See Something More

It's not every morning that you get to watch the sun rise. A couple of days ago, I met some friends out at Pinnacle Mountain a little after 6:00 in the morning for an early morning hike. I bundled up in my sweats and hat, ready to get climbing so my body would warm up and only my nose would stay chilled as I breathed the December air in and out. My breath looked like smoke in the beam of my headlamp. It was a good thing we didn't have to be follow any quiet-hour guidelines because we laughed and talked all the way. We enjoyed each other's company so much that we lost the trail and never found it again. "Well, when in doubt, just keep going up." We basically bushwhacked up the north side of Pinnacle mountain, not realizing where we were going to come out until we reached the top. Within five minutes, the bright orange sun peeked over the top of the horizon, instantly flooding our little world with light and warmth. "Perfect timing." I love mountai...

Just for today, I would like to direct you to a blog post by Katie Davis , who wrote beautifully about something that I have also felt deep in my heart, and I wished that I had such poignant words to express it. May Katie inspire you as much as she does me. And may God's powerful love sweep over all of us - especially this Christmas season - and may it move us to love as He does. Here is an additional link to her blog if you would like to read more.

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ . 2 Corinthians 4:6 I am now officially calling this my "wow verse". It is one of those Scriptures that I have probably read before, but it suddenly meant something vastly more amazing when I read it again this week. I think I may have actually "wowed" aloud when I came across it. "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness...'" In the beginning, when the world was still formless and empty, God spoke light into existence. But even before He spoke it, even before He created it, He was Light. In the beginning was the Light, the Word of God, Jesus - who was with God and who was God. "...made His light to shine in our hearts..." This light-speaking God is still creating light in dark places. This time, instead of filling the emptiness of the...

Every year at the end of the fall semester, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment not only because I completed another semester of nursing school, but also because I completed another season in my life - and am stronger because of it. I get into a very reflective mood when I think about everything that has happened in these past five months, and it is incredibly amazing just how much God has done. At the end of every semester, but especially this one, I feel like I am a newer person because I have grown in so many ways. It is as though I have been sent through fire and water and come out more purified.  How could so much growth and change come about in one short semester? I find myself asking. Soemtimes I just wish things would slow down and that I could have a period of my life when I am not rapidly growing and things might actually stay somewhat the same, but then I realize that is not what I want at all. Really, there is nothing that I want more than to be cons...

This semester, my friends and I have been studying the book of Nehemiah, an Old Testament read that is not nearly as popular as it should be. It is one of my favorite books of the Bible because of its relevance. Just change a few names and tweak a few details and you will find a story very much like your own - a story of brokenness and how God redeems what has been lost. Nehemiah's story is like a treasure chest tucked away in the middle of the Old Testament, ready to be explored so that riches may be uncovered. Last night, we finished our Bible study by reading and discussing the last chapter of Nehemiah, and I want to share with you some of what we discovered. The following passage is from Nehemiah 13, which tells about several reforms that Nehemiah instituted for the people of God in Jerusalem in order that they might be more holy. One such reform was this: "Before this, Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was clos...

A crowd had already gathered on the front lawn by the time I got there all bundled up in my sweater and hat. All the normal evening-time lights had been turned off in order to create the most wintery darkness, and the chatter in the air communicated an eagerness to see the great contrast that was about to occur. Then, the countdown began. It was ten seconds until 6:00. "Ten...nine...eight...seven..." I stuck my hands in my pockets and lifted my eyes to the treetops. "Five...four...three..." Suddenly, on "three" all the lights flashed on, eliciting an audible gasp and murmur from the crowd. It only took an instant for the operators to realize that they jumped the gun, so they quickly flipped the switch to "off" once again and waited for the crowd to regroup. "Three...two...one!" This time, the lights illuminated the entire front lawn right on cue. An extra enthusiastic "hooray" arose from the crowd because of the mi...

"Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6 This is the promise that comes to mind when I think about what God has done for me. Five years ago, when I was diagnosed with an eating disorder, this promise would have been so vague that I would not have believed it. Looking back, now I see God's master design over this timeline of the past five years. I recognize that He knew the day of my diagnosis, the day of my liberation, and the day of my publication (which was Thanksgiving day!) all along. I don't consider my story and the book it has become to be my story at all. I really don't feel like a writer, but God is an excellent author. This is His story, and I am proud to share it. Boundless tells the story of my battle with an eating disorder and the power of the God who is able to bring about deliverance. It includes a 30-day Bible Study for young women with ea...