Deep-End Discipleship

"...I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me."              - 2 Samuel 7:11-14a I have two of these necklaces...well, really two halves of them. My BFF in middle school was Chrissy Holder, and then my BFF in high school was Jenny Griffith. I write "was" because we no longer talk. I can't even find Jenny on social media. The weird thing is, I couldn't tell you what happened to our friendships. We just drifted apart. With Chrissy, I did something behind her back that hurt her feelings, and although I apologized, we were no longer "best friends forever....

“David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.” - 2 Samuel 6:5 NRSV - “When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, 'Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.'” - Mark 6:22 NRSV - I’ll admit it. I’m not a dancer. I lived through the days of ballroom dancing, square dancing, disco, country-line dancing, creative dance, expressionist dance, jive, hip-hop, and grunge. I am not a dancer. My body moves to the rhythm of music in ways never intended by human beings. And yet, you will see my toe tapping in church, my head bobbing in the car, and hear my whispers singing along in with the choir. My one brush with liturgical dance in a worship service proved near disastrous and will never be spoken of in public. And yet, I love to dance. There is something about dance that is freei...

He said to me, "My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness." So I'll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ's power can rest on me. Therefore, I'm all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ, because when I'm weak, then I'm strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NRSV - In high school my youth pastor used the image of a clay jar with a candle inside to explain how we can find strength in weakness. If a clay jar is perfectly intact and closed with a lid, the light of the candle inside is hidden. From the outside no one is able to tell that the candle exists. However, when the clay jar is cracked and broken, the light of the candle shines through, revealing its existence. This is how we can find strength in weakness, thereby glorifying God. If humans were perfect, there would be no need to point to a savior. From the outside no one w...

  “Help, God —the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! Listen hard! Open your ears!   Listen to my cries for mercy.   If you, God , kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,   and that’s why you’re worshiped. I pray to God —my life a prayer— and wait for what he’ll say and do. My life’s on the line before God, my Lord waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.   O Israel, wait and watch for God —   with God ’s arrival comes love,   with God ’s arrival comes generous redemption. No doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel,   buy back Israel from captivity to sin." - Psalm 130 MSG - Is it ever hard to have hope when you are in a hard situation? How does that feel? What about when you are waiting for a big decision in your life? How are the two different? This passage is very insightful into how God is listening when we are call...

All who are oppressed may come to you as a shelter in the time of trouble, a perfect hiding place. May everyone who knows your mercy keep putting their trust in you, for they can count on you for help no matter what. O Lord, you will never, no never, neglect those who come to you. He will not ignore forever all the needs of the poor, for those in need shall not always be crushed. Their hopes shall be fulfilled, for God sees it all! Psalm 9:9-10, 18 TPT  Sometimes, I really hate having access to the Internet right at my fingertips. I can literally swipe right on my phone and immediately see five different headlines of terrible things happening across the world. It seems that every week, there’s a new atrocity being committed by humans against other humans. I scroll through my news feed and see post after post about the awful things people are doing to one another. It’s really easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless in light of the constant stream of news that...

Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade. - Mark 4:31-32 -  Have you ever thought about the size of your faith? If it was like a pair of shoes, would it be toddler size, kids size, or adult size? Do you think it matters? The Gospels remind us that even just a teeny bit of faith is enough for God. God doesn’t need us to be a superhero of the faith or be disciples who can fill some really, really big shoes. God just needs us to have a little bit of faith. And God can do a lot with it! Did you know that the mustard seed is a really small seed? 1 millimeter in diameter! But it can grow to be 3000 times larger than its seed.   That’s why Jesus used it in his parable. Have you ever helped to plant a garden using the tiny little seeds i...

“I will give you thanks with all my heart; I will sing your praise before the heavenly beings. I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your constant love and truth.” - Psalm 138:1-2a CSB - There’s little and big things to be thankful for every day. For instance, I’m thankful for a place to sleep at night and for food in the pantry. I’m thankful for my friends, family, job, and school. There are little things we can be thankful for when we look around and see. Sometimes when life is hard it is challenging to remember to be thankful. When school gets overwhelming, our friends get to be too much, and we have trouble sleeping at night, it can be hard to remember to be thankful.  Four weeks ago my husband had major surgery. We dealt with many doctor visits, tests, waiting during surgery, the hospital stay, and many other factors which contributed to what felt like chaos.   In the times when it is most challenging to be thankful, it...