The past few months I’ve been making a new effort to take my speech seriously. My efforts originally came from making sure I was only contributing Christ-honoring speech if a conversation I was part of turned to gossip, judgment, unkindness, etc. But after thinking about it, it only became more relevant as I thought of how we speak to one another day to day amid hostility that has seemed to increase over time.
Continue ReadingA Seasonal Reminder
January is the time I start to slip into a seasonal slump. The dumps, a funk, whatever you call it; life seems to lose its shine in many ways, and I rapidly lose motivation, interest, and energy, and I’m very aware that this period is about to last for the next three months. I lovingly call this part of the year “purgatory.”
Continue ReadingTake Heart
Recently I was feeling bad about feeling bad. As in, I noticed myself really hurting about a few things, feeling stressed, but I felt guilty about it. I thought that if I truly was content in God, I wouldn’t be as bothered and pained by those circumstances as I was.
Continue ReadingOverblessed
I’ve been using the made-up term ‘overblessed’ to describe the past few months.
You could use the term to describe the effects of one event, but I like to think of it as a state of being. I know it sounds kind of goofy, but I think that makes it even better. I didn’t even think of it at the time I started saying it, but it’s really just a one-word version of Psalm 23:5: you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (ESV).
Continue ReadingThe Wisdom of Learning for Life
This month I finally got around to watching the TV series The Chosen, which got a lot of attention when quarantine began last year. It’s an immensely detailed and well-thought-out series based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and I wasn’t sure how great it’d be until I watched it! There was something that struck me particularly deeply in episode 6. The character Nicodemus (who is canonically in the Bible) is troubled by John the Baptist’s arrival and his possible connections to prophecies of the Torah.
Continue ReadingEzra: Welcoming All God’s People
When I first read this small section, I loved it! Stories in the Old Testament can be thrilling but often dark, so occasional slivers of joy like this seem especially meaningful and beautiful. I loved it so much because—though far from an Old Testament scholar—I am familiar with how much the Israelites endure through the history it details, so reading about how the exiled Israelites finally return to rebuild the house of the Lord was like sharing in a huge victory with them.
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