On the Monday after Christmas, at the end of a pandemic filled year, when it seems like all is falling apart...

Maybe it's the Thursday where the toilet backs up, the kids won't stop fighting...

In our house, it often has to do with health issues.  A change in medication, causing more Autistic meltdowns, littlest kiddo having an anxiety attack, or Mama having a flare where she can't get out of bed. 

Whatever the circumstances, there are times that we feel weary.  I don't just mean up all night tired, but soul-aching, weary.  It's those times, that I need truth in my life.  That's what led to this design.  Psalm 23 has a little phrase in there that is a promise of hope.  "He restores my soul."  

Yes, even when we walk through the valleys, and the shadows of death surround us, we're not alone.  "He restores my soul."  

When it feels like we can't make it through another day. "He restores me soul."

When fears abound and threaten to swallow you whole.  "He restores my soul."

Remember this truth, for it is a breath of life.  "He restores my soul."

It was important to Christa that we offer encouragement to those that deal with anxiety and depression, since it's something that she has struggled with for years.  Knowing that your not alone in life is a huge blessing, and so we created the Courage Dear Heart line of tees. 

​​The albatross can be a symbol of a burden or weight, but it was also the sign of inspiration and guidance to seafarers. In a work by C.S. Lewis, he writes of an albatross that appears and offers hope and guidance to a ship lost in a dark sea. Just when it looked like all was lost...
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Lucy looked along the beam and presently saw something in it. At first it looked like a cross, then it looked like an aeroplane, then it looked like a kite, and at last with a whirring of wings it was right overhead and was an albatross. It circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow. It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them. After that it spread its wings, rose, and began to fly slowly ahead, bearing a little to starboard. Drinian steered after it not doubting that it offered good guidance. But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, “Courage, dear heart,” and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s, and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.
In a few moments the darkness turned into a greyness ahead, and then, almost before they dared to begin hoping, they had shot out into the sunlight and were in the warm, blue world again. And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been. They blinked their eyes and looked about them. The brightness of the ship herself astonished them: they had half expected to find that the darkness would cling to the white and the green and the gold in the form of some grime or scum.
~C. S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Chapter 12
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Depression and anxiety often feels like being lost in a fog so dark that you'll never find your way out. The albatross is a reminder that there is a way out, the darkness is not eternal. Even in the thick of the darkest dark, we can remember the words, “Courage, Dear Heart,” and not give up, to keep fighting, and sometime enter the warm, blue world again.

After a particularly insane day, I was sharing the days events with my sister-in-law.  She's a great listener.  The words were shared with me, "Breathe Grace." 

Those two words headed straight to my soul and changed my attitude.  Isn't it funny how a changed attitude can change a whole day?  Words have always have a great impact on me, and every since I was young, I'd put encouraging words on the wall, to remind me of truth.  (It's one of the main reasons I got into designing shirts.)

But here's what those two little words said to me...

After a physically hard day, and frustration over all of the things that can't be done, after the yelling and running and spilled drinks from kids...just breathe grace.

Breathe it in...give grace to yourself. God gives us the strength to do what needs to be done. We'll never "get it all done," but He gives us the grace and strength to get done what should, and we need to give ourselves the same grace.

Breathe it out...give grace to others. The yelling kids, spilled drinks, the husband that forgets a task...give them grace. We've been given much grace, so we need to give it to others.

Breathe Grace, and don't worry about tomorrow. His grace is enough. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Since these words were so impactful to me, I immediately started designing, a simple little reminder to myself to do those two words.  "Breathe Grace."

Need the reminder for yourself?  Get your "Breathe Grace" tee here.