bailing in the trust zone

Life is so beautiful. Life is so hard. We hold both at once. And God is here in all of it, says Kate Bowler

As we write from our little studio—not the snug hideaway above—Heidi lies beside us, her Wet Dog Essence wafting through the air, a souvenir from her brief romp in the snow. The sky, to our surprise, has patches of blue, a quiet gift.

Even better, we've had a good run of below freezing temperatures. So Heidi leads us outside and we follow—leaving our masks behind—and breathing with liberation in our spirits because for now, the freeze has temporarily trapped the toxins.

And hushing the ever-present, nagging voice of hypervigilance. You know the one. The internal commentator who perches on our adrenals like an over-caffeinated parrot, whispering, "Oh, you’re soooooo gonna regret this." He’s been around long enough that we figured he deserved a name. So, meet Sir Vigilant. We’re working on boundaries.

Thank You Jesus for these small moments of relief and laughter.

Aundi Kolber writes, God is with us. He does hold us, even when we don't know it. Even when we can't hold on to God, God holds on to us.

Recently, we updated a close friend and mentor on the insights we got from our indoor environmental expert. Research is now showing there's a common bacteria in everyone's home that impacts people with CIRS.

In our last post we wrote that our apartment had become less safe for us. This discovery is one of the reasons why.

Mitigating this bacteria, mold and mycotoxins has made our apartment a bit safer. One of the challenges is that it's a day and night ongoing process—not something we do once and they're gone. But at least we have protocols to follow from the time we get up in the morning till the time we lay down at night to sleep—giving us some improvement.

As we talked with our friend, he lovingly gave us a metaphor that captures what our daily life is like.

In a poignant scene from the final episode of HBO's, The Newsroom, Mackenzie McHale is concerned that she can’t handle her new job as the president of the news division and Will McAvoy tells her:

"There's a hole in the side of your boat. That hole is never going to be fixed, it's never going away, and you can't get a new boat.

What you have to do is bail water out faster than it's coming in."

So we bail.

Every day, we work on clearing out what we can—removing what harms,

guarding what heals and moving forward with fragile hope.

Our life is arranged around mitigating the hazards we can—one hour, one minute at a time.

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What are the holes in your boat—the struggles that won't simply go away—and how do you keep bailing? Where do you see God's presence in the midst of it?

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Some seasons call for deeper trust—the kind that isn't effortless or serene. It's the trust that lets us move forward, even when flourishing feels out of reach.

Maybe you know this space. The in-between place where fear and faith collide, where strength feels borrowed.

This is a place, not of easy answers, but forced reliance on the One who holds us close.

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TRUST ZONE

another day Father God

Lord Jesus

we are together

curiously alone

at the same time

we have every reason to believe

You step

smack dab

into the boat with us

as we haltingly

determinedly

try to stay

steady

stable

strong

here

in the trust zone

knowing it’s not easy

to plant here

and flourish

but this is not about

flourishing right now

this is about reaching up

and breathing in

about staying

heads up

arms up

minds up

souls up

we can navigate this

even this, via

Your compass

in our souls

our guidance

Your Spirit

imbedded within us

the whisper in our inner being

Holy One

re-plant in us

awareness

of Your knowing Presence

Your comfort

infuse into our souls

Your peace

sing into our weary minds

Your strength

we summon,

to make the best

and most of this

still good

still true

God given day

---

Do not yield to fear, for I am always near.

Never turn your gaze from Me,

for I am your faithful God.

I will infuse you with My strength

and help you in every situation.

I will hold you firmly

with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

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Photo Credit: StockCake

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Greg & Corinne (and Heidi)