See Something More

I can always tell when she is excited because she starts bouncing. As I sat across the table from her in the student center, I knew she had something important to say because she started bouncing in synchrony with her chewing. She put down her sandwich and looked me in the eye. "You have got to hear this!" She pulled her iPhone out and read Galatians 2:19-20 from her Bible app. "For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me." "I was reading that this morning, and I have heard it a lot before so I was kind of reading it fast and singing the little song in my head..." She talked one hundred miles and hour with a sparkle in her eye. Then her smile grew huge. "And then, BAM! I was like - whoa, this is awesome!&qu

I did not expect the syllabus to make me cry, but there I was, sitting in my professor's office and going over the class syllabus with her when she looked at me and noticed. "You're not okay. You have a lot going on. I can see it in your eyes." I had not even felt like crying at all, but when she looked at me in the face and took the time to see me and speak aloud the truth of how I was feeling, the tears started to come without my allowance. I have to be honest; I think I had a faith crisis today. The workload of senior semester nursing school, trying to plan a trip to Africa, and promote my recently published book combined created a heavy burden. Just when I thought I had figured out how to balance everything, one more shovel of something was added to the load, tripping me up all over again. But that is not really why the tears fell. The tears came because I was trying to balance everything alone. I was unclear on all my upcoming nursing assignments, and I felt

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed, 'everyone has been looking for you!' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.'" Mark 1:35-38 Before the sun has come up and while the world is still sleeping, Jesus is awake. Not only awake, but focused, purposeful, still. Even when people are looking for him, calling for his attention, and probably begging for his healing work or authoritative preaching, Jesus remains undistracted. The undivided attention and single-minded focus of Christ catches my attention and impresses me greatly. I thought Jesus was all about His ministry, all about helping others, all about healing the sick and preaching the good news. But here in this passage, Jesus is focused on so

Just a few days ago, after the hype of the new year had worn off and resolutions had already begun to fade or fail, my friend, Emily, said to me, "You know what one of my goals is this year? I want to read through the Bible in a year." "That's an awesome goal," I responded. She proceeded to tell me that she had never done it before. "I have done it a couple of times using different plans, and I loved it. Once I followed chronological plan, and then once I did that one where you read a little bit of the Old Testament along with a little bit of the New Testament and a Psalm and Proverb..." I blabbed for a little bit more before coming to a realization. "You know, it has really been several years since I have done any of that...I should do it again." "Yeah!" Emily wholeheartedly responded. "And we can do it together!" We promptly got off the couch, looked up a Bible reading plan, and committed to reading three chapter

After arriving home and pouring over my notes from Passion this year, these one-liners made "highlight" status in my journal. I attributed them to certain speakers, but they are certainly my paraphrases and not direct quotes. I thought I would share them with you, hoping that you may find some word for your heart and journey. For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh . And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. - Ezekiel 36:24-27 God wants to do more with my life than I could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21). Trade in little dreams for "immeasurably more". - L

"So I heard you just got back from Passion . How was it?" It is the much awaited, yet dreaded question after spending four days at a life-shaking, turn-your-world-upside-down conference. I can't expect people to entirely understand the deep-down energy that I feel, yet at the same time I want with all my heart for them to be able to. I want them to catch vision of what I have just experienced. "I heard it was a huge event!" I can close my eyes and see the Georgia Dome almost entirely filled with college-aged believers - over 60,000 of us. I can feel the drumming of the music in my chest like a heart beating in time with the worship of the angels, and I can feel the floor shaking in rythym beneath my feet, yet, miraculously, I can simultaneously hear the chorus of 60,000 voices all singing together,  "We belive our God is Jesus! We believe that He is Lord! We believe that He has saved us from sin and death once and for all!" Upon seeing the size

I have always been a mountain person. Yes, I love the beach, too, but if you make me choose between the two, I will always go for the mountains. Maybe this is because the vastness of the mountains make me feel so small. Maybe it is because of the dynamic nature of the mountains. I love how they dare me to climb them, to conquer, to see the world from the top. Maybe it is because their majesty reminds me of the very nature of God – His strength, His faithfulness, His immovability, His glory. They make me confident that God is my shelter, my refuge, my tower of safety. “ You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12) When I am in the mountains, I can hear them shouting, and I can see the trees lifting their hands to the Only God. Then, cover the mountains with snow, and the glory and beauty are intensified. The soft white blanket of snow fills