Love in LoCo

I am a rule follower.  I always have been.  Growing up, when I was disobedient or misbehaved in some way, all my mom had to say was, “I’m disappointed in you,” and it reduced me to a puddle.  (To be fair I was and still am extremely stubborn and have always liked to do things my way. Mom, for the record, I am by no means scarred by hearing this and I'm sure I deserved it at times!) I took pride in trying to give my parents as little grief as possible growing up.  (I still gave them plenty, let’s be real).  As a math teacher, I had far more students who disliked math than enjoyed it like I do.  “WHY do you like math so much?” they’d often ask incredulously, as if there couldn’t possibly be a reasonable answer to that question.  After getting asked this question so many times over the years, I developed a go to response: “Because there’s always a right answer.  I find great comfort in that.  There’s too much uncertainty in this world.”...

A few weeks ago I started doing a Bible study on the book of Hebrews with several other women at church.  Our memory verse last week was Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  This is a verse that I’ve known for some time, but jumps up again every time I read a familiar passage and understand something I’d never noticed before.  This morning, for example, I was spending some time in John 1:35-51.  Now, I’ve never kept track, but I would be willing to bet that John is probably one of the books of the Bible I’ve read most.  Until this morning, though, I’d never really paid much attention to Andrew in this passage.  He was kind of awesome.  As soon as John the Baptist said, “There goes the Messiah,” Andrew was all in.  The Bible says, “Andrew, Simon ...

I recently read the book The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.  It is the story of Corrie’s family, Christians living in the Netherlands during World War II, who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust.  Eventually, Corrie and much of her family were caught and taken to Nazi work camps themselves.  One story that stood out to me was that of Corrie and her sister, Betsy, still striving to serve and thank God in the midst of their suffering.  They had been moved to a new camp and sent to live in a filthy, overcrowded barrack with many other women.  As Corrie started to complain about the awful surroundings, Betsy quoted 1 Thesselonians 5:16 – 18 which says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Corrie scoffed that they didn’t have much to be thankful for, but Betsy started naming things they could thank God for, starting with the fact that the sis...

Lamentations 3:24 says, “ I say to myself, ‘The   Lord   is my portion;   therefore I will wait for him’”.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who has trouble with this one, am I right?  I know in my head that God is way smarter than I am and His plan for my life is way better than anything I could come up with.  BUT, do I believe it in my stubborn heart?  The answer to that depends on the day, maybe even the minute you ask me.  Ironically, I’ve been told by people throughout my life that I’m a fairly patient person, particularly when it comes to kids.  You don’t get through eight years of teaching high school math without patience.  Unfortunately, I have trouble having that same patience with God.  I know that He is Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides.  And yet, as my support raising has hit a bit of a slowdown these past couple of weeks, I find myself getting anxious about His provision and questioning why I’m not fully funded ...

This past Saturday, I spent the first part of the day proctoring the SAT test for 17 local teenagers.  You could practically feel the anxiety in the room as the kids sat for this 5+ hour exam, which many believe makes or breaks their college acceptances and rejections.  The stress these kids face on a daily basis can be overwhelming.  I was near the top of my class in high school and by the time I graduated, I had taken five AP classes over two years.  Now, many of the kids who graduate at the top of their class take at least seven or eight APs by graduation.  They’re also expected to have several extracurricular activities, community service, and notable leadership roles on their resumes.  What makes matters worse is that when kids leave their schools each day, they go out into a world that is constantly bombarding them with confusing and straight up unbiblical messages, all in the name of trends and being a free-spirit.  Step into any home décor ...