let’s talk about lent.

It’s that time of year again. Some people have given up candy, some chocolate, and some have even dared to stay off Facebook for the 40 days of Lent, those brave souls. Lent lasts from Ash Wednesday until Holy Thursday, but most people end on Easter Sunday. Lent is supposed to be about mentally and spiritually preparing ourselves for the Easter holiday, for a time of remembrance. In the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you can find the story of how Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, fasting and praying, before his ministry began. Not only did his ministry begin, but he also began calling his disciples.

Lent isn’t a joke. It’s not an excuse to give up sugar for a few weeks. It’s not a way to test yourself. It’s a way to trust in God throughout a trying time. For Lent, the purpose is to give up a luxury or something that’s taking your thoughts away from Christ. As you are tempted to pick up the habit or food again during this time, you turn to God and His Word to keep you on track.

All over Facebook, I keep seeing people post about what they’re giving up for Lent. But so far, I haven’t seen anyone post about how God is helping them through their struggle with temptation. However, we’ve already begun posting about how well we’re doing. Lent has turned into a selfish holiday. We’re testing ourselves. We’re relying on ourselves to be strong and to not reach for another candy bar or pull into a fast food place.

What did I give up for Lent? Soda.

I was thinking about what God was calling me to live without and I realized it was simple. As Christians, our bodies are temples where the Holy Spirit resides. Are we taking care of our temples? Are we keeping them as pure and holy as we possibly can because the Holy Spirit deserves that and more? Lately, I’ve been reading a book titled, “Skinny B***h”. Yes, I know it has an awful name. And there’s some interesting language throughout it. It’s not my proudest purchase ever, but it’s fascinating. Fascinating in an educational sense…let me explain: It goes through all these things that we eat, drink, etc. that are harmful to our bodies. It discusses how not only should we be careful about the foods we put in our body, but also the products we choose to put on our bodies, such as makeup, body wash, etc.

Giving up something like soda for Lent (notice I’m using “soda” rather than “coke”…I didn’t want there to be any confusion) is something I’m doing to try and rid the temple of toxins and chemicals. When I have a caffeine headache or reach for a soda out of habit, I remind myself of how drinking it would be similar to graffiti-ing a church. You can be sure that makes me second guess my decision real quick. This isn’t the first time I’ve written about how our bodies are temples, I’ve also mentioned it here.

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Whatever you have decided to give up for Lent, make sure it’s what God wants you to give up. Don’t give something up for 40 days for you. Do it so that you can draw closer to Him. If you haven’t given anything up for Lent, I challenge you to pray about it and if God’s leading you, to jump in. Better late than never.

As you fast, feast on the glory of God; bask in His presence and comfort.

-Caitlyn

Listening to: “Oceans Will Part” by Hillsong

a poem about love.

What is love? Not the mushy, rom-com love…real, God-given love. A love that conquers death. A love that sits at tables with prostitutes and tax collectors. A love that brings sin to its knees.

Christ is love.

My grandparents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next month. That’s love.

My Savior forgives me when I commit the worst of sins. That’s love.

“The Bachelor” brings people together and has like a 4% success rate. That’s love…I guess.

The God I serve will never leave me nor forsake me. That’s love…without a doubt.

Christ is love.

He finds me in my weakest moment and sheds light on my insecurity. That’s love.

He welcomes me home even when I’ve had my back to Him for weeks. That’s love.

Nothing in this world can separate me from Him, not even death. That’s love.

God the Father sacrificed the life of His son to save those who hadn’t even been born yet. That’s love.

Christ is love.

She talks about a new guy each day. That’s love…or lust.

He seeks attention from girls. That’s love…or lust.

Culture tells us something’s wrong if we’re in college and haven’t had a boyfriend. They don’t care about love.

Culture says being sexually active is the way things are. They care about lust.

Christ is love.

I’m tired of being a small percent of my generation. I care about love.

I’m tired of feeling judged and criticized by my peers. I don’t care about lust.

I’m tired of seeing a smirk when I say I’m saving my heart. I care about love.

I’m tired of being asked about crushes and boys. I don’t care about lust.

Christ is love.

So maybe I’m different from who you say I should be.

So maybe I’m not a Proverbs 31 woman.

Maybe I’m Ruth.

Maybe I’m Esther.

Maybe I’m Rahab.

Maybe all I want is to have love and to be love.

Maybe all I want is to share the love of God with someone else.

Maybe that’s how we’re supposed to love.

Christ is love.

 

I serve the God of love. I serve the Prince of love.

Who do you serve?

What love do you seek? Do you seek love? Or love?

-Caitlyn

a story of fear.

Two things:

1) Kari Jobe’s new album is amazing.

2) I have panic disorder.

See what I did there? Sneak attack. Yeah, so a few years ago I was told by a doctor after a rather dramatic trip to the emergency room that I am prone to have panic attacks. It took a panic attack to know that little detail about myself, but it made quite an impact. If you’re unfamiliar with what a panic attack is…basically it has the beginnings of a heart attack. By that, I mean that it involves shortness of breath and chest pain. Sometimes your limbs can go numb. It’s not a pleasant experience.

Why am I posting this on the internet? Not for attention. Certainly not for pity. I’m posting it because God’s put it on my heart. I haven’t had a panic attack in about 2 years, but for the last couple of weeks I’ve been dealing with extreme anxiety which is like a precursor to a panic attack.

Basically, this means that my brain has been working overtime for the last week. I’ve thought about every little thing there is to think about. That’s one of my “triggers”. Overanalyzing and worrying are things that set me on an anxious downfall.

It makes me feel weak.

It makes me feel like I’m not trusting God to hold me up. That’s a worse feeling than a panic attack.

“Jesus, in Your suffering, You were reaching…You thought of me.” ["What Love is This" by Kari Jobe]

He made a way for me to know Him. When I feel anxious, God is the last person on my mind. Anxiety forces you to put your self-interests in the forefront of your mind. I forget that He’s always enough for me. I forget that His love is always enough.

“You take my pain and You lead me to the cross.”

Why is it so hard to give something over to the only one that can truly get rid of it? Shouldn’t that be simple? When I say the words, “God, please take this anxious feeling out of my heart. I don’t want it. I want to trust you”…why don’t I feel a sense of relief? Am I really letting go? Why would I subconsciously want to hold on to that burden?

I’m afraid. Part of panic disorder is that I feel like I’ve lost control of my body and of my emotions. I can’t breathe. Sometimes I can’t move. The thought of giving up control makes me have to catch my breath in fear. I repeat memorized scriptures to help ease my thoughts and gain control of my breathing again. I listen to music like this Kari Jobe song to remind me that He is the God He says He is. It “stills my beating heart”. But because I’m still holding on…there’s always a chance that an attack will happen again. I don’t know how to fully let it go, but believe me…I’m trying.

He made a way for ME to know HIM. He’ll take the burden from my chest. All I have to do is give it to him whole heartedly and trust Him with it.

Why do we do that? Why is it so hard for us to relinquish control? Even over something debilitating?

This is an album where I listen to it and say, “My mom will really like this album.” She always has encouraging things to say. And every song on this album is like that.

-Caitlyn

[noteworthy] kids in the way.

I’m kicking it old school for this music post. Kids in the Way used to be my favorite band. They have some really amazing songs. I’m all about lyrics, so even if their music isn’t so much “my style” anymore, I love their lyrics.

“Lay me down in fields of green/This heart has seen things I never should have seen/You’re breaking my legs and teaching me”

There’s a theory that back in the day, when a sheep wandered away from the flock, the shepherd would track it down and break one of its legs to teach it a lesson. Some stories say that the shepherd would make a splint to put on the sheep’s leg and that he would carry the sheep over his shoulders back to the flock.

Matthew 18:12-14 says, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”

Although the leg-breaking theory isn’t in the Bible, it makes you wonder. Is the Good Shepherd one of these? Does he “allow” things to happen so that we learn? Is “allow” even a good word to use? The God I know is one that teaches lessons. I think some of our lessons hurt Him, especially when we’re making the wrong choices. But I don’t believe that He forces bad things to rain down upon us to “show us.” When bad things happen, we often say that “God hates us” or that “He’s punishing us.” God knows what’s best for us. Sometimes what’s best for us doesn’t feel so “best” to us.

According to this theory, after the leg heals, the sheep will stay beside the shepherd for the rest of its life. It won’t ever go astray again.

After we go through a trial and God brings us out of it and into the light….do we stay beside Him forever? Do we stay loyal?

Job 5:18 says, “For He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal.”

I love that this song makes me think. I love the thought of God finding me in my wandering and bringing me home. That’s why I love this song.

Kids in the Way albums are a staple in my road trip playlists.

-Caitlyn

Other favorites from this artist: “Phoenix With a Heartache”, “Scars that Save”, “Apparitions of Melody” and “Stars Fall On.”

[noteworthy] christy nockels.

[Don't be fooled. The video says it has the lyrics...but it doesn't.]

My favorite song this week was “By Our Love” by Christy Nockels from her album “Life Light Up.”

I’m sure this won’t be the last you’ll see of Christy Nockels on my blog.

I actually own this album and recently decided to put it on shuffle and enjoy. Man, did I enjoy! Christy Nockels has one of the most amazing voices I’ve ever heard. Her voice is beautifully clear and passionate. I especially love her live tracks on the last few “Passion” albums.

The lyrics and melody for this song are both really simple, yet really powerful. I love simple songs; sometimes they have the most effect.

“The time is now/Come church, arise/Love with His hands, see with His eyes/Bind it around you/Let it never leave you/And they will know us by our love.”

I think one of the main reasons this song impacted me is because of how it relates to my latest post. The church is meant to LOVE God’s people! The church has a reputation of  blatant hypocrisy, strict rules and uptight morals. People should look at the church and see the love of God being put on display! The church is more than a building; the church is a body of believers.

What are we teaching our children? Are we teaching them to judge and look down upon non-Christians and even our brothers and sisters?

I hope they’ll be known for their love. The time is now. Come, church – arise.

-Caitlyn

Other favorites from this album: “A Mighty Fortress”, “Song of the Beautiful” and “Hosanna.”

1 John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God…”

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

*I needed something to do every week. I have a few people that I send my favorite songs to or that ask me for some good music suggestions, so I thought this would be a good place to start! Let me know if you like the idea of posting a song every week.

my response to a trending topic.

“I’d rather have a Proverbs 31 woman than a Victoria’s Secret model.”

Live 31 is a relatively new movement that centers around being (or finding) a Wife of Noble Character, as outlined in Proverbs 31, rather than focusing on physical beauty. I read the group’s website and something about it bothered me. After discussing it with a friend, I realized a few things. One of which is that not every woman will be a Proverbs 31 woman.

Do I believe “an excellent wife…is far more precious than jewels” (Prov. 31:10)? Yes.

Do I believe that this noble woman will take care of her household? Absolutely.

Do I believe she’s “clothed with strength and dignity”? Beyond a doubt.

There are a lot of really awesome and powerful things in this passage about a Wife of Noble Character…so much so that I feel the need to capitalize that title. However, I don’t think that we should take these 21 verses of scripture and define our lives by them. There are a handful of Godly women in the Bible that were missing quite a few of these qualities: Rahab, Mary Magdalene and Tamar, for example. These women fell short of the righteousness described in this passage, but they were washed clean by forgiveness and we refer to them as women of God.

The opening line of this passage is, “An excellent wife, who can find?” That says that this woman doesn’t exist. Nobody’s perfect, after all. Women weren’t and still are not meant to be measured by one passage of scripture. Women and men both are held accountable to the standard of Christ. We are supposed to model our lives after him, not a passage of fiction.

There are 2 sides to “Live 31.” The first is towards women and encouraging them to live Proverbs 31 lives. The second is towards men and encouraging the pursuit of Proverbs 31 women. My problem with this movement is that it’s not only taking away from the pursuit of Christ-like lives, but also the pursuit of Christ, himself.

Women and men alike should pursue Christ, right? After all, Max Lucado’s famous quote, “A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her,” is one of the most popular of our generation. (And Lucado’s word is gold…you know it’s true.) I’m down for any group that wants to spark a revolution, but only when the scriptural basis is accurate. This one seems to be a little misleading to me.

What about women who aren’t married or that don’t have children? This “Live 31″ idea excludes them.

And what about the Victoria’s Secret models? Nicole Weider was a VS model and is now a mission-work-doing-Christian, but what about the others? Are Noble Women supposed to assume the worst about VS models and be better than them? If I made a really judgmental list about who I think needs Christ’s love the most…VS models would be on that list. Obviously, I’m not a Woman of Noble Character just yet. What if a VS model sees the goals of this group? You won’t see them at church the next Sunday.

I think a true, Christ-like woman strives to do good by all of God’s people, sinner and saint alike.

I’m not saying that striving to be a Wife of Noble Character is silly or unrealistic. I think there are many women who strive to live that life and I think that’s amazing. I’m also not attacking the group. Like I said, I love a good spark.

Have you heard about this group? What do you think?

-Caitlyn

After I started thinking about this group, I searched what other people were saying. This blog post and I seem to be in agreement.

a call to man up. [this one's for the boys]

I’m kind of addicted to this song right now. And I love the music video. These men of God are some of the most powerful voices of our generation. They’re not some hood rat rappers. They’re not spinning noise. These are some powerful, Bible-driven words of power.

Obviously I’m not a boy. Or a man-boy. Or a man-child, what have you. But girls saving their hearts and boys manning-up is a two-way street. Can you imagine how incredible a Christ-centered relationship could be if girls waited and boys became men? Just thinking about how much that would honor God gives me chills.

I also really enjoy all the movie references in this song…that has nothing to do with anything…it’s just how my thought process works.

[Let me take you back to the tree in Eden, if you read it you'll see that Eve was deceived but Adam is the one who let it in.] If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll known how much I love the story of Adam and Eve. I have a few posts about it that I’ll link here. And here. I’ve always wondered why Adam didn’t man up and slap that apple right out of Eve’s hand and slingshot the serpent right out of that garden. I’m adding that to the list of questions I’ll be asking when I get to Heaven.

One of my favorite lines in this song is [Get up out of the treehouse leave the cookies alone it's/Time to eat meat now]. Not only does it make me laugh a little bit, but that’s so scriptural!

Hebrews 5:12 says, “You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.” Man-up means taking up your cross and teaching others: encouraging your brothers in Christ and also the women of noble character that He puts in your life. A man of God moves on from the basics of the Word and digs deeper. A man of God isn’t satisfied with picture books, but seeks scriptural evidence and guidance.

116 is so passionate about young people (both boys and girls) stepping up and being unashamed of the Gospel, which is the whole idea behind 116.

Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” Boom. What about you? Are you unashamed? Would you consider yourself to be a part of this movement? Or are you standing in the crowd, just clapping and nodding along?

[we're the last of a dying breed/it's time that we man up]

I would also encourage you to read the comments on this video’s YouTube page. Some of them are encouraging. Some of them are heartbreaking.

-Caitlyn

Listening to: “Man Up” album by 116

a love song. [this one's for the girls]

This is a love song to my husband.

But Caitlyn, you’re not married, I hear you cry. Yes. Yes, I know. But I know that’s part of God’s plan for my life. I pray for my future husband daily. It’s not like I wake up saying, Ah, yes..pray for my husband. It’s more like..I pray for him when I do something stupid or have “one of those days”..knowing that he’ll have to deal with me someday, poor guy.

This is one of those songs that I’ve taken and morphed to mean what I want it to mean. That’s okay, folks. It’s okay. Brooke could have some wonderful reasoning behind this song, but here’s my interpretation and its application to the World of Caitlyn.

If I were capable of writing songs…I think I would have written this one. This song is a lot like a story. It starts out watching and wishing: [I watch as lovers pass me by/Walking stories, who's and how's and why's] I know I’ve done this. I’m a hardcore people watcher. I love watching how people interact with each other; it’s fascinating to me. I’ve actually played that game with my dad before where we imagine what people are saying and invent conversations (which is also fun to do while watching a Spanish soap opera.) I want to be on the other side of that scenario someday; I want someone watching my husband and I and wondering what our love story is like.

[Musing lazily on love - pondering you] That’s probably my favorite line. Girls, we do this all the time.  We think about how our love story will play out. We plan our weddings. Plum will be the color at mine. (Pinterest isn’t helping this..by the way.) We name our children. I’ll have an Annabeth Rose. We plan and scheme all day, but then we realize how lonely all those plans are: that someone’s missing.  [Love is waiting 'til we're ready/'til it's right] I’m not just talking about the ol’ purity type of waiting, here. Although, that’s a huge part of it. Our hearts also need to wait. If we jump into every relationship that presents itself, thinking he’s our Prince Charming…we’ll have a lot of baggage with us at the altar on our wedding day.

[I could write a million songs about the way you same my name/I could live a lifetime with you and then do it all again/But like I can't force the sun to rise or hasten summer's start/Neither should I rush my way into your heart] I smile every time I hear that line. Save as much of your heart as you can. Think about guys you’re dating as some girl’s future husband, if he isn’t yours.

The Christ love song equivalent to this one is, “You’ll Come” by Hillsong…which is ironically also sung by Brooke Fraser. It’s currently my favorite worship song for many reasons.

All the single ladies

Pray for your husband every day. Even if you’re going through that, “(humph) I’ll never get married,” phase – pray for your husband. Pray for the fact that he’ll have to sort out your insecurities one day, God bless him. Pray because he’ll be the head of your house. Pray for your husband because hopefully he’s praying for you.

My prayer is that the chains of worldly dating rules will be broken. Eyes will be opened. Christ will be revealed. He’ll come.

Will you join me in praying for a patient heart?

-Caitlyn

Reading: “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” by Joshua Harris

like Adam, another victim of Lucifer’s lies.

I know I haven’t posted in a long time. That’s partly because I haven’t had a spare second to write anything and also because I couldn’t think of what to write. But, I’ve had a eureka moment!

If you grew up going to church like I did, you’ll agree that there are a lot of stories that you’ve heard a million times. Sometimes when a pastor or speaker says, “open your Bibles to Job” or “let’s look at Genesis together”, I tune out. I can admit that. I think here we go again and stop listening. That’s when my bad habit of day dreaming kicks in.

Recently, we’ve been digging in to the first three chapters of Genesis during UTA InterVarsity Bible studies. Genesis 3 is some powerful stuff. If its been a while since you’ve read it, I would recommend you do that.

I’ve written about The Fall before. When I read this passage last week, though, I took away a few things that I’d never noticed before. Don’t you love that? The words stay the same, but God keeps making them relevant in our lives.

When IV does Bible studies, we don’t really go too deeply into the Scripture. What I mean by “deep” is that we aren’t really into interpretations or “well maybe that means” moments. We look at the actual words and the surface facts. However…my brain’s first reaction isn’t to point out the obvious.

Bending God’s Word

Do you know what I mean? Have you ever read a verse that’s convicting and thought, that’s not really what that means? I do that more often than I care to admit. I think Eve was the first to do this. When the serpent questions God (by asking Eve if God really said not to eat of any tree in the garden), Eve then questions God. She says, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” She quotes God! She knew exactly what the rules were. She knew her boundaries. The serpent then tempts her with the idea of being similar to God. Verse 6 says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes…she took of its fruit and ate..” Satan was able to take a thought and plant it in Eve’s mind, making her question what God had told her.

The Invention of Insecurity

When God is doling out the punishment to Eve, he says, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Adam and Eve had been equal partners up to this point in the naming-the-animals business. Not anymore. Think about it: women are constantly desiring the approval of men, whether it’s her father, sibling, boyfriend or husband. We weren’t created to live like that. We were created to serve God and seek His approval, to obey Him. Everything changed. We blame Eve. I’m guilty of that..based on the title of my last blog post about Adam and Eve. But in reality, we should be blaming at Satan. That darn serpent.

He Makes Beautiful Things

When Adam and Eve realized their sin, their eyes were open and they “knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves clothing.” (Note: This was right before they “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden”. They heard God walking in the garden! I’m so jealous! Can you imagine what that sounded like?!) Later, in verse 21, God made Adam and Eve “garments of skins and clothed them.” Garments of skin. So…this was probably the first leather jacket? Maybe. Doubtful..but  maybe. This was, however, most likely the first death of an animal. Where’d the skin come from? God’s not the shortcut type. I don’t think He snapped His fingers and some fur coats fell like holy mana from the sky. An animal had to die to hide disobedience. An innocent animal had to die to protect and provide.

A Lamb would later have to die to cover all sin.

-Caitlyn

Listening to: Brooke Fraser. I love her. A whole lot.

an oldie, but a goodie.

Have you ever done an inductive Bible study? I don’t know if I can properly explain it, but I’m going to give it a whirl. You know how I love whirl-ing. Basically, what we did during our InterVarsity Bible study is this: our leader printed out the passage we were going to study, gave us all a copy and we read it together. Then, he gave us a few minutes to go through it on our own. We highlighted, underlined and marked up our pages. We found things we thought were interesting, noticed details and wrote out questions. Then we came back together and went through our observations. I learned SO MUCH. The first one we did together was Mark 1:16-20; 2:13-17. Here’s the first passage in the ESV.

¹⁶ Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷And Jesus said to them, ”Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” ¹⁸And immediately they left their nets and followed him.¹⁹And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Our group made a lot of observations that I want to share with you.

“I will make you…” I love that he says that.  On the Jesus timeline, he hasn’t said the famous words, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” (John 14:6) and yet he’s informing them that he is the only way. “I will make you.” I’m the one. It’s me. We can try all day to be good enough, nice enough, perfect enough to get into Heaven, but at the end of the day, “…no one comes to the Father except through [Jesus].” (John 14:6) It makes me think of the song from the Broadway musical, “Wicked”. “It’s me…IT’S MMEEEE!”….anyway.

“…fishers of men.” He had a plan to use the talents and passions they already had for his glory. Go, Christ! These fisherman made their living going out and seeking fish. Day in and day out, they searched. That was their job and they were good at it. Otherwise, they would have gone to grad school or something. God’s plan involved using fishermen to fish men. To bring them in with the Good News and then throw them back into the world to spread the message. I have this image of God standing up there in Heaven, catching us and gently tossing us back and watching us run around telling others about Him.

“Immediately…” Not, “as soon as they finished their lunch” or “after they packed up their jammies”. It was immediate. “…they left their nets and followed him.” Then Christ “immediately” calls James and John. Not, “as soon as they were done mending their nets.” They dropped what they were doing, left their father and followed Christ. What’s great is that Christ didn’t do anything without thought and a plan. He didn’t call them to him and say, “So, I’m thinking about asking you to follow me. How would you feel about that?” He calls them. Immediately. He has a plan and they’re a part of it. In Luke 9:23, it says, “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” Boom. Take up your cross. What’s your cross?

“…the hired servants…” John and James’ family must have been wealthy. They had servants, after all. They probably had it made. Some servants, maybe a yacht in the Bahamas, either way they were probably comfortable. They didn’t hesitate when Christ called them. Today, not all of us have servants. Yet, when Christ calls us, how many excuse variations can we come up with on the fly?

I’d really encourage you to try and do your next quiet time like this. If it’s a story you feel like you’ve read a million times, look for details. Read things out of context. Just think about the words in front of you. Then, go through your rolodex in your brain and think about other passages you’ve come across in the past that relate. It’s amazing how it all comes together.

And like I said, these aren’t all my personal notes on the passage. A couple of these were said by my fellow InterVarsity-ers.

-Caitlyn

Reading: “Sons of Encouragement” by Francine Rivers