See Something More

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, I find myself filled with an unusual attitude of appreciation. I'm almost giddy with gratitude as I tend to notice everything around me for which I am thankful. I'm not normally ungrateful, but something about the holiday season makes me thankful for everything . I'll find myself looking all around me and being thankful for everything I see: the trees in our front yard, my bed, my favorite hot chocolate mug, everything! It may seem silly and childlike, but a simple attitude of thankfulness is a treasure to me. I've been reading Psalm 119 for the past week, and it is one of the most beautiful passages to be reading around Thanksgiving! You can even read it as if it were a list of things to be thankful for. Thank you, Lord, that... "You revive me in your ways..." (v 37) "You have established your Word to your servant..." (v 38) "Your ordinances are good..." (v 39) I am able to "trust in your Word..."

The battle was won, the weapons laid down, and the banquet of celebration served. God had delivered His people in a mighty victory! In fact, they collected all the weapons of the enemy and burned them! As I read Ezekiel 39, I pictured this great day of rejoicing: the men return from war, the women and children dance in the streets, the trumpets play as a victory parade marches down the streets of Israel. I can almost see the smiles on everyone's faces, until I get to verse 12: "For seven months the house of Israel will be burying the dead in order to cleanse the land." What?! They spent seven months burying the dead? This little verse shattered my day dream of the party day in Israel. If God had brought about such a mighty victory for His people, I wondered why He would leave them with such an ugly task. If I were writing this story, I would dictate that the people of Israel spent seven months celebrating with feasts, concerts, and parties! But the more I meditated on thi

This past weekend, I went with some friends in a prayer group on a wonderful camping trip to Petit Jean State Park. With this group of friends, something fun and crazy always happens, and I never expect anything less! On this trip in particular, we went on a day hike to Cedar Falls. But this water fall wasn't something just to hike to, just to see, just to observe, or just to explore. It was something to which to play, in which to dance. We played, we splahed, we danced, and we worshipped under the beautfiul waterfall of God's creation until the water soaked into every layer of clothing and little droplets dripped off the ends of our noses. But later that night, when we were warm and dry, we sat around the campfire and reflected on the day. As we felt the warmth of the fire and heard it crackle, we gazed at the stars and at the faces of the friends around us that were radiant with the reflection of the campfire in their eyes. We sang praises to the God of the universe, and we

My face lit up as my suitemate bobbed into my room with a great big smile on her face. I knew she had a story to tell, so I turned my chair away from my desk to listen for a while. She reminded me of the time not too long ago when she plugged her ipod into her computer. An abnormal and surprising window popped up on the screen saying, "resetting to default." Stunned, she watched all three hundred songs vanish into the great technological abyss. Staring at the blank screen in disbelief, she boiled over with a gut feeling of frustration. "Really? I can't believe this!" she said to me as she recounted the incident. But she went on to explain how, in such a simple inconvenience, she saw something more. This past semester hasn't been the easiest time of her life. Heartbreaks, hurts, and discouragement have followed her around, desperately trying to steal her attention away from her passionate love for the Lord. In her own words, she said that she had been "w

In Philippians 1:21 "To live is Christ and to die is gain." In the culture of the United States, death is rarely ever considered a gain. But there's something about Paul's words in Philippians that turns things upside down. In fact, there's something about Christianity and the belief in the Almighty God that flips the human perspective. What is ordinarily ugly becomes beautiful with Christ in view. What is typically discouraging can be full of hope when seen in the light of God's love and grace. And what is typically a terrible loss can be counted a great gain . I often wonder about what happens after death. We even had a family discussion about this in our kitchen this afternoon. Does time exist when you die? Are you just asleep or are you with the Lord? Are you waiting or are you active? When is the spiritual resurrection of the soul? What do you do when you die? Needless to say, we spent a lot of time thinking about these questions around the kitchen table

It is amazing to me that when I go to serve others, my motivation is to be a blessing to them, but somehow I always leave feeling blessed myself. It was like that way today when my friend and I took some chocolate, a card, and some Scriptures written on index cards to our sweet friend in the nursing home. When we showed up at her door, her alzheimers prevented her from remembering who we were, but we still stayed to talk and pray with her. After we read some Scriptures to her, she paused for a long time like she was contemplating something, like she was sorting through her fading memory very carefully. Finally she said, "It was when I was nineteen." She paused for a while and slowly continued, "It was in august...that was when I was born again." In that moment, my face couldn't contain the smile that my heart was trying so hard to express. I realized that this woman couldn't remember who we were or what her birthday was, but she could remember the day that s

"Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest." Hebrews 4:11 I rolled down the window in the back seat and let the cool fall breeze whirl the hair around my face. It was almost too chilly, but I didn't mind the goose bumps because I liked the feeling of freedom the wind brought as it twirled around me. I hung my arm out the side of the car and admired the brilliant fall colors of the Ozark mountains. As the little bumby dirt road weaved in and out of the saddles in the hills, every corner revealed a new angle of beauty that took my breath away. The dips and folds in the mountains were like wrinkles in a giant autumn curtain, and the sky contrasted a deep and pure blue. I felt like rolling up the window would fade the glorious colors or block my unspoiled vision of the beauty of fall. The nature that surrounded me was so untouched, so vibrant with life, so still and majestic. I love the weekends like these when I go backpacking in the wilderness. I leave my cell