More than Unbroken

Check out the VLOG this week… © Jill Cook and Unbroken & Undone Ministries.  All rights reserved.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “when it rains it pours.“ Emotionally, my week has been a bit of a monsoon. Don’t get me wrong. Our family is well and safe. This weary heart and mind of mine, though, has taken a beating.  My biggest bully (besides, Satan, the accuser himself) is me.  I know the truth. I know what’s real and what isn’t. Quite frankly, much of my current weariness comes from the knowledge that there is so much darkness. Sometimes-a lot, actually-the negativity of others or even the sadness of circumstances reaches me at a very deep level. Over the last two years, I have made a conscious effort to combat this spiritual attack, which I now recognize. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I have often talked about my personal struggles with this, because I believe that people are afraid of judgement when they “come clean” about things they are not proud of. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and tim...

“ A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it, it just blooms .” * Buddhist Proverb One of my favorite God-winks are those out-of-season azaleas. I first noticed the anomaly in 2020-the year that changed so much of my life. In Florida, winter consists of frosty mornings melting into a comfortable sixty-six degrees, and ultimately has us shedding lightweight jackets in the humid, sunny afternoons. You would think that these delicate flowers would never survive-especially at my house-with the daily climate change. Still, every year since 2020, the blossoms have appeared at the most ironic times. I am by no means a gardener. I’m not outdoorsy, nor do I remember to cultivate and nurture things that grow in the soil. Yet, these tender blooms show up just when God wants me to recognize His beauty in His world and in my life. The irony of these flowers is the fact that they blossom in the spring season and virtually cover their limbs with bright pinks, fuchsias, and whites. ...

But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently. ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Sometimes I need a chance to regroup. To re-align myself with the calling and mission God has placed before me. Lately, I am feeling the need to press pause. It’s easy to get caught up in the honeymoon stage of new ministry. I certainly did. I allowed the ambition of what could be to overshadow the simplicity of what God was asking of me. When Chuck died, all God asked me to do was share my personal struggles with the world. He asked me to remove the mask of “being okay” and reveal that even Christians hurt and deal with questions of why. Months into the journey, I began pondering the next steps. Would there be a book? Was God calling me to speak? Would this ministry become my livelihood?  Dreaming big God dreams is not wrong. At the same time, we have to be careful not to glory in ourselves along the way. The truth is, I am humbled beyond words that God would ch...