There is no wonder why we use the heart as an analogy for our deep, inner emotions and experiences.  It is our lifeblood.  The heart keeps us alive; it causes us to function.  Without it all of our body fails.  The health of our heart affects every part of our lives. So it is with […]

Jesus told us when He was on this earth, “In this life you will have troubles…” One of the only guarantees we have is that this life will not be easy.   Life is full of uncertainty.  It is often overwhelmed with troubles and struggles and frustrations. So I’m just wondering how we still live […]

I am learning a lot about patience.  And grace.  And truth. I am learning that gold really does have to go through refining fire in order to shine.  You know what they say, “No pressure, no diamonds.” (That was for my brothers.) I’m learning that I cannot let other people affect my shine.  Or as […]

(that title is an inside joke for Gordon students – ha. ha. eye roll.) I’m not sure I’m as fun as I used to be. I was reminded of a ridiculously goofy and spontaneous thing I did back in college, and after reliving those moments I sighed to myself, “I’m not fun anymore.” I used […]

I love when everything comes back around. I was planning for my middle school small group and it was a lesson on emotions.  And the book we’re using said, “Make a conscious effort to replace stressful thoughts with prayer, scripture, or praise songs.” A few weeks ago we talked about insecurity, and it said, “If […]

Friends to dream with – gift. Last week I posted about dreaming big, God-sized dreams.  God gave me a dream, a ‘little’ dream that my sweet roommate is helping me make a reality. It is called 31 days of gratitude.  Counting gifts, things I am thankful for, has been a life changing practice for me […]

I took a journey down memory lane the other day via my college journals, and stumbled upon entries about the process of the mission trip I co-led to Nicaragua. I journaled from the day I found out I’d be leading to when we were actually there and then the days when we returned to snow […]

When your desire for God outweighs your desire for anything else, that is when you will have true ______. Fill in the blank. I started off my morning by just rattling off apologies to Jesus, as I stared in the mirror getting ready for the day.  I am sorry I don’t pay more attention to […]