To the individual(s) who rang our doorbell at 10:30pm on Friday night and disappeared into the cold night leaving giant "santa sacks" full of gifts: only in heaven will you know how much joy you brought to the Watts home. First of all, I want you to know that when the doorbell rang it took … Continue reading Secret Santa
Grief
Massacre, Suicide & A Manger
"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:10) This morning I stood before 200+ students at Evans Middle School in Lubbock and said, “The first Bible verse I ever learned was John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that … Continue reading Massacre, Suicide & A Manger
The Toll of Suicide on a Marriage
I'll NEVER FORGET IT.... I'll never forget the very first thing Michelle (my wife) told me when she arrived at our house that life-changing afternoon on May 13th, when I found our son dead. I was on my knees screaming, wailing, in our driveway, and all of a sudden there she was, holding me by … Continue reading The Toll of Suicide on a Marriage
Rock of Ages
When Jordan died this past May I was in the "Old Testament prophets" (Jonah, Amos, etc.) in my daily devotions. When I recovered enough emotionally to resume my daily readings, rather than skip over to the New Testament, I decided to just pick up where I left off. This may not seem like a big … Continue reading Rock of Ages
Yahweh Rapha (The Lord Who Heals You)
Powerful truth regarding the topic of grief from recent posts on http://www.griefshare.org: "If you want to heal from grief, you must go through it. You cannot go around it. The grieving process, itself, is a healing process." "Fear, depression, anger, loneliness, despair - these emotions come and go with dizzying unpredictability. Your life is like … Continue reading Yahweh Rapha (The Lord Who Heals You)
“Nick, How Many Children Do You Have?”
Saw this post today: "A person who loses their marriage partner is called a widow, or widower. A child who loses their parents is called an orphan. But there is no word to describe a parent who loses a child, because the loss is like no other." My dad died of alcoholism in 2000. He … Continue reading “Nick, How Many Children Do You Have?”
“True North”
"The grief following suicide is so raw and real, primal and human, even people of faith must often battle just to ride it out, to render it livable....How one grieves depends on what one believes....The counsel of Scripture secures us with a stabilizing beam of truth - beginning with a single word: hope....Your pain cannot … Continue reading “True North”
Embattled Healing
"But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish." (Isaiah 9:1) Six months ago today my son took his own life. And everything changed. A week ago this past Friday I had a breakdown so severe that Michelle almost had to take me to the hospital. One week ago today, I had … Continue reading Embattled Healing
Double Time (Job)
In Job 42:12, God blessed Job with TWICE what he had lost in chapters 1 & 2. The number of livestock listed in this verse is double the number cited in 1:3. However, in 42:13, God replaced the number of children Job had lost, 10, with only another 10. This begs the question, "Why double … Continue reading Double Time (Job)
What’s in a Name? (Job)
"What's in a name?" - Biblically, a lot. The covenant name God used for Himself in the Old Testament is actually four letters, "YHWH." (Scholars refer to it as a "tetragrammaton," which, in Greek, means "four letters.") Vowels were later added to give us the name "Yahweh" which, when pronounced correctly, sounds like a breath. … Continue reading What’s in a Name? (Job)