From the onset of creation, God knew how this would all go. Not only is He the beginning, middle, and end, but He created the beginning, middle, and end.

He wants us to hold on to what’s always been: His love, His promises, His goodness, His justice, His discipline.
He wants us to embrace what’s new: our ever-evolving selves, the gifts he gives us as he keeps us moving in our stories.

To remain present in one’s faith is something that Jesus did all the way through the crucifixion experience. He stayed exactly where he was; in body he was forced to, but in mind and body he had a choice. In mind and spirit Jesus could have easily escaped; he could have thought about his times as a young boy or he could have dreamed about what might be next. Instead, he stayed there - in the pain, in the sacrifice, in the service - through the entire experience. And because of that full presence, we have eternal life.

To remain present in one’s faith is something that Jesus did all the way through the crucifixion experience. He stayed exactly where he was; in body he was forced to, but in mind and body he had a choice. In mind and spirit Jesus could have easily escaped; he could have thought about his times as a young boy or he could have dreamed about what might be next. Instead, he stayed there - in the pain, in the sacrifice, in the service - through the entire experience. And because of that full presence, we have eternal life.

Whatever you’re about to re-introduce into your life when Lent is over, remember the refuge you’ve taken in the Lord these last 44 days. Remember that when we can’t taste and see what we are used to when it comes to finding things that fill us up, bring us joy, or make us happy, your heavenly Father loves you so much and His goodness is always ready for you. Always.

And when we put pressure on ourselves to be perfect, we fail. A hundred times over, we fail. And we forget that we’re given grace for the moment, we’re given grace for our insufficiencies. We are born with a clean slate and we are born with insufficiencies. This is the way it’s supposed to be.

Sometimes I think we make an idol out of belonging. We search for it everywhere: in books, movies, tv shows, our spouse, our children, our friends, a dancefloor, a small group, a yoga studio, a music studio, in front of a piano, on a stage, in an office.

And in making an idol of belonging, we make the mistake of not asking God, where do I belong? where should I be/go? what should I do/see/say here?

Living down south for 15 years, that tradition definitely disappeared. I can’t say I saw it once at any dinner I attended while I lived away, and though I was confirmed Catholic at 13, my husband didn’t grow up with it so we just didn’t carry it on. Now that we’re back home, my dad and step-mom do it every night at dinner but with this specific prayer.

If this was 2002, it would be way less energy. Write the thing, publish the thing, and then share it through email to friends or on the one and only social media site (what’s that?) available. Because people had just 2 things bookmarked: MYSPACE and probably Yahoo search or Ask Jeeves.

I thought I’d write 40, but it looks like I’m writing 47.

How many sentences in your day start with I thought…

We can pray all of our words, not just the scripted ones. Bianco Olthoff posted a beautiful graphic on prayer last week. (See it here.) It says: Prayers work even when they are short, weak & poorly worded. So they don’t have to be fancy. But there is something about a prayer like the Our Father that brings a sense of reverence, that harkens back to when Jesus actually walked the earth. Plus, they’re the words Jesus said to start with when we don’t know where to start. And it is often that I don’t know where to start in anything.

When we’re in the proverbial wilderness, we inevitably reach a point where we’re hungry. We’re hungry for replenishment, for answers, for truth, for clarity.

If my spiritual life is off-balance, trying to show that it’s in balance by doing all the exterior things won’t actually put my spiritual life back in balance.

Money is important, yes. What is more important, which Jesus says quite a few times, is your heart’s position. “Her heart was in the right place” is a pacifying adage that really just means “Good idea but bad choice.” That’s not the same as having our heart in a position that points to the Messiah, because that kind of position can only do us good. Right? I think so, anyway.

What I’m going to ask you to do today is this: look around your little corner of the world, look around your life. Who are the quiet ones? The ones who might do happy dances in their living room and nobody notices? The ones who might write in their journal more than they reach out in text but connections still matter to them? The ones who are still working up the courage to speak up and to speak out because they’re just not used to asking for attention.

Serving others in big and small ways does so many great things for the soul. It humanizes others when we see the face of people we’re helping. It reminds us that we’re not so great that we can’t get down and scrub some floors. Serving others reminds us that we’re not here for ourselves; we’re here for each other. We are here for each other.

I cringe when I hear the word sin. In my background, sin holds shame and guilt that one need not feel when in the presence of Jesus because In Christ, no one is condemned (John 3:8). Sin is an ugly word, which is fair because it’s an ugly thing. But it’s been thrown around by mainstream western Christians as the reason for hatred (also a sin), exclusion (also a sin), and lynching (also a sin).

I cringe when I hear the word sin. In my background, sin holds shame and guilt that one need not feel when in the presence of Jesus because In Christ, no one is condemned (John 3:8). Sin is an ugly word, which is fair because it’s an ugly thing. But it’s been thrown around by mainstream western Christians as the reason for hatred (also a sin), exclusion (also a sin), and lynching (also a sin).

Those What ifs are limiting. They keep us from abundance, from life, from adventure, fun & fulfillment. They keep us from the highest freedom available on earth and in heaven, which is a life with Jesus by our side. If Jesus is walking with us, there’s no way we sit in that What if…

To know that it was getting darker and darker, I had lost my way, and that someone was on their way to get me? It felt like the most precious, important gift. (My dad agreed, and then politely requested that I never enter a trail by myself at dusk again. Fair enough.)

What I always come back to, though, when I have this conversation with myself is that ultimately it doesn’t really matter when it comes to how I talk about God and his sovereignty. I know I said on Day 10 that words will have their way, and they absolutely will. Words matter. I also know that when I get too caught up in the but vs. the and vs. the also, I end up either not saying anything or saying too much of nothing that actually matters.

if Jesus wept, so can I. Jesus’ tears didn’t negate his ministry and they didn’t stop him from building relationships. And I think my favorite part is that Jesus didn’t feel the need to justify or qualify his tears. He didn’t call himself a crybaby, nor did anyone else. He didn’t consider himself broken for the crying, nor did anyone else. He didn’t call himself weak, nor did anyone else. He didn’t try to hide it and nobody in the room seemed embarrassed by it. No justifying. No qualifying. Just crying. Just letting the depth of emotion for loss be what it is and be expressed how it asks to be expressed.