by | Guest Posts
I’m announcing how you could win a copy of Dear Dad below..
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11
Need I explain my fear of marriage? I’ve never seen what a real marriage is supposed to look like. My grandparents’ is a mess. My parents’ marriage certainly can’t be normal. We know how it turned out with you and Mom. Are my friends doing it right? I don’t know what it’s supposed to look like.
I think it will be a fear I battle until the day I actually step up to the altar. I go back and forth between the fear of marriage and the fear of never getting married. But God’s Word comforts me.
I’m excited to be guest posting for Maria Morgan today. Click here to read the rest of the post.
by | Faith Lived Out, Guest Posts
You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ – Isaiah 47:10
I woke up this morning to this verse. I find myself wondering why I counted on myself and not God. I got scared and stopped trusting him.
After I cried out to you and still had the dreams, I didn’t know what to do.
I’m sorry that I left you. I don’t want to handle things on my own anymore. Too many times I have trusted in my own wickedness. Too many times I have gotten caught up in my own desires and my own sin that I thought I was the only one who could see me. Forgive me.
I’m excited to be guest posting over at Single Roots today. Click here to read the rest of the post.
by | Faith Lived Out, Guest Posts
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up – James 5:14-15
From Dear Dad…
I wanted this to all be over. I sat at my desk twirling a pencil around, trying to figure out how to make sense of everything. No one else was in the office yet. I was extremely grateful. I was going to talk to my friend Jammie.
Maybe she would help me make sense of everything. Then I saw her e-mail:
“I was reading this morning and came across these scriptures and wanted to share it with you:
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up“ – James 5:14-15
“I love you and hope that you can meditate on these, and maybe they will help you want to seek help from our church family.”
Seek help from our church family? I had no idea what she was talking about. They had dragged her into all of this, too.
I’m honored to be guest posting for Larry Hehn. Click here to read the rest of the post.
by | Faith Lived Out, Guest Posts
God smacked me with truth today. I was sitting on the couch reading the Bible and opened it to this verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:14, “Encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
My footnotes say, “Don’t yell at the timid and weak; encourage and help them.”
At times it can be difficult to distinguish between idleness and timidity. Two people may be doing nothing—one out of laziness and the other out of shyness or fear of doing something wrong.
The key to ministry is sensitivity: sensing the condition of each person and offering the appropriate remedy for each situation. You can’t effectively help until you know the problem. You can’t apply the medicine until you know where the wound is.
Sensitivity. I’m lacking it.
I’m guest posting over at Joseph Iregbu’s place today. Click here to read the rest of the post.
by | Faith Lived Out, Guest Posts
Some prefer cocaine.
Others choose their job. Another clings to alcohol. My preference? Cheeseburgers, pizza, and anything else that would make the world disappear with every bite.
photo credit: edog1382 (creativecommons)
I don’t remember the age I realized I was overweight, or that I used food to survive the life I hated living. It just was what it was, perhaps because I lived in it so long. Food helped me avoid reality.
For every bite and every binge, I didn’t have to focus on my heart.
I didn’t have to concentrate on the pain of sexual abuse or the truth of my dad’s abandonment. He chose alcohol over me. It never occurred to me I was choosing food over others. Before I knew it I was 25 years old and 330 lbs, still trying to hide the pain of my childhood and the fact that my father’s diagnosis of cancer was going to leave me abandoned yet again.
Then one day everything started to change.
I was flat on my back in a hospital bed with headaches I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I couldn’t hold my head up because the vertigo was so intense. I couldn’t help but see this as a fork in the road — a sovereign chance to make a change. I could keep doing what I was doing or try something different.
by | Faith Lived Out, Guest Posts
It was December 2005. My parents came for a Christmas visit and wanted to visit a church. They had become believers two months prior. I hadn’t yet made the decision to surrender my life to a guy named Jesus I barely knew anything about. I was, however, willing to go to church.
photo credit: whfc
As far as I was concerned, I was a Christian. I didn’t need a church to confirm that. Being a Christian meant saying your prayers every night, saying sorry to God when you had a hangover the next day, and praying fervently when a loved one was dying.
I wore a cross necklace everyday, so that meant I was a Christian, too.
We walked into this giant purple castle inside of a theme park. There was loud music playing, kids running around, and people smiling. It seemed cool so far. Then my life was changed forever.
I’m featured over at Prodigal Magazine today.
