etc. But God tells us to cast our care on Him, stand still and see His salvation; and He always come through in His time and in His way. Thank you for this encouragement!

  4. A great message for me and so timely. I am part of a hiking group of older folks here in Colorado. We begin in May, weather permitting, and continue until late October. I love it and look forward to the Thursday outings. Then 3 weeks ago, I broke a rib, followed by a dislocated thumb a week later trying to be careful of my rib. No hiking for 4-6 weeks, maybe, and then only gentle hikes so as not to put pressure on the rib. And I can start short walks on a flat path this week. After a year and a half of distancing because of the pandemic, I am once again waiting. But I want to be physically healed now. I want to be able to drive without discomfort. I want to be able to wear pants that zipper and button. I don’t want my daughter coming by to change my sheets or push the shopping cart for me. And yet, in this time of waiting to heal my body, I am experiencing a special time with my daughter and accepting the grace of God through her and helpful neighbors. I also have more time to sit on my patio to read, watch the animals and just be. So in my struggle, I can try to find the grace.

    • Madeline,

      God is always at work in your waiting. He makes something good out of ashes. Savor this time with your daughter. Enjoy her company & help. She is the blessing you need now.

      Asking God to send His healing hand to your body. Take life one day at a time enjoying every little thing. Allow God to do a work in you while you heal up. Praying for a quick recovery & many blessings ahead.

      Blessings 🙂

    • Ahhh, a fellow hiking lover! Thank you for sharing your story here, Madeline. I can imagine the frustration at not being able to do what you love to do. May our Healer knit your rib and thumb and everything back together, completely and quickly. And may His creation come to find to you, exactly where you are. Xoxox

  5. “But an unfolding is often more beautiful than a forcing.” ooooh. i LOVE this! It reminds me of this verse – Psalm 119:130 (niv)
    “The unfolding of your words gives light.” I’m not sure what it is about the word “unfolding” (when unrelated to clothes), but i just love the imagery of it. in my mind it i picture it as a delicate, careful, caring, slow opening of something. however, i enjoy waiting as much as you do, but have also learned its worth it even if it is sooo hard! 🙂

    have a lovely Sunday!

  6. Michele,

    This post reminds me of the Butterfly story. A man finds a cocoon of a butterfly. He watches for hours as the caterpillar struggled to force its body through a hole. Then suddenly it stops. Man wanting to help snips off the remainders of cocoon. The poor butterfly was never able to fly though. What the man didn’t understand was the struggle was nature’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom. So it is with humans. Our struggles are just what we need in life. Without obstacles in our lives we wouldn’t be as strong as we are.

    I often learn that our trials & tribulations are what we need to bring us back to God. They force us to depend on Him more. He does a great work in us during those times. For me my faith & trust muscles were grown immensely.

    Blessings 🙂

  7. Michele, thank you for the encouragement today. My husband and I are seniors who have covid and although it’s been a bit rough, I thank God it hasn’t been as bad as it could be. The Lord has truly sustained us. Not through it yet, but hopefully soon.

  8. I am a week of a husband in hard places. He lost his license several months ago to a DUI charge. 30 years ago he got one too. Because it is his 2nd offense, they sent him for an assesment at a recovery center. He must go 3 times a week, for 3 hours each night after working all day. Please pray for us, I don’t know if this pressure will be too much for him/us. Please pray for us that we can overcome these circumstances. God is on the throne, always working on our behalf. He finds away when thier seems to be no way. The devotion appeared in my email this morning. There are no coincidences. God loves us and is in control. I just need prayers for strength, perseverance and tha God will provide what we need and heal my husband.

  9. Thank you – I needed to hear that over an issue that I have been wanting to rush, and I am
    s-l-o-w-l-y learning to make my adoration of, and reliance on, God my priority before anything else.
    Blessings
    Maxine

  10. Thank you. I think when we struggle to fix life we forget the importance of this. Thank you.

  11. I am definitely in a season of waiting and I agree that patience is definitely hard during this time but I keep going back to the thought of God developing me in this season. As hard as it is, I know that it’s worth it in the end. In the meantime, I continue to lean into the strength of Christ.