{"id":7075487,"date":"2026-10-04T09:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T09:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487"},"modified":"2026-10-04T09:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T09:52:17","slug":"were-all-in-this-together-expressively-his","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019re all in this together \u2026 \u2013 Expressively HIS \u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">July 27, 2025<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yesterday, I said \u201csee you later\u201d to my smart, funny, trusted friend Charlotte, who died in the flood. (The picture is a group of friends who were loved well by that same Charlotte.) This morning, I got myself up and went to church.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I bawled the entire service. I went through no less than five tissues. I felt like a blubbering idiot, but the tears had a mind of their own and refused to stop pooling in my eyes and streaking down my cheeks. I realized I wasn\u2019t just grieving for my friend; I was experiencing collective grief.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"535\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/2025\/07\/28\/were-all-in-this-together\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg\" data-orig-size=\"1440,1440\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"og book club missing charlotte\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg?w=750\" width=\"750\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg?w=750\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-535\" style=\"width:354px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg?w=750 750w, https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg?w=150 150w, https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg?w=300 300w, https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg?w=768 768w, https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg?w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nickidechertcarlson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Texas Hill Country in July of 2025 is a difficult place for empaths. I was in a room full of people who were praising God while simultaneously carrying the fallout from unimaginable loss. It was powerful and humbling. It was faith holding hands with questions. It was a nervous energy making us all want to <em>do something<\/em> \u2026 to make a difference \u2026 to make the pain lessen, while also wanting to close our eyes and curl up in our Heavenly Father\u2019s lap for consoling, like the helpless children we are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How do we reconcile our belief in God\u2014a good God who wants good things for us\u2014and tragedies like this devastating 1,000-year-flood and the loss of so many innocent lives? How do we start to recover and rebuild while holding space for those who are not yet ready to do the same? How do we let go of the pain while still clinging tightly to memories of our loved ones and favorite places?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, I think we have to remind ourselves that we live in a fallen, imperfect world. This isn\u2019t Heaven. Bad things happen here because we collectively bear the results of one another\u2019s poor choices. And not just poor choices, but choices made with the best of intentions but a limited knowledge and perspective. Only God can see the whole picture. We\u2019re all down here just doing the best we can.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Second, remember, the opposite is also true: we collectively bear the results of one another\u2019s <em>good<\/em> choices. Love and kindness ripple out in circles like a pebble thrown into a still pond. Mercy and grace, when freely offered, multiply exponentially. We see this in the helpers who show up, without fail, in tragedies like this. We will all grieve and process this trauma differently. Be kind. Extend mercy. Allow people to make mistakes, over- or under-react, behave abnormally, cry a lot, melt down, get angry quickly, or act stoic. Offer grace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Third, listen. Take time to sit and listen to one another. Share stories of loved ones who are greatly missed. Tell tales of the generosity you have witnessed. <em>Listen<\/em> to one another\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Friends, I get it. This burden\u2013this grief\u2013is so heavy. But it\u2019s lighter when we carry it together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yours, as well as His,<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Nicki<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>July 27, 2025 Yesterday, I said \u201csee you later\u201d to my smart, funny, trusted friend Charlotte, who died in the flood. (The picture is a group of friends who were loved well by that same Charlotte.) This morning, I got myself up and went to church. I bawled the entire service. I went through no [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7075490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112820,100682,150641,99164,162472,11848,236059,100684,12267,181685,102980,236060,110641],"tags":[111733],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7075487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-god-2","category-bible","category-compassion","category-faith","category-flood","category-friendship","category-goodgod","category-grief","category-jesus","category-kerrunited","category-kindness","category-questioning","category-trauma","tag-expressively"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>We\u2019re all in this together \u2026 \u2013 Expressively HIS \u2026 - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We\u2019re all in this together \u2026 \u2013 Expressively HIS \u2026 - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"July 27, 2025 Yesterday, I said \u201csee you later\u201d to my smart, funny, trusted friend Charlotte, who died in the flood. 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I went through no [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-04T09:52:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1736370851_s-l500.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"We\u2019re all in this together \u2026 \u2013 Expressively HIS \u2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-04T09:52:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/og-book-club-missing-charlotte.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Expressively\"],\"articleSection\":[\"#God\",\"bible\",\"Compassion\",\"Faith\",\"flood\",\"Friendship\",\"goodgod\",\"grief\",\"Jesus\",\"kerrunited\",\"kindness\",\"questioning\",\"Trauma\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7075487\",\"name\":\"We\u2019re all in this together \u2026 \u2013 Expressively HIS \u2026 - 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