Job 28:1-30:31 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 Psalm 42:1-11 Proverbs 22:7 My friend and I talked today about how often we lose sight of God. We forget He's working. We forget to trust Him. We expect Him to be doing this when He's doing that and that is the thing we needed the most but never would have known to ask for. But we are only told to trust. We aren't meant to know what He will do, we are only meant to trust Him. "The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is under

Job 4:1-7:21 1 Corinthians 14:18-40 Psalm 37:30-40 Proverbs 21:27 What I love about this passage of 1 Corinthians is how different the actual structure of a church gathering looks from our modern day American idea of a church gathering. In America we have a pastor and a worship leader and they take the stage. Everyone sits back and listens and/or sings along. The staff are those who are saying the stuff: Scripture, prophecy, and whatnot. I have a limited experience in that I'

Job 1:1-3:26 1 Corinthians 14:1-17 Psalm 37:12-29 Proverbs 21:25-26 "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised." Job 1:21 I am a worship leader. I have been given the responsibility of leading people into worship who are having really good days and are ready to worship. And I have been given the responsibility of leading people who are deep in grief, who are suicidal...people who

Esther 1:1-3:15 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Psalm 35:17-28 Proverbs 21:19-20 Esther is a conflicting book for me. While at some parts of my life it has meant a great deal to me, I have also heard some confusing and challenging interpretations of the book. I am inclined to believe the good things it has taught me are not invalid, but I also want to be wary of how I receive this book of the Bible. And I am cautious in even talking about the book, so many theologians and Biblical sch

Nehemiah 9:22-10:39 1 Corinthians 9:19-10:13 Psalm 34:1-10 Proverbs 21:13 Running is the worst, I don't run. I relate to Ann Perkins on the show "Parks and Recreation." She says, "jogging is the worst, I know it keeps you healthy, but God at what cost!?" Amen, sister friend! I hate running and that's what makes this metaphor both distant and relatable at the same time. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to ge

Nehemiah 5:14-7:73a 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Psalm 33:1-11 Proverbs 21:8-10 Life is full of really crappy stuff. It's daily, it's heartbreaking, it's exhausting, it's scary, it's awful. It's awful! When you have it good it could all fall apart. When you don't have it good it could get worse. Life is awful. As human beings we have to face so many obstacles, so many challenges, so many wrecking things. And yet, how many times does the Bible say "do not be afraid"? So many times in

Ezra 4:24-6:22 1 Corinthians 3:5-23 Psalm 29:1-11 Proverbs 20:26-27 We had people over at our house today so I didn't even think to read my Bible. But when I remembered I decided it was too late, I was tired and I needed to work tomorrow. But then I realized that I didn't have any clean aprons or shirts to wear to work tomorrow...and I'll be working my first serving shift! And so I realized I had to take the time for a very quick load of laundry and I might as well read my Bi

Hooray for the end of the Chronicles books! Hooray for the end of exile! (or at least we're getting there) Forget for a second that what I'm about to say is very dramatic and definitely taking stuff out of context...but I feel this "leaving exile" portion of the Scriptures is really paralleling my life right now. I feel like I'm edging out of my little season of depression...I'm choosing healthier ways to decompress after work, I'm choosing to rest and not work when I can, I

What a challenge Paul puts before us to only think of others, never of ourselves. I recently heard someone talk about how Christians want to be caring for the needy and they don't realize that the needy are actually taking advantage of us. I don't know how trustworthy an assessment it was...it was a really generalized statement. But I thought about it afterward and I realized that even if everything that person said was true, it wouldn't stop us. Because to be a Christian is

As of late my way of decompressing after work is to eat take-out on my bed and binge watch "Jane the Virgin." But yesterday I caught up on the reading. I had tacos, I read some of my C.S. Lewis book, I watercolored, I took a bath, ate an apple and went to bed early. I felt the depression melting away from just those healthier choices. And best yet I read one of my favorite sections of Romans last night. Romans 12:12 has been my theme verse for 2018. It was a well-timed remind