In this raw and honest conversation, you’ll get to meet Melinda Williams, my friend and co-worker. She has recently joined Woven staff as the ministry coordinator and brought a multitude of skills (I’m lacking) to this new position. We laugh about the quirks of working alongside each other, while seeking to create wise boundaries and talk through tensions.

Melinda shares about seasons of grief and loss throughout her life, and opens up about a particularly challenging season she walked through in her family over the past 5 years. This one is a tear-jerker, but it is oh-so-refreshing and important as we dig into questions like -

How do we experience God’s goodness even in tremendous pain? How can we think rightly about God’s sovereignty when our world seemingly falls apart? Can we work well as friends with vastly different gifts? What does it look like to honor God as we parent through unknown territory?

Social media handle: @melindawilliamstxco

Noteworthy Quotes:

“I think that when you’re close that way and any one of you is struggling, all the rest of you are not totally ok.”

“You can’t always get in front of everything. I think that as a parent, you think you can.”

“The fact of the matter is there’s no playbook on this stuff.”

“I don’t think this happened to us because we weren’t doing something right. I don’t think this happened to us because our child did something wrong. I think it was a perfect storm. I think the Lord allowed it to happen. And I think that He walked with us every step of the way, and we could have chosen to see that or not see that.”

“Sometimes, honestly, sometimes I would be too fraught to even pray. Knowing prayer is what we need the most, and I don’t even have the words.”

“I could sense myself honestly questioning, ‘Did I think God did this?’ and ultimately I kept coming back to, I think God allowed it. And that He’s sad like I’m sad.”

“If someone’s not letting you in, it’s not that you have to go barge the door down, but you also can’t turn a blind eye and put your head in the sand and not dig deeper with some people. Because when the struggle is happening, everybody needs community. We were created for community. And so, if you’re not getting that, it’s going to be ten times worse.”

“There is never a risk-free guarantee with anything when we are following the Lord. Really, He is the constant. He is the one who is going to be there after we’re dead. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Really, other than that, there is really not a lot guaranteed.”

Verses:

Psalm 34:17

Philippians 4:7