See Something More

See Something More in People I'm reading a great book that I would highly recommend called "More Ready Than You Realize" by Brian D. McLaren. In the chapter I read today, there were some great thoughts about God's creation that really touched me. I would like to share with you a brief quote from the book about viewing the world as created by God. "As we walk through the universe, we are not just encountering meaningless stuff; rather, we are walking through an art gallery, filled with objects full of meaning, expressiveness, revelation of the Creator's heart, intelligence, compassion, whimsy. In addition, we are never walking through bland "public property" that "nobody owns", but rather we are always on God's private property, and evrything we encounter belongs to God and matters to God...God cfeated the heavens and the earth, and that fact means that everything had meaning." Imagine what it was like to be in the garden of Eden,

Summer in Arkansas provides many opportunities for a great splash in the pool on a hot day. Just yesterday, my sister and I jumped in the hot car with our colorful towels and drove with the windows down all the way to a neighbors pool. As the wind blew our hair and whipped it around our heat-splotched faces, we sang to the radio, not caring how we looked or how we sounded either! But the real climax of our sisterly adventure was the moment we splashed in that cool water. There was no toe-testing, no gradual entry, just one big jump off the diving board and into complete refreshment. As soon as we dove in, three cute little girls came bobbing around the corner. Our neighbor was watching after them because their mother had just delivered twins and was still in the hispital. The three sisters were no older than 6, and I've never seen anyone so excited to see a swimming pool. Our neighbor explained to us that the girls' parents had never swam, so neither had the daughters. To see s

Seeing Something More in God's Word "It's a love letter" was Joshua's response when he was asked about the Bible. In that movie, Joshua , God's Word is portrayed as a personal book that speaks God's love directly to individuals. I couldn't agree more! God's Word is sometimes viewed as a rule book or a boring collection of really old writing, but when you take a closer look, you will definitely see something more ! God's Word is alive and active, applying to life today and bringing hope to everyone who digs into its truths. When you really gaze steadily at the Word of God, you will find encouragement, discover teaching, hear God's voice, and see vivid pictures of how God is involved in your life just like He was involved in the lives of His people long ago. There is so much more to see in the Bible than just a set of rules - there is life, satisfaction, hope, love, grace, truth, light, and treasure to see! So every once in a while, I would

This is another excerpt from chapter one of my book, Boundless: Discovering God in Your Eating Disorder . I don’t know the story behind your eating disorder- how it got started, what stage you are in, or what circumstances affected you- but I know that this is not the end of your story. No matter how much you may be struggling, God still has a beautiful story written for you. In fact, He has written a story for you in advance, even before you were born! I am confident that you have only begun a journey that will lead you right into the almighty and loving arms of our Lord and Father. I am still battling an eating disorder as I write to you, and when my battle is won (which won’t be by my power in any way- all the glory goes to God), my story won’t be complete then either. What’s so amazing is that my story and your story aren’t about eating disorders, but about a God who is righteous enough to save us and loving enough to actually do it. They are stories about the grace and faithfulne

This is an excerpt from chapter one of a book I'm writing and hoping to publish. The book is titled Boundless: Discovering God in Your Eating Disorder. “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 I have a weakness, and it’s for the glory of God. I am so blessed and thankful to be able to share the story of my weakness with you, not to emphasize my own accomplishment, but to exalt the magnificence of God. My weakness is not something I was able to boast about for a long time because of the shame that accompanied it. But now, by the riches of God’s grace, I see that my weakness is not intended to highlight my own goodness, but to reflect the greatness and glory of God. I want to share that sa

An uncommon noise was drifting from gate 4H in the Miami International Airport.. As passangers walked through the terminal, they stopped to observe the unusual. Forty teenagers waited by gate 4H for a plane to Panama City, and while they passed the time, they gathered around a casual guitar player to sing songs of praise. That's not something a frequent flyer sees everyday! And it's certainly not what I expected to be doing as my team waited to board the aircraft that would fly us to our final destination in Guatemala City. At first, only the guitar's strumming could be heard, but a few of our voices joined in and soon all forty of us were belting out praise to our Lord - right there at Gate 4H ! I almost expected security to come over and tell us to be quiet or for some irritated traveler to command us to stop singing, but when I looked around at the people in the terminal, no one seemed annoyed. Some people scooted closer to take pictures and videos, some just stood and

I used to think that church was all about going to Bible classes and hearing a sermon, but going to Wilderness Trek changed all that. I used to walk into the church building on Sunday morning challengin myself to get the most out of the teaching, but now I have a new attitude. When we loaded up the church van and I headed out on a road trip to Colorado with several of my senior friends, I had no idea that the trip we were about to take would be such a spiritual milemarker in my life as well. The theme of the wilderness adventure trip was ekklesia , the greek work for church or assembly. As we hiked, camped, rappelled, rafted, and climbed mountains, the thread that was woven through all the events was the cord of ekklesia , of living like the church. When we hiked up steep mountainsides with fifty pound packs on our shoulders, we encouraged one another. When we leaned out over the cliff during the rappell, we motivated and supported one another. When we set up camp and took it down, we

All the department stores are beginning to hang those big colorful banners in the store windows that shout "Back to School!" I'm getting postcards in the mail from every store that begs me to come in and check out their special selection of the "must-haves" for school. I've always loved this time of year because the adventures of summer are coming to a close just in time for me to start getting excited about a new school year. But this time around, things are a little different. I'm even more excited and full of even more anticipation than ever before because this year, I'm heading off to college as a freshman! Back in June, I attended an orientation for the university I will be attending in the fall. I had a blast getting my post office box, taking my picture for my student ID, and meeting new people. Everything was really fun and enjoyable, except for one minor activity - signing up for classes. It was probably the activity that I looked forward to

In today’s culture of infomercials, billboard advertisements, teen magazines, and beauty products, it’s easy for a girl to get caught up in the “compare snare.” It is convenient to see the models on the makeup boxes and the compare our own image to theirs. It is simple to compare the number on the scales or on the jeans label to what we are convinced is the “right number.” Because I’ve been there and experienced that, let me tell you – there is something more to see! You are so much more than a collection of numbers or sizes. You are so much more than a body to compare! And it’s time that you begin to see something more in yourself, too! Nothing brings me more comfort to know who I am in the eyes of my Maker, my Savior, and my Friend, the Almighty God! Listen to what He thinks about you: Psalm 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

When I left my house on June 13, I grabbed one of the four large suitcases lined up in a row by my bedroom door. I was going to a youth retreat for a week, then to a college orientation, then on my senior trip, and finally to Guatemala city on a mission trip...all in a period of thrity days. From June 13 to July 13, I probably spent about 6 hours awake at my house, and those precious hours were spent doing laundry and last minute packing for the next trip. Although the past month has been crazy, it has definitely been a good kind of crazy. A life-changing kind of crazy. God filled me up with truth at the youth camp, He reminded me of His plan for my life at the college orientation, He revealed His presence to me on my senior trip, and He changing my perpective of the world on the mission trip. Its amazing what God can do in thirty days! But what He did in my heart didn't go unnoticed by the enemy. In fact, I think that when God's children are reenergized for Him, they become ke

On some days, my alarm goes off, I get ready for the day, go about my business, check things off my list, and lay down to sleep again. Sometimes daily life can become a monotonous thing. I don’t think it’s a habit that I desire, nor is it something that I intentionally decide to do. I never say, “I think I’ll just go about today like nothing special is going to happen, like I’m not going to make a difference, like I’m just going to have an ordinary and boring day.” But for some reason, at the end of some days, I look back on the 14 or so hours that I was awake and realize that nothing of importance happened. But I don’t believe for an instant that God designed me to live that way. He came to give me “life to the full” (John 10:10) and a purpose that drives each breath I take. He faithfully raises the sun every morning so that I can experience what real life is like when He is in control. I so desperately want to live that life – life to the full – every single day! One verse to a song