INSIDE: Acknowledging everything is not fine is an essential skill to receiving grace from God. Listen to Katie Schnack. 

I feel like I’m the poster child for the sentiment, “I’m fine. It’s fine. Everything’s fine,” when clearly it is not.

Friend, I cannot tell you how much energy I spend avoiding pain, trying to make the bad, hard thing disappear, or pretending it’s all okay.

But what if the most gracious, most life-giving gift we can give ourselves today is to acknowledge that we are struggling, that everything is not fine, that we need the Lord, and we need His people, our people?

Perhaps we need to quit outrunning the pain, so we can run into the arms of Christ.

What does it look like to acknowledge we’re struggling while still living our life of work, carpool pick-up, volunteering, caring for our parents, and late-night band practice? 

I can think of no one better to speak about this than today’s guest, Katie Schnack.

In today’s episode, you’ll receive practical strategies and anchoring truths for receiving grace by acknowledging everything is not fine. You’ll learn:

  • Why it’s hard to take off your game-face,
  • When you trust the Lord AND struggle in your circumstances,
  • And six ways to rewrite what it means to be “strong.”

Six ways to rewrite what it means to be strong

  1. Be raw and honest in your feelings with the Lord and others.
  2. Admit it’s hard.
  3. Fight for hope when it’s easier to slide into apathy.
  4. Feel your feelings.
  5. Reach out to community.
  6. Do the little things that make you feel like a person.

Quotes about acknowledging everything is not fine

  • “Glossing over the hard wasn’t serving me or anybody. I couldn’t hold that weight anymore.” – Katie Schnack
  • “Admitting I was so powerless and so unable to fix how I felt and protect my son from what he had to walk through, that’s when I saw Jesus so clearly.” – Katie Schnack
  • “Sometimes it’s okay to not have the words to say.” – Katie Schnack
  • “I don’t believe in choosing happiness, but I believe we can fight for joy.” – Katie Schnack
  • “Find those little pockets of joy. That’s sometimes enough to get us through. And sometimes, that’s all life offers.” – Katie Schnack
  • “Yes, we trust the Lord, but that doesn’t mean He’s going to take every little bit of pain away.” – Katie Schnack
  • “Leaning on the Lord, that’s being strong. You’re not pretending. You’re being honest, saying, ‘I’m not okay. This is not okay. I’m going to trust the Lord anyway.’” – Katie Schnack
  • “Life is crazy. We don’t have time to pretend we have it all together all the time. Let’s just move past that.”  – Katie Schnack

Quotes about receiving grace

  • “Admitting I was so powerless and so unable to fix how I felt and protect my son from what he had to walk through, that’s when I saw Jesus so clearly.” – Katie Schnack
  • “Allowing the Lord to step in is a beautiful thing.” – Katie Schnack
  • “It’s not our power. It’s God’s grace.” – Katie Schnack
  • “Even in these really hard moments, God can show up in ways that knock your socks off.”  – Katie Schnack

Quotes about being honest with our feelings

  • “God loves you as a child, so He doesn’t want you to hold back.”  – Katie Schnack
  • “If you can’t open up to me, I feel like I can’t open up to you.”  – Katie Schnack
  • “Being honest when things are challenging invites other people to do the same.”  – Katie Schnack
  • “Yes, this is hard, and also, Jesus is good.” – Jill E. McCormick
  • “God already knows your heart, so being honest won’t change how He feels about you. But it may just change how you feel about the situation and your perspective.”  – Katie Schnack

Mentioned in the podcast

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Here’s how to connect with Katie Schnack

Here’s how to connect with Jill

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