Fresh Articles For the Other 6 Days
A Devotion Closer
May 18th Devotion from Jesus Calling year-long devotional book by Sarah Young: “COME TO ME with your plans held in abeyance. Worship Me in spirit and in truth, allowing My Glory to permeate your entire being. Trust Me enough to let Me guide you through this day, accomplishing My purposes in My timing. Subordinate your myriad plans to My Master Plan. I am sovereign over every aspect of your life! “The challenge continually before you is to trust Me and search for My way through each day. Do not blindly follow your habitual...
read morePeaceful Anxiety
“Just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so also my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts” – Isaiah 55:9 On numerous occasions this past year I have found myself thinking, ‘but actually, God is in control.’ As if I never learned anything from the children’s song, He’s got the whole world in his hands, so many times my lesser conscience has forgotten that, actually, God is in control. As Christians, I know that God is watching me, listening to me, guiding me. So why is the act of...
read moreCampus Culture
Berkeley taught me to overcome adversity, expand the frontier of possibilities, and defy comfort with the status quo. Sounds like the beginning of a graduation speech. But a different face emerges while playing catch-a-phrase: …they’re nature lovers who don’t want something to get cut down… BERKELEY! …a cloud of people holding up signs, with lots of writing, and shouting… BERKELEY! …not below, but _____…okay, and another word for middle… BERKELEY! Yes, Berkeley’s fame lies in the memories of tree-huggers,...
read moreGo Ahead and…Rest
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest….” Meditating over this week’s blog topic, Matthew 11:28 came to mind. Reading Facebook posts about people taking their last exams and turning in their final papers for the academic year, I thought the topic was very appropriate. The finale of certain events in life, such as the academic year, that long work week, or even any positive change that gives us a break from a continuity, really allows us to enjoy what life feels like on the other...
read moreA World Without Mothers
What would the world be like without mothers? What if we were born into a world without a constant, steady, nurturing figure? What if we had no one to kiss us goodnight, to clean our scraped knees, to hug us close, and to believe in us? It would be a sad world, indeed—a world where we might be oblivious to the fact that such warmth and nurturance is possible. Without my mother’s patience for me, I would not have realized that I can keep on trying even if I fail. Without my mother’s storytelling, I would not have learned about our...
read moreA Heart of Shoeboxes
It’s a dustless attic. No, it’s a library of…shoeboxes? These shoeboxes were neatly arranged on shelves, no more than two boxes high. I walked to the end of one row and saw a shoe box with my name on it. It wasn’t my house, but the owner told me “Go ahead. You can open it.” So I pulled off the lid. Inside were filed index cards, mostly white ones but a couple were colored. I pick out a white one towards the front and read the writing. I was surprised by what was on the card; it was a prayer. A prayer I had said...
read moreChopsticks and Switchblades
My Aunt Mabel was old when she was young. At least that’s how it seemed to me. As the youngest of twelve children, my mother was raised mainly by her older sister. So Mabel was a frequent visitor in our home from my elementary to my high school years. Perhaps my earliest recollection of her took is the scratchy “beard” she seemed to tub against my pre-schooler face when greeting me with a hug after one of the long trips that became her life. I never suspected that decades later trips like that would become my life too. Aunt Mae usually...
read morePride, Prejudice, and Socks
Normally I would have climbed out of bed to enjoy my morning ritual: a hot cup of coffee. There was just one problem: I couldn’t move. That is, without excruciating pain. The sharp muscle spasms assaulting the base of my spine were a result of having thrown my back out the day before. I felt like electric currents were shooting through my back every time I attempted to move. In spite of my condition, I was determined to get up and get dressed. I got as far as my socks, then realized I could not bend my torso far enough to reach my feet. Even...
read moreWhat is God’s Will for Your Life?
I want to know God’s will for my life. When people ask that what are they really saying? Sometimes I think we expect to sit across from God at a table as he hovers over his crystal ball waiting for him to reveal to us what the future holds so that we can know what kinds of decisions we need to make. The problem with this is when seeking to know the future… we’re longing to know what we can’t know. Embracing our limited understanding is exactly where God wants us to be so that our strength is in him an not...
read moreWe Just Need Someone To Show Us The Way
In 8th grade I made the most important decision of my life. I decided to follow Jesus for the rest of my life. But I was sorely confused about where to begin. I started by not talking to some of my friends anymore. Bad move. Then I bought a really fat Bible. Mostly good move. Soon I discovered an appetite for Christian rock music. Bad move. But I needed something more than external change. I needed more than a new genre of music or lifestyle. I needed someone to show me the way. Jonathan was the youth pastor at my church. Looking back now I...
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