Comfort Archives - Kristin Saatzer

Declare His Truths!

August 25, 2021 By Kristin Saatzer 3 Comments

It seems the world has gone crazy yet again. It is normal these days to tread in the river and drown in the surge of fear and bad news. Sometimes we need reminders of God’s presence when we can’t understand what He is doing (or not doing).

I know I do.

I have written many scriptures in my journal in times of desperate ache and despair in the last year. The moments, hours, and days when I did not feel God’s presence, I would declare His truths as a reminder to myself that He indeed was there.

Today I’d like to share verses that give me great comfort. I pray these words will help lift your gaze to God. May they bring you a measure of confidence and courage to face what the world or your world throws at you.

Spiritual blessings:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Ephesians 1:3 NLT

Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you. Isaiah 46:4 BSB

Prayer:

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Colossians 4:2 NLT

Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Ephesians 3:20 BSB

Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. John 16:24 NLT

Rest:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 NLT

Peace:

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT

The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11 NLT

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.] John 16:33 AMP

My Sis, Neil, and the 4th of July

July 4, 2018 By Kristin Saatzer 5 Comments

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy…”

Psalm 126:2a NIV

My sister Jeni is sunshine and smiles and one of the best gifts the Lord has given me. She paints levity and joy in every room she enters. God’s good medicine is my little sis.

She and I together have celebrated America’s birthday oodles of times. However, our experience two years ago was the best one out of all for me. A day of God’s sweet grace, hope, and healing.

The week of July 4th, 2016, my sister and her family drove down from Oregon to SoCal for vacation and time with loved ones.

Less than a month earlier, my family of six experienced trauma. The deepest waters of my life. As the awful continued, I believed I would never laugh again. Maybe a chuckle here or there I conceded, but sheer, deep belly- laughter vanished forever.

I was in a pit so deep that I had to push myself out of bed in the mornings. Nights of insomnia and tears were my consistent companions.

But when one has family in town, one must rally. And so I did. We enjoyed beach days, went to a Neil Diamond cover band concert, and ate and ate and ate. A sweet diversion from the ache and reality of our circumstances. God used our dear ones from Oregon as a healing balm over our seeping wounds.

On July 4th, we gathered at my dad’s house for a day of swimming, tennis, food, and then fireworks. A day burned beautiful in my mind and heart. To my surprise, I howled that day; full belly-laughter all day long! God used my sis to shine a light in my tunnel of darkness. We were silly sisters once again: inside jokes, conversing in our own “language”, dancing, and singing. I joined Jeni in her infectious world of joy and delight. The group of us played, sang and danced to Neil Diamond music, and introduced our kids to him in our weirdo way. I felt unfettered, carefree and yes, surprised by my laughter.

As we drove home that evening, tears of gratitude fell. My boys, concerned after witnessing so much sorrow in me in the last weeks, asked me what was wrong with fear in their eyes. The words would not come as I sobbed, the mix of emotions overwhelmed me. Yet, in that moment, my heart understood that we were going to be okay.

We are okay.Continue Reading

Graduation Gratitude

May 28, 2016 By Kristin Saatzer Leave a Comment

Graduations bring reflection and sentimentality, don’t they? I find myself in that mode as another graduation approaches.

Motherhood surpasses anything in my natural gifting, energy level, and temperament. Had you told me in my youth I would be a mom someday, I would have laughed! Had you told me I would birth and raise four boys, I would have passed out or slapped you. It was not part of my plan.

But God.

His purposes for me blew up my imaginings and ideas for my life.

After five years of marriage, Dan and I became parents to Samuel. And I was born anew. Changed by love.

After Sammy, came Noah. Baby Noah loved his mommy. Sammy had been an equal opportunity baby. Not Noah. He was all about mom.

For eleven years (and two brothers later), Noah was my biggest fan: wanting to be my partner in games, insisting I cuddle with him every night, daily sharing his heart with me, and doing his school work attached to my side.

As his hormones invaded, things changed for us. My biggest fan grew distant. My silly, joyful-boy grew sad and serious. Because of Noah’s fast-flooding hormones- brooding and resentment took hold. He viewed me as his foe and was no longer my biggest fan.

It crushed me.

By observing friends, talking with my husband, and reading parenting books on boys, I knew this was somewhat normal and I had certainly experienced it with my first son.

However, this time, it grieved me deeply. In my gut, I felt betrayed. Even though my rational self said otherwise.

But pain is a tool for growth, isn’t it? Pain is a tool God uses to strip away our reliance on the love and acceptance of others. Motherhood strips me clean and draws me closer to God like nothing else. Nothing.

Raw experiences in my journey with Noah, disloyalty, and rejection by loved ones led me to the unfailing, unconditional love of God. I needed to understand and believe it, to live in it. So, I filled my heart daily with big doses of God’s word, my healing balm. I meditated on scripture that spoke of God’s unconditional love and acceptance for me. His unfailing love was my comfort as Psalm 119:76 says.

And His unfailing love is my comfort. When feelings of rejection or insecurity sneak in, I return to His word, His truth, my healing balm.

Noah’s high school graduation is only days away. I will be joining other parents watching from the stands dabbing at the waterworks streaming down our cheeks. A mom, grateful and proud as I honor my boy who has accomplished so much after pushing through many bumps (and boulders) along his path. A mom, shaped by pain and loved by an amazing God whose love never quits.

Tonight as I type, I weep. Graduation gratefulness stirring in me as I reflect. Tears of deep, deep thankfulness flow because Noah and I have arrived at a precious place together. Our relationship- one marked by pain, love, and God’s perfect grace.

Lord, thank you for your unfailing love.

Words of Godlight

September 11, 2015 By Kristin Saatzer 4 Comments

Waking up with pain in my side, I pulled the covers down to investigate; my Bible lay bunched up against my ribs.

Bad news had come the night before as I readied for bed. The tears fell until they couldn’t. As night closed in, so did fingers of darkness around my heart as I grieved. Desperate for comfort and sleep, I brought my beloved Bible into bed with me. Holding it in my arms, I fell asleep as the sun rose through my window.

Psalm 119 was the passage I read that night. It is a passage I often go to. “The Word of God” is the theme of this, the longest Psalm. In it, King David continually tells us how God’s Word is our guide. God’s Word gives us direction and light in our darkness.

To me, the premier verse of this Psalm is 105:

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Firstly, I love the metaphor of The Word of God being a lamp, shining on my feet as I look down. This lamp shows me the way and gives me directed light to my otherwise stumbling steps. Turning this lamp on in the middle of my darkest nights, brings hope and comfort.

Secondly, The Bible is a beam shining on the road ahead. The upcoming path looks scary in the dark, but His light gives me the courage to begin – assuring me The Light of The Lord will be with me, illuminating the way.

What indescribable strength this verse provides me. I stand amazed by the countless times scripture has been my guide- my lamp, my light.

And you? Have words of Godlight been your comfort and guide? How about your current situation? Do you need to open His Word for help and hope in your darkness? Psalm 119 is a great place to start.

As the sun rose on the morning after my world shook, I held my bible close. The precious words of my Savior beamed as a lamp of hope to my hurting heart. God’s Words lit up the frightening path ahead and made me brave as I faced the new day and difficult days ahead.

Looking back, there is no way I could have walked my painful path (and oh so many others) without the Word of God as my light.