Balance

If variety is the spice of life, then balance must be the staple of life. I enjoy excitement and adventure, but I also need consistency. I may get by allowing the pendulum of my life to stop swinging, but after a while I need to regain momentum. Otherwise I end up too far to the right or too far to the left.

I gain tremendous balance from the book of the Bible called Proverbs:
"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." -Proverbs 2:1-5

God's Story

Life can be hard. Some of us make it through to the end, unscathed. Others don't. But all of us have a story. And each story is woven into a greater story: God's story. Did you know that God desires for you to debut as one of his main characters? The Bible tells us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

Will you take a step of faith and live the story God has written for your life, or will you shrink back and settle for a lesser story and play the part of a lesser character?

The Tattoo

As a college freshman, I embarked on an adventure to express my independence after breaking up with a boyfriend. I got a tattoo. Now a blue green butterfly permanently rests on my back. It is, to me, a symbol of freedom. But as an eighteen year old girl, my ideas of freedom were much different than what they are today.

That little tattoo reminds me that at one point I found freedom in the absence of a relationship, but now I find freedom in a relationship with Christ.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" -2 Corinthians 5:17

New Vision

I took off my rose colored glasses only to discover that my sight was skewed. Even my lenses were cracked. What I thought was shabby chic turned out to just be shabby. It took time for my eyes to adjust. The light seemed brighter and my vision remained fuzzy.

The world told me I could have anything, but anything is really nothing apart from Christ.

I see that clearly now.

"... Some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, 'Do you see anything?'
He looked up and said, 'I see people; they look like trees walking around.'
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." -Mark 8:22-25

A Fresh Start

Water pours from the sky to the ground, drenching the earth, soaking the soil, washing impurities away. My mind feels clear and refreshed. There is a clean slate. A fresh start. A new beginning. What will this day bring?

Your mercies are new and the possibilities seem endless.

"This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." -Psalm 118:24

A Prayer

Lord, we lift up to you a bleeding nation deeply anchored in deadly circumstance.

Today orphans live without fathers, the wounded wait for physicians, and the lost long for a Savior. Their prayers ring like echos, calling back with a hollow cry.

We trust in you, Lord, knowing you hear their prayers, for you are The Father, The Physician and The Savior.

Please hear our prayers today, Lord and heal this bleeding nation.

Amen.

"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." -James 5:16

Worship

I love the fact that my Savior does not demand a code of conduct when it comes to worship. We live in a day when our culture, even our Christian culture expects us to conform. So some of us sing out of hymnals while others worship to rock bands. Some of us remain still, while others dance. Some raise their hands while others keep their hands at their sides. Regardless of the style of worship, the Lord cares about whether or not we come before him with a yielded heart, devoted fully to worshipping Him.

"Sing to the Lord a new song . . . " Psalm 96:1