Two Things Can Be True
(From guest writer Faith Taylor)
Dear Josephine, Rory, and Wesley,
Life isn't always just good or just bad. It's okay to wrestle with conflicting feelings.
The process to bring each of you home meant walking difficult paths, but every step has been worth it to have you here today. You three are the reasons I keep going.
Mama
P.S. I smile because as I write this, Wesley is chewing on my arm and smiling. How perfectly poetic that I can write about hard times while seeing the proof of God’s work in my life in the smiles looking up at me.
Inside Out Lectionary Letters
Year A Proper 8 - (Texts, Art, Hymns)
Readings for Sunday, June 28, 2026
Genesis 22:1-14 / Psalm 13 / Romans 6:12-23 / Matthew 10:40-42
Summary of Psalm 13
In this psalm, David cries out to God for deliverance. He begs God to rescue him, asking how long he will have to suffer what he's going through.
Yet the psalm ends in praise for a God who David trusts. Not only does David trust God, but sees God’s hand of blessing on his life.
Scripture as a Mirror of the Soul
My high school Sunday school teacher had an intense dislike for the psalms. He frequently criticized David, who seemed to flip flop from the depths of despair to songs of praise in the span of a verse.
Yet it is psalms like these that so perfectly mirror the soul during the turbulence of life.
When my (adopted) sons were born, each had extended NICU stays where they went through opioid withdrawals.
Holding a baby going through withdrawals is, hands down, the most excruciating thing I've ever experienced. And while it would be easy to hold onto anger toward their birth mom, I grieved because I've spent the last 28 years loving her and hate the pain that's led us to this point.
When I read the first half of Psalm 13, it takes me back to those days. Tiny, delicate babies with feeding tubes. Morphine every three hours. Sweats, shaking, grimacing, crying (both theirs and mine).
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” Those words could have easily been my prayer on the hardest days of this journey.
Yet I also remember the faithfulness of God from those days. Singing songs of worship as my sons finally rested in my arms. Having nurses and social workers and friends offer words of strength and encouragement. Long hospital days broken up by good food and good company.
The outer life is rarely black and white, only good or only bad. Likewise, we do ourselves a major disservice when we think our inner lives should only reflect one feeling at a time.
We can be in the deepest valleys of life, wondering where God is. And at the same time, we can also feel the warmth of the sun on our faces and reflect on how bountifully God has dealt with us.
What a wonderful blessing we have in Scriptures like this, that remind us how beautifully human it is to feel more than one thing at a time!