Sarah Mae
About the Author

Sarah Mae has a past that would be her present if it weren’t for Jesus. A blogger, author, and co-author of Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe, she’s currently writing The Complicated Heart, a book for broken-hearted lovers of Jesus. Learn more at @thecomplicatedheart on Instagram or...

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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
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Comments

  1. Thank you, Sarah Mae, for this strong call to life. And thank you mostly for the admission that sometimes life feels like death in slow motion, but this does not have to be our story.

  2. What a powerful message! I can’t tell you many times I wanted to give up fighting. But I knew that no matter what I wanted to live for Christ. That Christ is my joy, not the momentary glimpses of this world.

    • Me too. It got so bad, that is when I went to the doc to see what to do. The medication he prescribed has lifted the dark I was in. God is so kind to help us. And I’m with you sister. To live for Christ is to have such meaningful purpose and to keep on. I love how Beth Moore says that if we’re still sucking oxygen on this earth, we still have a purpose here!

  3. Exactly! This choosing happens over and over again. Whatever our circumstance we were made for such a day as this. Christ was sent to be our light even when we at times perceive it as a flickering candle. Thank you for your eloquent words of wisdom.

  4. Thank you for your transparency. I’ve recently just awakened to the need to make a choice too. Embarking on this journey to live! I became an empty nester over ten years ago nd I have a loving husband whose a workaholic. Life can get lonely but I’ve got to make the best of what’s left of this 59 year olds life, to the praise of His glory.

    • Yes! I had a wise woman tell me once that if my husband didn’t want to adventure with me (because work, tiredness, etc.), that I could still do it! You have so much life! You could volunteer somewhere, start a business, find a new hobby, explore your town, get together with girlfriends, try new food, read new books, and on and on. You have purpose and God sees you and knows you’re lonely. Oh Suzanne, praying for you today sister.

      • Thank you for the encouragement! As I said I’m just awakening after a long period so your devotional was a confirmation! John 10:10 “I’ve come to give them life, not just life but life in abundance!” I’m believing what years I have left will be lived in abundance as He died for & desires for me, for all of us! Blessings upon blessings be upon you & yours sister!

    • Hi Suzanne, I’m right there with you. Kids are grown and loving husband is a workaholic. We also relocated about a year ago, so girlfriends are no longer physically near by. My husband has mission work he loves, but which also vies for his time. I got quite lonely and feeling sorry for myself. He told me that if I needed him to give up his mission work, he’d do it. That was my wake-up call. He shouldn’t have to give up important work he loves to sit home with me…instead I should find things I love and not sit home either! I’m still a work in progress, but this was an important epiphany for me. No one else is responsible for my life and God is by my side when things feel scary and unfamiliar.

  5. Sarah Mae, thank you so much for sharing this. It’s so easy to forget that we don’t have to give in and let life circumstances run us over. We have the Holy Spirit and when we respond and open up God fills us to overflowing. This equals life lived with joy instead of a daily sigh. So thankful to find your post today. It was inspiring and full of reminders I needed this morning!

  6. I can’t relate on the mother part, but I definitely appreciate this – even though it isn’t something I can feel or believe right now. I can identify from a faith standpoint that you are correct, and know that, but man, life really throws curveballs – even with our friends and family who claim the same faith.

    Thank you. 🙂

    • Yep, I hear ya. I’ve had the head heart disconnect myself.
      Praying today that God lets the truth hug right into your heart. You are so loved, and God sees you and your pain. Love ya sister.

    • This is similar to how I feel. I found the message in the post encouraging but I keep praying for a miracle I can’t seem to get past this devastating depression it just comes on sometimes in a matter of moments and I can hardly breathe yet I know Jesus and I cry out because I know we can’t live on feelings. I echo those same words so many days that if this doesn’t get better I don’t know it I’ll make it. Then I pray to our Father to take away every thought that’s not of Him. I take meds and have recently changed so I’m a little afraid they aren’t working or possibly strong enough but I know God knows and he is faithful. Thank you for your honesty. Jo

  7. Thank you for this message, I found myself questioning my future for sometime. After 30+ years in my career I began to see myself as identified by my title. I had a “Zen” moment last year when I when I thought, no that is what I do but not who I am. I had struggled with the idea of taking early retirement for a very long time and did a lot of praying. Due to several circumstances where I worked and I turned 60 I decided to go ahead and retired. I sought God’s direction and 6 months later I am still trying to figure out what retirement means to me, but I know it was the best thing I could have done for myself! My blood pressure is back to normal, the anxiety is gone and I get a good night’s sleep. God has blessed me in so many ways. I have an 85 year old father that needs more of my attention and I am available when he needs me. I’ve had a very sick cat that I would not have been able to take care of had I still been working. I take one day at a time and I’m amazed where the Lord leads me ’cause he knows best!

  8. “But then one day you wake up and you think, “Who am I now?” You have to figure out a new normal. You’re you, but you’re different.” I felt exactly like this after retiring. I was a teacher for over 20 years and that was my identity. Then I retired and I had to figure out a new identity. It took almost 2 years of small steps to get me to the point where I am now. It took a lot of prayer, planning and missteps but I got here. Thank you for putting into words what it is like to become new.

  9. Sara Mae,
    Your post has really touched me this morning…thank-you so much for opening up. In the busyness it can be hard not to get lost in the swirl, and I’m so thankful for all the times the Lord’s helped pull me out.
    Blessings to all,
    Penny

  10. I want to thank you for the 2 small words that settled my heart instantly: Meds helped. I feel that whenever I read something about people being depressed or full of anxiety or both they never mention medication. It makes me feel like I should be able to fix myself without medicine. I can’t. I’ve tried. No matter how many Bible passages I read, hours of devotions I do, Bible studies and church services I attend and books I read can or will fix the chemical imbalance in my brain. These things all help and I need them. Oh, how I need them. And I need Jesus every hour. But unless I take medication, I am unable to even focus or even make myself do any single one of them, let alone do my daily tasks of being a housewife and stay-at-home-mother of 3. I wish I didn’t need it but people with other physical illnesses probably wish they didn’t have their condition either. No one looks down on a diabetic person for taking medication for that or a cancer patient for doing chemotherapy or radiation to keep themselves alive. Why is it so different when someone with a mental illness takes medication to keep themselves “alive?”

    • Oh, honey, you just TAKE those meds and don’t feel ashamed! I’ve been on antidepressants for YEARS. It IS a chemical imbalance, we can’t help it, it’s just the way we are. We need to praise God for the medication that can help us function like ‘normal’ human beings! Try to learn to accept it and be OK with it yourself, then project that to others. Don’t be ashamed, YES, we take meds, but that helps us be a better US!

        • THANK YOU to all 3 of you for that encouragement!!! I have yet another new prescription in my purse, waiting to be taken to the pharmacy… After a decade of being on a combination of meds that worked (well, good enough), I’m back to playing “musical pills” – for those of you who don’t understand what I mean by that, praise God that you don’t! So, if you are blessed with meds that help, thank God for each one! That’s what I wish I would have done every time I felt bad about myself for having to take medication to be “normal”

  11. Much needed for today. I hear ya! We get so caught up in this daily routine life and we soon become overwhelmed and dry. This mothering is not an easy task for us and there’s no step by step book to help us through it. Some days or should I say most days, I feel I like am just winging it and keeping my head above water. And there’s many times, I wished someone would come and save me and pull me out of the water. It is in these times that I know and trust that our awesome God had been with me the whole time. My little faith just took the best out of me convincing my human heart that I got no one. In reality, I got the biggest Savior ever! It is so refreshing to hear that others are with me through this life. We women need to encourage one another and be that life line for each other. Thanks so much for sharing this!

  12. That’s one of the things I love about this little home online—vulnerability is commonplace. I’ve had a lot going on lately, and haven’t stopped by as much the last couple of weeks, and I’ve missed all you sweet writers. Thank you for your candor and the encouragement to be free. Life can sometimes feel like a wind-up toy, that once wound up, it chaotically zooms around, unable to find its lane. (Then, when it finally does stop, it wonders how it got under the table! haha.) (Or is that just me? 🙂 ) — Such an important message, Sarah Mae. Thank you. ♥

  13. Sarah Mae,
    Thanks for these wise and brave words. They have spoken to me today. May God bless you and give you his peace today and help you continue to live for Him.

  14. “I was going to have to fight. I had to make plans and begin again and again.”

    Thank you, Sarah Mae. I needed those very words today. Tomorrow I will start the fight. Today, as my mom always says, “I just need a good cry.”

    Blessings to you.

    • Sometimes I think a good cry is part of the fight because it’s letting yourself be vulnerable enough to feel and ache and get through.
      Blessings back to you sister!

  15. Sarah Mae,
    I get this! There were several years I just “lived life”. I rolled with the punches, but there was no joy. Some days were good & some so so. It’s hard when you become a caregiver to your aging parents. Your life isn’t your own anymore. Like a mom you never know when that call will come to go help. You must decide what you can do for yourself & what has to be laid down for now. I gave up full-time work, & some free time. In the end I wouldn’t change it. Like you I had many “blue” days. I just wanted out of the water onto safe dry ground. We have to choose to live our lives to the full. Don’t let the daily struggles get the best of you. Take them to God. He will fight for you & we will win!! Praise God for wonderful friends who come along side us & help us through our trials!!

    Blessings 🙂

  16. I understand Sarah Mae!! I am at this place in my life and I am so thankful to God and his wisdom, courage and strength to renew(: Thank you, thank you so much for this post(: