This week we’re studying Luke 1:5-25 and 1:67-80.  In these passages, we see a man named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth give their lives faithfully to God.  As they aged, the struggled to have children – yet God was faithful to them.  Since everything is possible with God, we see God use this situation to not only…

Lately my prayer has been for God to give me more of his work, and for me to be more obedient to the Holy Spirit to just do whatever it is.  This prayer came out of the ongoing cycle of praying and searching for God’s will, only to realize the cycle of my life remained…

This week in our community group we talked about biblical confession.  We started out by asking people the associations they had with confession and found many of us have very negative feelings wrapped up in the word.  We think of confession either as failure, a ritual we do when we do something really bad, or…

Right now I’m reading, “The Cost of Discipleship” by Deitrich Bonhoeffer.  This book is already a favorite, and I’m only in about 4 chapters.  It’s not a favorite because it sits well, it’s a favorite because it is utterly offensive, truthful, and bold.  It’s a favorite because it has called me out of complacency. The…

My heart longs to grumble, longs to complain.  Until I read Psalms, where the words of oppression jump out of the page, followed quickly by pages of praise to God.  It seems so counter-intuitive, so difficult to mimic in my own prayers.  So lately, instead of writing my own prayers, I simply read over Psalms,…

I realize this week I’ve been worried about dates and deadlines.  I have dwelled in fear of not being able to meet them, and the fear of not being able to be fully in control of everything. Then I read the familiar passage of the disciples freaking out because the boat they were in was…

It’s seemed too long since I’ve updated the blog.  I’ve had a lot of late nights working, mixed in with travel, and then all of the non glamorous stuff like cleaning toilets and dusting around the house in my spare time.  In fact, just last Sunday I actually had to choose whether I was going…

This week for Bible study, we are covering Acts 2 and 4.  These portions of the Bible cover the early church and how it got started after the Resurrection.  What we see are beautiful illustrations of the lives that believers of Christ should look like. And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship,…

Dear Lord, I realize after coming back from vacation that the work you have for me on this earth is designed to increase my need for you.  To depend on you.  To have a relationship with you. Yet, I have such a hard time seeing you during the day.  I get sidetracked.  I get self-absorbed….

After weeks of traveling, this week I’m back home. I can’t express how excited I am to get back into the swing of things, to have a schedule, a routine. Starting last week, I’ve become more aware of the large mountain ahead of me at work. It is easy to feel overwhelmed quickly. It is…

Last week I booked travel for 4 out of the 5 upcoming weeks. I see the mountain of work and travel coming ahead of me and I’m fearful that as I enter into that place, I may forget or lose sight of God’s goodness.  I fear that I’ll neglect people who are desperate need of God,…

Ruth Chapter 3 is a very vulnerable position for Ruth in our story.   Now that her mother-in-law has figured out that Boaz is a distant relative and kinsman redeemer (meaning lawfully he’s obligated to marry Ruth), she urges Ruth to meet Boaz at the threshing floor and lie at his feet and do what…