“Are you serious?! A broken foot is the last thing you need.” “Haven’t you been through enough?” “Just when you were making real progress—“ Those were the most common responses to the news that I broke my foot. While sweet, they implied, perhaps unintentionally, that God was being too harsh, maybe even uncaring. It had… Continue reading When God’s Ways are Higher Than Our Ways — Nicole O’Meara
Author: Crossmap Blogs
Crossmap.com is a Christian living portal website serving the U.S. and global Christian communities. It is pan-denominational, viewing all Christian denominations as equal constituents of the body of Christ, and all Crossmap staff and contributors adhere to our statement of faith.
We Need to be Known — Nicole O’Meara
I’m standing before the living room window in my aunt’s home which is situated on a steep hill in the mountains. Being that the living room is on the second floor, my view out the window is of fat leafy branches of the large oak tree in her backyard—I think my aunt lives in a… Continue reading We Need to be Known — Nicole O’Meara
How to Live an Anchored Life when Rare Disease Untethers & Overwhelms You — Nicole O’Meara
My body is having an inflammatory reaction to something as yet undetermined. Sometimes, when I experience a new symptom or my doctors order a new test, it feels like being tossed about, untethered. I have so many questions, yet I rarely get answers to them. I want the security of knowing that an answer is… Continue reading How to Live an Anchored Life when Rare Disease Untethers & Overwhelms You — Nicole O’Meara
Days of Hope: Recalling God’s Faithfulness in the Playgroup Years — Nicole O’Meara
Last week, I found myself in a circle of women I met as a new mom twenty years ago. We were reminiscing about the Playgroup Days when we would get together every Friday with our babies, toddlers and preschoolers. The bonds we made during those years have stood the test of time. I heard a… Continue reading Days of Hope: Recalling God’s Faithfulness in the Playgroup Years — Nicole O’Meara
DEVOTIONAL: A Gift to Treasure — Nicole O’Meara
The red leather cube barely fills my palm. Its worn edges hint at its age. I push the tiny metal button and lift the lid with excitement having a general idea of what’s inside. The inner lining of the lid tells me of its origins: H.A. Jepsen Jeweler; Petaluma, Calif.—the birthplace of my mother and… Continue reading DEVOTIONAL: A Gift to Treasure — Nicole O’Meara
Loving Your Neighbor: the Story of Shelley — Nicole O’Meara
She came bouncing into my room in pink scrubs and a messy pony tail. The hospital name badge identified her as “Shelley,” my nurse for the day. Her bouncing took me off-guard. Nurses don’t bounce, but Shelley does. We were meeting for the very first time, but she acted as if we were already friends.… Continue reading Loving Your Neighbor: the Story of Shelley — Nicole O’Meara
What’s so Mysterious About Irrational Love? — Nicole O’Meara
It’s a rare occasion when a Bible verse makes me laugh. There was that one time in college, when my RA, Kim, pointed out that a king fell out his window and through lattice. (2 Kings 1:1-2) How in the world…? Darn those open-windowed castles! At the time, it was pretty funny. Today, a verse… Continue reading What’s so Mysterious About Irrational Love? — Nicole O’Meara
The Lord is My Portion — Nicole O’Meara
Reading the book of Lamentations is like reading a nightmare in which parents eat their children or leave them to starve. No wonder the author is lamenting… sorrowing. His situation is utterly hopeless. “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.” I’ve felt that kind of hopelessness. Not one drop of energy left.… Continue reading The Lord is My Portion — Nicole O’Meara
The Strength You Need — Just In Time — Nicole O’Meara
Which moments from 2022 were your best? Which were the hardest? For me, God was in both. I experienced His healing (the best). My dad died (the hardest). I don’t know what was harder, to watch him decline for months or to say goodbye, but God’s grace sustained me through both. Dad taught my sister and… Continue reading The Strength You Need — Just In Time — Nicole O’Meara
Storms of Suffering Reveal the Strength of Your Foundation — Nicole O’Meara
A recently crochet project taught me the importance of stitching the Foundation Row correctly. Not close, but exactly right. I was making a beanie and tried to fudge the first row, the Foundation Row. The error in my Foundation Row grew until, by the end of the project, I didn’t have a beanie, I had… Continue reading Storms of Suffering Reveal the Strength of Your Foundation — Nicole O’Meara