the beautiful empty jar

     You have felt something while scrolling your social media. A stirring of a strong emotion that builds and builds until you have to act on it. Tell me, has it broken your heart to see your community in dissension or have you been fueled and impassioned to join the war? Anger is easy, but it is a tender heart that God calls for. When we are betrayed and mistreated, the honest emotion is that we are hurt, but anger comes to our defense. Anger takes control of a situation for itself. Anger seeks its own justice. Anger seeks to validate itself. Sitting in our hurt takes vulnerability, it takes humility. It takes putting things in God’s hands and trusting His justice.  “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be sat...

To my friends, The Isaacs. For believing in me, investing in me, and sticking with me, thank you. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 On a completely ordinary Tuesday, a friend dropped by my house and handed me a gift. Tearing back the wrapping paper revealed a crisp white box that held a very nice laptop. My friend explained that she and her husband had been wanting to buy me a laptop for a while, so I could finally retire the 10 year old one I'd been hanging onto. Though I didn’t think I could accept such a generous gift, I knew that this was just who they were; Generous. While I was grateful, I was honestly a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of their gift. It was easy for my mind to list off all the reasons why I didn’t deserve something so wonderful for absolutely nothing. A day later I told my friend that I felt like I couldn’t even ...