Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

 "So let go of your plan Be caught by my hand I'll show you what I can do When I dream for you" ~  " Dream for You "-Casting Crowns     I recently became engaged, and even though I absolutely love my fiancee, the experience isn't exactly how I dreamed it would be. I'm older than I thought I would be when I got married, my fiancee's not like what I pictured my future husband would look like, and I met him online instead of in person. However, other aspects are the way I dreamed. We share the same faith and political views, and very quickly developed inside jokes that leave those around us shaking their heads. We have been very good for each other these past seven months, and we get along so well that some people thought we were married long before he even proposed. I fully believe that God knew what he was doing when he brought us together, even if it didn't happen quite the way I imagined.      As I mentioned in some earlier posts , this is not t...

     This summer, Mom and I did some cleaning around the house. One of the things we found was an old CCM magazine talking about the upcoming book and CD set chronicling the 100 greatest songs in Christian music. While the article hinted at some of the songs featured in the countdown, we were really curious to see the entire list. While we could find the track list for some of the CDs, we couldn't see the entire list without reading the book. We had to use an inter-library loan to get it, but it was worth it to be able to uncover the mystery of which songs made the list.     My parents and I really enjoyed reading the book and seeing the choices that the editors made. Some of the songs on the list came as no surprise. (Among the top five were " Awesome God " by Rich Mullins, " Jesus Freak " by DC Talk, and " I Can Only Imagine " by MercyMe.) Some of the songs I knew well, but not their original versions. (I've sung " Soon and Very Soon " ...

Oh what I would do to have The kind of faith it takes To get out of this boat and Onto the crashing waves To step out of my comfort zone Into the realm of the unknown Where Jesus is And He's holding out His hand ~ " Voice of Truth "-Casting Crowns      Earlier this year in one of the online services, my home church did a sermon about Jesus walking on the water and Peter joining him. Our deacon talked about how important it is for us to step out in faith even when it's hard. Unfortunately,  as proven by a letter we received a couple of weeks ago, she and the other leaders are still firmly in the boat when it comes to reopening the church.     My favorite telling of this Gospel story comes from the song quoted above.  No one really wants to step out of their comfort zone. In the words of Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory , "It's called the comfort zone for a reason." However, as the song says, Jesus is standing outside of our comfort zone waiting for...

It has now been over a month since my life was normal. For some of you, it may be longer, and for some, it may not be as long. Unfortunately, this global pandemic has left few unscathed throughout the world, even if no one they know was affected by the virus itself. This past month has brought some good things, and some not so good. I was reminded a couple of weeks ago of a youth group tradition at my church of sharing pows and wows (bad things and good things), and so here in no particular order are the pows and wows of this last month, starting with a few things that were a bit of both. Pow/Wow- The news:  While it's been good to get information about what's going on, the constant updates get to be a bit much. A few of my friends have decided to not watch the news at all, but I think that's a bit extreme. I have decided to still watch and read some news but limit how much I watch and read. That often means reading only part of long articles and occasionally muting the T...

Earlier this week, I took a solo road trip from my home in Wichita, Kansas to St. Louis, Missouri. The 884 mile round trip took about 15 hours to drive, not including stops for gas, restroom, and meals. That made for a lot of time driving by myself, and when I'm driving for a while by myself, I tend to spend a bit of time thinking. Here, in no particular order, are some of the things I thought about in all that time on the road. The importance of speed limits:  Really this one should be a no-brainer, but it seems like a lot of other drivers were not paying any attention to what the signs said. Shortly after crossing the state line, I saw a sign about how there had been 396 road fatalities so far this year, and 58% weren't wearing their seatbelts. That means that 42% were, which is a whopping 168 people belted in who were killed in car accidents in six months. That figure astounded me until I actually got into St. Louis. As I left the hotel to come home, I got onto I-64, and s...

"Only love can drive out all the darkness What are we fighting for? We were made to carry one another We were made for more"-" Bleed the Same "~Mandisa Late last week, I was on Twitter, and I noticed quite a few posts about the school shooting that occurred on Valentine's Day. Most of the posts called for people to pray for the victims and their families, but others took a more combative tone on the issue. One of the ones that was particularly disturbing to me came from someone who is not only a good friend of mine, but also a Christian role model. This person insinuated that Republicans are a bunch of hypocrites because they call for immigration reform following terrorist attacks but don't want the shooting to be politicized because the families of the victims need to be left alone to grieve. Unfortunately, this is just the latest in a series of divisive tweets I have seen recently from this person, and they are by no means the only one doing this. I...

After going to Winter Jam last month, and then the Tobymac Hits Deep tour this month, I have been thinking about who I would want to see at next year's Winter Jam. Here is my ideal list of artists: 1. Newsong As the founding members of the tour, it would not be Winter Jam without them. 2. Newsboys After seeing both God's Not Dead  and God's Not Dead 2 , I have seen a bit of their infectious stage presence. It would be great to get to see it live next year. 3. Lauren Daigle She was one of the artists I was most looking forward to seeing at this year's Winter Jam, but unfortunately, she got the flu and was unable to sing at a few of the venues, including here in Wichita. I would be very pleased if she would come back to the tour next year for those of us who missed her this year. 4. Colton Dixon American Idol  was cruel enough to schedule their live series finale opposite the Hits Deep Tour's appearance in Wichita. While I was upset at first that he wa...