At the Moment

 “Jesus of the Scars” by Edward Shillito If we have never sought, we seek Thee now; Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars; We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow, We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars. The heavens frighten us; they are too calm; In all the universe we have no place. Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm? Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace. If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near, Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine; We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear, Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign. The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak; They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.      This poem was written by a minister during World War I.  His words remind us that in the darkness, Jesus is our source of light.  When we are hurting, we look to the scars of Jesus and r...

    Why do we believe what we believe?  How did you decide what to believe about politics, religion, humanity, science, existence?  Did someone comment on your Facebook post and tell you the right way to vote?  Do you go to church every Sunday because it's what all your friends do?  Do you get angry when people disagree with you or have opposing views?  Why?  How did we come to believe in the ideas that we have about how the world works, and why do we get so upset when people don't see the world like we do?     I read a lot of books, and my favorite books over the past few years have been the "self-help" or "personal growth" books, mostly written by psychologists or spiritual leaders.  The books that inspire, motivate, and challenge me.  My sister gave me a book for Christmas last year: To Shake the Sleeping Self  by Jedidiah Jenkins.  Typically, I would have finished a book like that in a week or two, but i...

Sunday, April 21: 6h 12m Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, I woke up and got ready for church. I drove to the park where we would share a meal as a church family and host an outdoor worship service. I marched through the mud in my wedges at 8 AM to the stage where I rehearsed with the band. We practiced. We joked around. We prayed. We ate. We worshiped together. The sun was shining. The weather could not have been more perfect, aside from what was left of the mud after previous months of continuous rain. My friends Russ and Daniel shared a message about finding peace in the presence of God. They talked about how we all come together on Easter to celebrate the hope that we have through Jesus, but then we all go back home and continue to live our lives.  We sometimes forget about the omnipresence of God. Actually, I forget about God's presence in my life more often than sometimes .    But why do we have to remind ourselves of the presence of an all-powerful, all-know...

Hebrews 10:24-25 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. When you and all of your friends are in different stages of life, it starts getting hard to stay in touch.  I will find myself going months without talking ( really talking) to some of my closest friends in the world.  Being thrown into the real world   after college is super challenging, but our Heavenly Father offers us some great advice.  I love the language used in these verses. Stir each other up.   That basically means to motivate each other, but in a way that is passionate. ...

A little over a month ago, I started writing and decided to share my thoughts with anyone who was willing to read them. I was in a pretty tough spot, but I quickly realized that most people who read my 2018 Reflection  post were either right there with me or had been through it at some point. I ran into people all over town who would go out of their way to come hug me and offer encouragement or advice. I was overwhelmed by all the feedback and support from my incredible little community in Tupelo, MS and around the world. That being said, I wanted to take a second to update everyone on the past month!  On January 7th, I started my first job where my college degree actually applied: teaching Spanish.  On the first day of class, I had no idea what to expect. I had more than 50 teenagers that I was responsible for at some point during that day, and for the next nine weeks.  I am currently in the middle of week six (WOW), and I can say without a doubt that thi...

2018.   I have decided to be completely honest with myself and everyone else and admit that this year was one of the toughest, most challenging years of my life.  From the outside looking in, it seemed like a pretty incredible year full of milestones and new adventures.  I graduated from Ole Miss last December, moved to the beach, got to plan and be a part of my big sister’s wedding, traveled to Honduras again, made countless new friends from all over, visited the West Coast for the first time ever, and ended the year in Mississippi surrounded by family and lifelong friends. It’s hard to believe that a person living such an adventurous life could be struggling at all.   June 22 - Oxford, MS July 8 - Tegucigalpa, Honduras December 1 - Newport Beach, California I have always been pretty optimistic and believed that I could achieve happiness or contentment by simply doing what I want, chasing my dreams, or achieving ...