Your emotions are not your enemy. They are a gift.
Feelings are messy, and we all have different strategies for dealing with them—usually controlling, avoiding, or indulging them. But what if you allowed yourself to follow your feelings in prayer instead of trying to run from them?
In today’s episode, Anjuli Paschall helps you move from being stuck in your feelings to a place of peace by:
- identifying and giving you words for every emotion–the good, the confusing, and the complicated–helping you name exactly what you feel
- offering you 75 prayers to pray–one for every feeling
- providing Scripture for every emotion
Her book Feel is a resource that will guide you throughout your day and offer you hope, wisdom, and courage through some of the most challenging seasons of your life. Instead of navigating around your feelings, allow them to guide you toward healing, wholeness, and abiding connection with God. Then, you will begin to see how feelings are a doorway into intimacy with a Savior who loves you.
Summary
In this episode of the Love Offering Podcast, Rachael Adams and Noelle discuss the journey of writing and the importance of understanding and embracing our feelings. They explore how emotions play a crucial role in our relationship with God and others, emphasizing the need to process feelings rather than suppress them. Noelle shares insights from her books, including the significance of prayer and scripture in navigating emotions. The conversation highlights the transformative power of acknowledging feelings and the importance of love in all aspects of life.
Takeaways
Emotions are a natural part of being human.
It’s important to embrace and process our feelings.
God invites us to bring our feelings to Him.
Scripture provides guidance for every emotion we experience.
Prayer can help articulate our feelings and connect with God.
Feelings can be invitations for intimacy and connection.
We often avoid feelings due to fear and safety concerns.
Understanding our feelings can improve our relationships with others.
God’s love meets us in our messy emotions.
The journey of writing can reflect our personal growth.
Chapters
00:00 The Journey of Writing: From Stay to Feel
03:01 Understanding and Embracing Our Feelings
06:05 Navigating Difficult Emotions: Anger and Fear
09:05 The Role of God in Our Emotions
12:09 Scripture and Its Impact on Our Feelings
14:59 The Power of Prayer and Liturgy
18:03 Connecting with Others Through Feelings
21:00 Experiencing God’s Love Through Emotions
23:57 Practical Applications of Emotional Awareness
27:12 Closing Thoughts and Prayer
Transcript
Rachael Adams (00:02.573)
Welcome back to the Love Offering Podcast. I’m so happy to have you.
Noelle (00:06.617)
Yes, Rachel, thank you so much. It’s so great to connect again.
Rachael Adams (00:11.308)
So we were talking, and you were on the show when you had released your book, Stay, but since then, you released Awake, and your latest release is Feel. And I was saying, like, you’re so genius. These little short titles. It’s like, I know exactly what you’re promising, exactly what the book is about. So, I asked if this was a master plan. And you said absolutely not. It’s just the Lord. So I’d love to hear more about it. Just that process and what that looks like for you as you create, stay awake, and feel, and that kind of progression in the path and journey that God’s taken you on.
Noelle (00:50.202)
Yeah, well, four years ago, when Stay came out, it was the wake of COVID. And I remember, doing my, know, had all the plans to do all the book release parties and speaking places. And instead, it was like, no, everyone’s quarantined, staying home. And that was quite, I mean, for everybody. It was so jarring and rattling, and I think we’re still putting the pieces back together. But yes, since then, I have been able to release Awake, which was a follow-up to Stay. Stay is an invitation to be where you are and to greet the reality of your life with welcome and love versus disdain, shame, and guilt. And Awake is a follow-up. As you stay, how are you experiencing the love of God? Like where is God in your current circumstances? And then, Feel was a break from those in a more holy style book. But like many of us, COVID and everything after left a lot of mess in relationships and your own life and your heart and your marriage and your friendships; everything was affected by the pandemic, and I remember going on a walk mid-pandemic and just having so many wild feelings, right? It’s like fear, anger, sadness, shock. And I remember thinking like, gosh, I wish there were a book that I could pick up that would greet me and take me to the Lord with everything that I feel, and that was how I started writing this next book, which is 75 prayers, one for every feeling that you have.
Rachael Adams (02:55.884)
It amazes me that we have 75 different feelings. What a big God! He would give us so many ways to show our emotions, right? Was it difficult to find them? Or, I mean, what was that process like?
My gosh, we have more than 75, Rachel. There were hundreds, especially as you break down the nuances of each feeling. I picked 75 because when I was reading through all of them, it was like, I think these are ones that I feel, which means like, I think these are general feelings that people can be like, yes, I felt that. Yes, I felt that, you know? So I tried my best to keep it to limit it, but there are over a hundred feelings.
Rachael Adams (03:47.32)
Would you consider it? I remember interviewing Elizabeth Lang Thompson; I don’t know if you know her, but she has the book All the Feels. And so she was on the podcast, and we talked about how some people are just big feelers. And I would call myself a big feeler. I don’t, I probably wear my emotions on my sleeve, I think many days people can see it all over my face how I’m feeling in that moment. So, would you consider yourself a big feeler? Or maybe we all are, and I don’t realize it.
Noelle (04:18.57)
Well, I think we all feel. It’s part of the human makeup. All ages, all cultures, all races, all demographics. It is part of being human. But how you express and you communicate and how you allow feelings to integrate into your life, it’s different. And it’s affected by your culture, your family of origin trauma, and even your church culture of what you do with your feelings. I think I am all the things. I think I am a big feeler about some feelings, and I think I strongly resist other feelings. Some feelings feel safe and good, and others feel scary. So, the ones comforting me allow me to feel deeply. But I dread the other ones.
Rachael Adams (05:26.198)
So tell us what are some of the comforting feelings that you just, it’s like, I’m going to embrace this feeling, and I want to feel it all the time. What’s an example of one of those?
Noelle (05:32.662)
Yeah, I do. There’s a form of comfort for me when I feel sadness. Even happiness is tricky because it seems obvious, like, of course, happiness. But I also experience happiness with a lot of anxiety. I can operate off of a scarcity mindset, and As I feel excited or happy, I can very quickly fear that it will run out. And so, I mean, I do love happiness, joy, and anticipation. But I think I’m very at home in longing. That’s a comforting one, even though it’s nuanced with sadness. I like feeling free. I probably spend most of my life trying to achieve this feeling. I am also playful and curious.
Rachael Adams (06:48.945)
Okay, so tell us the flip side of that. What are some of the feelings that you’re just like? I want to avoid these at all costs.
Noelle (06:56.192)
Anger. Anything in the anger category is pretty challenging for me. Again, it goes back to culture, family of origin, and trauma. I always felt anger and experienced anger as what broke the relationships. And so it was just so scary. I don’t love fear, but I resist anger more than fear.
Rachael Adams (07:27.486)
I think God has given us our feelings for a reason, and we need to pay attention to them. They are God-given, and so often, I think we push away some of the feelings, like grief, fear, or anger, but could it be that God has given you those to pay attention to, to protect you, and to comfort you like you said, like some of the ones you mentioned, I would have never thought that you’re like, yeah, I really embrace some of those feelings. So why do you think that we’re so tempted to want to stuff or like brush some feelings under the rug or stuff things into a jar and close the lid and like put them away?
Noelle (08:11.46)
Well, I think you kind of named it, Rachel. It’s a lot about safety and love. And so we have all sorts of strategies to not… Excuse me. We have all kinds of strategies to avoid feeling it because it threatens our safety.
Rachael Adams (08:35.254)
I told you before we hit record I’ve just had a really good day. I had Bible study. Today sounds strange that it was a good day because the Bible study focused on the crucifixion, and we just took communion together. It just was a really sweet time as a community and body of believers. But one of the things that we talked about was how God grieved and the things that make God grieve, like wickedness and Jesus weeping when Lazarus died. And then the actual grief of God when Jesus was on the cross, and the veil was torn, and in that culture, people would tear their clothes from top to bottom when they were grieving in such a way and if you remember. In the story of when Jesus is being crucified, the veil was torn from top to bottom. And, of course, that signified even deeper that we had access to God, that we were no longer separated from him, and that only priests could see him. And so, just this reality that even God grieves, yet he is that grief, he also held hope in his hands, so this idea of us can feel more than one feeling simultaneously. So I’d love to. Does that evoke any thought in you?
Noelle (10:00.33)
Yeah, I’m so moved by that because I think there is a mindset that I say this: feeling our feelings can be immature or not wise and not good. I remember, I think the passage is in Jeremiah, I’m sorry, I don’t have the reference offhand, but the heart is deceitful, who can know it? And I remember hearing that passage growing up and being like, it’s dangerous like my feelings are dangerous and bad. And the following verse right after that is, Lord, searches the heart. And so there’s such a beauty in knowing that actually it’s biblical to experience and express and to feel our feelings. You look at the whole book of Psalms, it’s all about crying out to Lord and what you feel from exuberation to despair and depression and fear and anger. And then you look at the life of Jesus, who embodied humanity. He felt anger, joy, and sorrow. And so what an invitation for us to feel things deeply while this perfect human. We can do that, too. Like, I can’t. Can you even name a relationship that’s meaningful to you where you haven’t experienced feelings with that person? There’s an exchange of joy, there’s an exchange of tissues, there’s an exchange of frustration. And so when we look at feelings as invitations for intimacy and connection, wow, that’s transformative. But if we reject feelings, suppress them, avoid them, neglect them. What we’re doing is we’re suppressing and ignoring and avoiding true connection with each other, especially in our prayer life.
Rachael Adams (12:21.74)
Beautiful. You know, I guess you’re at instead of just a head connection, a knowledge connection, it’s connecting with the heart, right? And as you were talking about Jesus, I was thinking, you know, he experienced anger too. I’m thinking about him turning over the money changer’s tables, rebuking people, and telling them, but he never sinned in his anger. And so there is maybe a righteous anger that we can even experience, and so in many of these emotions, it’s not the emotion itself that is wrong. It’s our reaction to the emotion that could be misled, so how do we navigate feeling the feeling, then processing that feeling, and then acting out of it.
Noelle (13:11.72)
Yes, that’s such a great example of Jesus. I mean, he became so impatient at times, like with his disciples and his Pharisees not getting it, you know? And it’s really important for us to see the righteousness in our feelings. And I say it this way: like feeling, everything you feel is true. If you feel anger right now, you are angry. That’s a true thing. If you are anxious, it’s a true feeling, but it’s not always right. It’s how we interpret it, right? And we’re not always good interpreters of our feelings. Again, a lot is based on our culture, upbringing, and how it was modeled for us.
I would say, especially with anger and even the harder feelings for some of us to feel, like I can’t imagine anyone is like, I love the feeling of betrayal. Like, just betray me, please. That just feels delightful. No, it’s like a really awful, awful feeling. And again, yet Jesus experienced betrayal. And so what’s important when you feel something deeply, especially that’s excruciating and hard, is to yourself welcome that feeling. If it’s loneliness, it’s okay; what do you have for me here, God? Instead of rejecting loneliness, avoiding it, or feeling it, it’s like, okay, this feeling is here as a way for me to know who I am where I’m at, and where God is and his love meets me. And so even with these feelings, it’s letting them come out. It’s not letting them compartmentalize your soul and get stuck in your body. It’s like, no, it needs to get out. You need to put words to those feelings. Who betrayed you? How does that feel? Where do you feel it? When did you feel it? And there’s this power in turning those feelings into words. And I think that’s why I loved writing this book. I even go back and read this book because it puts words to those feelings that often get diminished and dismissed automatically because of their pain. And so even if it’s anger, it’s like you have to get it out. Yeah, it would help if you didn’t go punch somebody. Don’t do that. But actually, you might need to scream. You might need to go throw something against a wall in the safe, of course, in a safe place. You know, it’s so important that the things you’re feeling inside actually come out of you. If it’s words, if it’s screaming, if it’s wailing, if it’s a sigh, whatever it is, it’s like, okay, let’s make that whatever you’re feeling turn into words. Think about John 1, like the word became flesh and dwelt among us. It’s like it has to take flesh. It has to take action. It has to land somewhere. And so you mustn’t just feel up at it. It comes out in a form.
Rachael Adams (16:55.158)
Yeah, it makes me think of the Holy Spirit as our counselor. Among many things, you know, our advocate and our helper and think it’s so important to be able to know that God cares about our feelings, that he hears us, that he’s listening, and that he will react based on our feelings sometimes, and he will answer our prayers. And so to go to the Lord, there’s no feeling that we’re not allowed to feel and take to him. So yes, go to other people and share your feelings, but go to the Lord. The Holy Spirit can guide and counsel you through processing those feelings.
Noelle (17:40.517)
Yes, yeah, I think to the degree. I remember one of my seminary professors always said this: when you talk to your children, they talk to you, and they’re learning how to pray. Excuse me; I think there’s something in that. I think as parents, mothers, siblings, and friends, as we make space for others and their feelings and are able to talk to our brothers and sisters, our husbands, about what we’re feeling, as we practice that, we’re actually learning how to pray.
Rachael Adams (18:31.212)
So beautiful. Yeah, no, and so let’s talk a little bit more about once we recognize and kind of have introspective about our own feelings. How does that translate to accepting and relating to other people’s feelings? Think of an awareness of what an acceptance is like if somebody is upset with you; that’s okay. They’re entitled to feel that way, right? And so when we maybe have conflict or exchange words in some way, whether good or bad, it’s like it is okay to say I feel because that, as you said, is true for you to dive into what does it looks like in within relationship with our spouses and with our children and with our you know family and co-workers and all of that like to accept other people’s feelings and be aware of those.
Noelle (19:27.023)
Yeah, what a great question, Rachel. I think the degree to which you can embrace and accept your feelings, whatever they are, whatever range they are, is the degree to which you’ll be able to accept other people and their feelings. So a great example is if I cannot embrace or accept my anger, if I’m pushing it away, avoiding it, I don’t want to see it, I don’t want to feel it, it’s not there, I’m okay then when my kid comes to me with their anger, guess what I’m going to do to them? I’m going to avoid, dismiss, diminish, and neglect them. I’ll say to them what I say to my feelings. It’s not that big a deal; get over it. But if I can say, ouch, that really hurt me, like wow, I am really disappointed. I am so discouraged that this thing I’ve been working so hard on has fallen apart, and I can find healing and the love of God meeting me there. Guess what? When my kid comes to me irritated and bothered, I can embrace them. Yeah, that makes sense that you’d be so upset that your granola bar broke into instead of get over it, that’s dumb. You know, it’s like, and then what does that create? It creates such a ground for relationships. Yeah, this person’s safe.
Rachael Adams (21:00.396)
Which is what God does for us. He never hears us and what we’re feeling and looks at us like we’ll get over it. He’s like, no, I’m here with you. I’m present in it. And that’s what we need to do with one another. I think that as we think about this topic, it is true for us to have these feelings. What role does scripture play? Like the truth, you know, throughout scripture, you look at all the many people within scripture and all the big feelings that they all had, especially the Psalms and the lament Job and the, you know, his lament, but also I don’t want to focus on all the negative feelings. There are lots of positive feelings, too. Talk to me about scripture and going to scripture with our feelings.
Noelle (21:34.768)
Well, scripture is a cutting sword, right? I would say so. It’s so powerful that there is a scripture for every feeling I have while writing this scripture. And I was like, because that was important to me, I want to invite people to engage in God’s word with what they feel. And I would say that how that happens has to be through honesty. Right? So I’m going to pull up one right here, right? Frustrated. So the first section of frustrated, I share a really simple story where I help give words for people to describe how they feel frustrated, what that feels like in their body, and how they are tempted by frustration.
Then, I share a liturgy and close each liturgy section with a verse. So for frustrated, it’s Ephesians 4.15, rather, speaking the truth and love. When you engage in scripture, there has to be an honest response. For that, it’s like I’m frustrated. I’m angry and bothered, and I speak the truth in love. I don’t want to do that, God. I want that person to go away. I don’t want to have a conflict with them. That’s too scary for me. Can you fix it? Right? You have to engage in honesty when you read God’s Word and that is an invitation for even more intimacy of, God, I don’t know how to tell this person the truth and love. I don’t even know how to be truthful with myself sometimes. I don’t, it is. This person is so hard to love. I don’t know how to do that. And so scripture takes us deeper and deeper into intimacy and connection, relationship with Jesus. I don’t want to use scripture to fix me. It’s not just a prescription. It’s a relationship. So, scripture is very involved in helping us grow closer to God and in love with others.
Rachael Adams (24:17.845)
Before I do, because that segues well to the next question I have, but before I get to that question, if somebody is not familiar with liturgy, tell us more about what that is.
Noelle (24:31.901)
It’s so simple. One word for it’s prayer. Is this a more fancy word for prayer?
Rachael Adams (24:40.044)
So you give people words for the feelings that they don’t know how to make people words for themselves. The Holy Spirit does that for us, too, like interceding for us when we don’t even know what to pray. Okay, that’s so good. Okay. So, my question is, we were talking about love, and of course, this is the Love Offering Podcast. So, have you personally experienced God’s love through your emotions, even in moments of pain or confusion? I’d love to see how God has met you personally.
Noelle (25:14.812)
Yeah, I’m just opening the book right now and going through it. I would say one of the more powerful ones for me has been anxiety, how God’s met me in anxiety because anxiety is a funny one. Anxiety, I put it under fear. But anxiety could be a feeling. It manifests as if it feels like fear, but it could be in any of the larger emotions. It could be under surprise, anger, happiness, disgust, or sadness because all anxiety is the avoidance of feeling what you need to feel. And I think the Lord so powerfully met me in my anxiety by inviting me into feeling my unprocessed feelings. So, for instance, if you have anxiety right now as you’re listening, it’s because there’s a feeling in your life that you have not processed. And the anxiety is poking up, invading your life, trying to get your attention and saying, hey, look down here, something’s not okay, either it’s sadness or anger or trauma. So, anxiety was such a painful feeling. It still can be, but it was an invitation from the Lord. Hey, look inside. You have been running, running, running hard from some of your more profound fear, anger, and sadness. And God just used anxiety to get a hold of me. It’s time to process those things. It’s time for me to heal you from this thing you don’t want to see. And so, yeah, I think anxiety is a really big one for me.
Rachael Adams (27:23.244)
Talk to us about love. I’ve been asking all of my guests this question at the end of each episode. Is there a biblical concept of love that you think applies to today’s topic? So the feeling of love. Is that in your book?
Noelle (27:37.864)
The feeling of love? I did not write about it, but it’s everywhere.
Rachael Adams (27:41.554)
Okay, okay. If anything comes to mind, I’m putting you on the spot.
Noelle (27:49.135)
No, that’s wonderful; I love it. I think the most powerful experience of God’s love is when he meets us in the places we and I do not want to look at. So, for instance, guilt was probably a big one for me because I felt so guilty about so many things: mom guilt, not being good enough, being a failure, being a disappointment, not being who I thought I should be. And I believe the Lord, in His grace and kindness, took me on a journey into my guilt to show me that I was loved, that His love covers me and meets me there. And that is transformative, right? In all these places, in every feeling, the goal is Love. The end aim is love. To love and be loved. And we have all kinds of strategies to get to love. But the Lord’s strategy has been the cross. You know, and the way of the cross is hard and easy. You have to die. You have to sacrifice. But it’s also easy because where else would you go? Where else can you find forgiveness than the cross? So, I don’t know if that answers your question entirely, but feelings beautiful, painful, and hard are all an invitation to meet with God at the cross.
Rachael Adams (29:37.484)
So beautiful. Well, is there something you are loving right now?
Noelle (29:47.748)
I love how we end our evenings. My husband and I go outside and sit around our fire pit every night, and we just kind of debrief the day. I look forward to that and enjoy that moment of connection. Yeah, I think I’m loving that.
Rachael Adams (30:08.41)
Yeah. What are you feeling at this moment? I know it’s earlier in the morning for you as we’re recording, but how are you feeling today?
Noelle (30:13.794)
Now, it is early. I’m going to look over my list here. I think I feel Pressure. Pressure, I have just so much on my plate today. Where it’s like, you know, you look at your calendar and it’s like one thing after the next to get done and to do. So would it be okay if I just read a little bit out of the liturgy of pressure? Because maybe someone else feels pressure today. I put a definition of each liturgy and emotion. Pressure is the suffocating feeling that comes with caring about the expectations of others. I’ll just read a part of it.
Breathe in my Lord God. Breathe out; help me find relief. God, give me courage and curiosity to see why I do what I do. At some point, I believed I had the power to do things that you hadn’t asked me to do. I could do it all. Perhaps I thought I had to do it all. But as I stop, I am listening to what drives my pressure. I believe it is my responsibility. I must be enough. I must be significant. I must keep everyone safe. I must be happy. I must be right. I must be strong. I must be at peace. I must. God, this pressure exposes the deep beliefs of my heart. Through this pressure, want you want to purify my heart. This pressure isn’t to push me but to purify me, and there’s a purpose. You are purging my soul of the lies that have led me here.
You want to release me from the expectations I live under. You want to free me from my neurotic need to be God for everybody else. I let this feeling be a siren that something in my soul needs care. And I listen to your voice. I let you lift my mounting expectations. And the truth is, I can’t do anything without you. I can’t save, protect, help, control, make peace, gain approval, make things right, be strong, manage it all, or be enough without you. But what I can do is let you attend to my deepest wounds. I can let you be close to my heart and fear of not caring about everything and everyone. In this pressure and the fear of everything falling apart, I press into you. And I need your help right now because I can’t do this alone. Help me untangle my story. May I know in the deepest caverns in my soul that the only expectation you have for me is the expectation that I would receive your love? You love me when I do nothing at all. Into your hands, I place my life. Into your hands, I place the lives of those I love. I trust that you care more about my life than I do. Lord, hear my prayer. And I end with 1 Peter 5, 6, and 7. Therefore, humble yourself under God’s mighty hand so that He may lift you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
Rachael Adams (34:23.211)
It’s so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity to chat with you. I’m challenged by wanting to feel more, but I also hope that I know and can trust that God will be with me no matter what I feel. And that gives me such peace. So today has been such a joy, and I just appreciate your time so much as I was thinking about your devotional, do you envision people reading it like just one after another, or do they pick it up in their think they’re looking through the table of contents and kind of having an awareness in their heart okay what am I feeling today what type of prayer do I need is that more of how you envisioned it being used and what do you hope for readers as they walk through the devotional.
Noelle (35:20.765)
Yeah, absolutely. It is not a book you read straight through. It’s a book, like you said; you pick it up and ask yourself, how do I feel? God, like, how do I feel? And out of the 75 feelings, there’s the definition and a gentle guide to welcome and greet your feelings. Please pay attention to your temptations to avoid suppressing or indulging them. I really hope readers really pray. Prayer is the heart of your relationship with God. You can’t pray and have intimacy with God if you’re not being honest with him about where you’re really at. And that’s the place that God chases you down. He seeks you in your guilt and shame and loneliness and longings and ickiness and despair. God is with you there. So, I hope that people experience the love of God in where their heart is.
Rachael Adams (36:33.904)
People often go through difficult things and have big feelings when they are in a relationship with other people. Sometimes, we don’t know how to respond or what to say, and sometimes, we’ll try to come up with the words or send them a scripture. Still, I can imagine, you know, if everyone listening has a copy of your book. As somebody sends them a text or you know they’re in a relationship, somebody’s, you know, pouring their heart to you over coffee or the phone that as you start to recognize a feeling, You could grab a copy of your book and say, “Okay, well, let me read this to you and let me help settle your heart.” I think this would not only benefit you but also help other people as they’re going through whatever they’re going through.
Noelle (37:16.698)
I can’t tell you how many times someone shows me that they screenshot a picture or the story that I share that helps them articulate their heart or the scripture passage or the liturgy and they send it to a friend because yeah, there’s a lot of times where it’s like, wow, I haven’t experienced that feeling or to the degree that they felt it and are in it right now a single mom who’s going through deep exhaustion like I’m not a single mom and I don’t know that kind of exhaustion, but what I can do is like, I can send them this prayer that they can pray. Or, I need a scripture for that right now. Like, I don’t know, what do I do, Google? Okay, here’s a scripture for someone who’s depressed. You know, that’s a beautiful way to show up as a friend in someone’s life.
Rachael Adams (38:09.962)
I know you don’t want people to rip out pages in your book, but I can almost imagine like, you know, one that is just especially meaningful to you to put it on your desk or put it on your mirror, put it in your car, take a screenshot of it like keep it as your screensaver. I can imagine these being special and helpful for people. Is there a season of one certain feeling? So I know I’m just thankful to get to connect with you. I know listeners will want to get a copy of your book. So let us know how we can best do that.
Noelle (38:39.614)
Yeah, you can find me online. I’m sure you’ll put it in the show notes, but my website is angelypascal.com. On Instagram, love always. anjuli I send out little love notes weekly to encourage people. And, of course, you can buy my book on Amazon or anywhere books are sold.
Rachael Adams (39:00.652)
I know you’ve read us a liturgy, but would you pray for us as we close?
Noelle (39:07.488)
Yes. God, we give you thanks for even the sorrow we may be feeling today, or the exhaustion, or the grief, or the anxiety, or the shock, or the gratitude. All these feelings, God, are just an invitation to having a more intentional and intimate relationship with you. So we give you thanks, and you welcome us, God, as we are. What joy there is to know that you come after us and then come after us in the messy condition we find ourselves in. But you love us even here. Thank you for the listeners. Lord, would you reveal to them the feeling that they are running away from or avoiding? God, would you give them just enough grace so that they dare to say that feeling out loud and ask you for help? So we commit our time and our day again to you, Lord, in Jesus’ amen.
Noelle (40:36.31)
Thank you, Rachel.
