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Praise God in Soggy Circumstances
Summertime brings some of this Florida girl’s favorite things: from beach volleyball to stunning sunsets to outdoor adventures. Along with its golden glory, the season also presents undesirable side effects like thunderstorms that rain out weeknight runs with friends and weekend water plans. Anyone who’s lived in this state long knows what I mean. While I would choose sunshine over rain any day, the rain has its place. Yes, it keeps the grass green, but it also speaks a needed reminder to my heart. Rain reminds me to thank God even when I’d prefer sunshine. Life’s that way, isn’t it? Perhaps you had your heart set on one plan, and…
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The Pixelated Lens of Fear
Fear isn’t just something that plagues children. Although we might laugh about monsters in the closet now, the truth is that we all struggle or have struggled with fear at some point. Only, our fears morph into more subtle villains, masked with titles like rejection, self-doubt, and failure. Or, they may even be seemingly laughable “little” things that tempt us not to trust God … like my somewhat irrational fear of needles. (I say “somewhat” because trypanophobia is a word in the dictionary, which makes me guess I’m not alone.) Today, I’m honored to be a guest on author Jerusha Agen’s The Fear Warrior Blog. There, I’m sharing a challenge about…
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The Places Graduates Go: Deserts and Gardens
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. Do you recognize this conversation from Alice in Wonderland? If you’re graduating, maybe you feel a little bit like Alice. You’d like very much to stop and ask for directions. Along the way, though, life is going to take you places you might not expect. Last time, we saw the first two, and today, we’re going to look at two more. THE DESERT Missionary explorer David Livingston trekked across Africa from west…
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Ordinary People, Abundant Power
Have you noticed a common thread among superheroes? They have lowly origins, rise to unlikely greatness, and often have Achilles’-heel-like weaknesses. Think about it. Spiderman was a whimpy teenager until a spider bit him. Captain America couldn’t even meet the enlistment requirements. Superman was superhuman unless kryptonite came into the picture. Does anyone remember I-Man? My brothers liked this movie from the 80s, so I watched it many times in my childhood. I-Man breathed extraterrestrial space dust that made him virtually unstoppable. But if he were left in the dark, his cells would die, and well, so would he. He also had a penchant for stealing all the cream for…
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If You Could Be a Superhero
If you could be a superhero(ine), what would your super power be? A while back, our youth pastor challenged the teens in youth group to design their own biblical superhero, complete with name, super power, theme song, icon, etc. Our high school girls created a superheroine they called Proverbs 31derwoman. I was so impressed with their idea, organized in such a short amount of time, that I asked some of them if they would be willing to tell us more about it here. I’m excited that they said yes! For the next two weeks, you’re going to hear from Ashley, Hannah, and Victoria as they share what their heroine can teach…
