gratitude(5/1)
Steps to interactive gratitude
Step 1) Gratitude from me to God Take a moment right now and prayerfully ask the Spirit to help you remember a moment of gratitude. This memory can be anything that comes to your mind. It can be something simple that happened during the day or a theme you have encountered many times. When something comes to mind, take time to write down what you are thankful for in a conversational manner with God.…
What I love about Jesus
There’s so much to love about Jesus. Here’s my endlessly growing list of loves, along with curiosities, questions, and otherwise. Loves He meets us anywhere, anytime because he’s in the past, present, and future. Actually there, not just by memory. See prayer transcends spacetime obedience is not jesus first priority Jesus has such an unexpected way of fulfilling the roles and gifts. See jesus fulfills the roles and gifts. Jesus' leadership upends the authority structures the world prefers.…
Recommend: The Seven Storey Mountain
It’s an uncomfortable, wonderful experience to read an author who views the world in stark contrast to my perspective. That’s been my experience with The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. There’s much to discover in Merton’s autobiography. I hadn’t realized that Dante’s Inferno, from which Merton took his book’s title, doesn’t end with the circles of hell, but with a climb up purgatory. I also learned the names of prayer times; for example, nighttime prayer is called Compline (pronounced complin).…
Oppressed Americans are like Pharaoh's slaves
Have you watched this? Your browser does not support the video tag. I’m glad you have now. Ms. Jones is right - we should be thankful that the Black community rarely seeks revenge for their oppression. If you’re in a position of privilege, as I am, you should be afraid. But not of the Black community. The Holy Bible illustrates a story of one people, descended from Abraham, who were routinely oppressed by their neighbors.…
First anniversary
To celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary (woot!) I thought it’d be fun to recount our first from a journal entry I’d written two days after, with a few comments. 14 July 2015 It’s the first day back from Amie and I’s 1st wedding anniversary celebration. We drove to Manistee National Forest in Michigan to spend two nights at a B&B cabin. Staying with a couple we’d never met was strange at first, like paying to visit someone else’s family, but our first morning we were able to get to know them over the delicious breakfast they cooked us.…
What I love about Amie
You’ll say I’m biased, but Amie is one of the most empathetic, feisty, tenacious, faithful, sassy women on planet Earth. If you don’t believe me, consider a few of my favorite facts: Amie accepted an invitation to an Arizona internship simply because Jesus asked her “why not?” early the next morning. #faithful Amie was sent home from the emergency room after a doctor concluded her case couldn’t possibly be severe or she’d be screaming.…