What’s the hardest job in the world? Being a parent. At times it can be the

photo cred. Jordan McQueen

most wonderful and at others, utterly grueling. Some parents are beyond exhausted; not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Bone tired. They’ve had their hearts broken over and over again. Hopes and dreams lay shattered at their feet because of poor choices and behaviors. They never thought it could happen to them. It’s devastating.

Mental illness burdened your son to the point of him giving up on life. Will tonight be the night he succeeds in ending it? Drug addiction has left your daughter a mere shadow of the person she once was. Will tomorrow be the day you receive the call to come identify her body in the morgue?

Their heart still beats, their lungs still breathe, yet it feels like you’ve already lost them. The person who stands in front of you today is unrecognizable. How do you go on? How do you live and work and still care about other people and things with this huge weight pressing on your chest? Nothing else matters but trying to save them. Thoughts swirl and twirl and spin toward a gaping black hole that threatens to suck you in.

After enduring years of watching my daughter fall in and out of addiction, self-injury and suicide attempts, I needed to find a place where my burdens could be laid down. Could I escape the swirling and find my equilibrium?

Where could this safe place be found? A place to quiet tormenting fears and let go of deep sorrow. A place to release resentment and bitterness; to be real and let go. Let go of what consumed and defeated me. Not only that, but also to receive. To receive soul peace, inner strength, and healing. Deep-in-the-pit-of-my-being healing. The kind no human can give: no doctor, counselor, psychologist or psychiatrist.

This safe place, I didn’t find it in a physical location, but in a Person. In Jesus my Savior, my Good Shepherd, the Way the Truth and the Life. He was my place of true rest. He was – and is – my refuge in the storm. Through every trial He’s been faithful. He’s the one who brought healing to my soul.

I urge you, brokenhearted mom or dad, come and rest here. Come and lay your burdens down. He can be a refuge for you, too. You can find His peace and know you’re not alone anymore.

Rest in Him. He is near.

This Scripture is so encouraging: “Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light” (Micah 7:8b).

Listen to Here by Kari Jobe. The words, with it’s soothing melody, are a balm to my soul. I hope they will be for you as well.