The Air I Breathe - Louie Giglio - Book Review

Worship has to be so much more than singing songs at Church. This is something that I've thought for a long time, but I've never been able to put my finger on what exactly worship was. This book was the perfect read to answer a lot of questions that I had. It is very simple and easy to read, yet packed with a lot of profound and encouraging words.

I was really excited to get this book. I had very high hopes for it and I was not disappointed. It was practical, encouraging and contained stories of personal experience. The author clearly laid out the definition of worship and then continued to explain it throughout the book in a practical and easy to understand way. He makes the case that worship is something that you do every moment of every day whether you realize it or not. I love when a book challenges me to stop and think and examine myself - and this book definitely did that!

The author talked about the importance of quiet times, but that all throughout the day we need to be aware of who our Lord is: "Even more important than your time alone with him is that you walk away from that time fully aware that He is with you, wanting to be a part of everything you do. Don't make the mistake of spending fifteen minutes alone with God only to forget about Him for the other twenty-three hours and forty-five minutes of the day. In very little step you take throughout the day, keep Him in view. Talk to Him all day long, including Him in everything you do."

I really appreciated this book and how it challenged me to ask myself: "What am I worshiping today?" I definitely recommend this to anyone who is wanting to deepen their relationship with God.

If you are interested in more information about this book, head over here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/59918/the-air-i-breathe-by-louie-giglio/

For more information on the author: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/75318/louie-giglio/

Isaiah's Daughter - A Novel of Prophets and Kings - Mesu Andrews

God put a King on the throne whose desire was to turn the straying people of Judah back to Himself. But a big part of God's plan included an orphaned girl named Hepzibah whose heart was wounded and life was in ruins. The story of King Hezekiah is one of the most incredible stories in the Old Testament. It is the story of a man who decided to trust God even though all the odds were stacked against him. His enemies were breathing down his neck ready to destroy him, but he chose to cling to the Lord.

This story delves into the relationship of Isaiah the prophet and his messages to King Hezekiah and how they influenced the nation. The author was not afraid to dive into the complicated relationships of the King, his wife, along with that of the King's counsel and the prophets of Yahweh.  This is definitely an intriguing read and I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in reading historical and/or biblical fiction.

Growing up reading the Bible, sometimes it's hard to picture the people of this book as being real people with real problems, real emotions, and real dilemmas. One thing I appreciated about Isaiah's Daughter is that it portrayed well known Bible characters but really made them come alive. It made you realize that these people were real and had to have real faith. They had things that made them afraid - just like we all do. And they had to learn to trust God even as we do. It's easy to look at people in the Bible and think that they just had everything work out for them and that faith wasn't necessary. But these people didn't see the whole picture - they had to trust God every step of the way.

This book encouraged me and made me realize that trusting God is the same for everyone. We all have to trust God even when we cannot see. The people of the Bible had to trust God just as we do.

As far as the writing style goes, it was very well done. This is a large and challenging story to take on and I think the author did a good job tackling character development and plot development. There

were a few times when Hezekiah and Hepzibah's relationship seemed a bit cliche to me, but it was good other than that.

If you are interested in reading the first chapter of this book, here is the link: http://mesuandrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SAMPLE-CH-IsaiahsDaughter-1.pdf

Here is more information on the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/550573/isaiahs-daughter-by-mesu-andrews/

And here is more information on the author: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/187189/mesu-andrews

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. All opinions are entirely my own.

Daring to Hope - Katie Davis Majors - Book Review

This book blessed my soul so much. It is the story of a young missionary to Uganda and her adopted children. Katie does a wonderful job of weaving together her story along with the things that the Lord taught her through that. This book really encapsulated her heart and her relationship with God. She candidly shared the things that she thought and felt while ministering to the hurting and the hungry. I was very blessed by the parts of this book where she talked about her quiet times with God and the things that God spoke to her through the Word.

One thing that struck me about this book is how God formed and shaped her through tragedy - and how she gained a heavenly perspective. God wants to give all of us His perspective in life, but only if we allow Him to. Katie allowed God to use the difficult things in her life to grow her - and she honestly shares about that in this book.

I also appreciated how she talked about her grappling with God. She asked God all the hard questions about why bad things happen, the purpose of miracles, etc. and I so appreciated how she didn't try to avoid or side step the big issues, but she addressed them head on.

Few books have blessed me more than this book. I felt nourished and encouraged every time I picked it up and I would definitely recommend it!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinion and content are entirely my own.

He Calls You Beautiful - Dee Brestin - Book Review

We quickly forget the intensity of God's love for us. He Calls You Beautiful was an incredible reminder to me that I am loved and desired. God jealously desires me - and that is incredible.

When I first started this book, I desperately hoped that this would not be a cheesy or cliche book. Some things written about Song of Songs are just cringey and shallow to read. But as I read this book, I continued to be encouraged and refreshed. It was such an encouraging book to read!

Brestin masterfully weaves together her own personal encounters with God along with the testimonies of others. They add a lot of depth and beauty to this book - showing us that God is an intensely personal and relational God. She shared several stories from her experience with prion ministry - and those were especially touching. AND our relationship with God. I thought that was a very neat perspective. It basically applies to all of our relationships.

She also talked about how the Song is relevant to our human relationships

This book really encouraged me with where I was at when I read it. It really made me want to throw everything aside and just go spend time with God - and more books should be like that!

It also helped break the mindset that the Song is about romance, or designed for married people. The Song can be encouraging for anyone - no matter where they are. Because we are all caught up in the Divine Romance. And that's a wonderful place to be.

Here are some links for those interested:

More information: https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/books/544946/he-calls-you-beautiful-by-dee-brestin/&source=gmail&ust=1502833107483000&usg=AFQjCNEtVulWTZDbJFSxF-sW0EuRXnQu-Q

Author Bio: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/authors/35839/dee-brestin/

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinion and content are entirely my own.

Break Open the Sky - Saving our faith from a culture of fear - Book Review

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first got this book. The cover was very gripping. I also wondered how it was possible to write a whole book on the subject of fear and faith. I was very eager to find dive in! This book is a very easy read and I read it in a couple of days.

Going into this book, I very much hoped that it would be practical and not merely a pep talk about getting over fear. I was very pleased to find that he presented very heavy hitting and solid truth! He talked about how the Western World is more afraid as a whole than lots of different poor nations are - and he analyzed why. He also went through different things that we are afraid of such as suffering and taking risks. Stephan Bauman has seen a lot of hard and difficult things through his years of relief work in other countries - and yet I was intrigued by his perspective on suffering. That was probably one of the things that I enjoyed most about this book. He didn't shy away from difficult subjects - and suffering is included in that. As one who works to alleviate the sufferings of others, he had an intriguing perspective. He talked about how suffering is not something that we need to avoid and push away, but suffering is something that we can embrace without fear because God uses to draw us closer to Him than we could imagine.

I really appreciated the experience that he has. He was able to share many stories about believers and people in other countries and their stories. That added a lot of depth to this book!

Overall, this book was great and I'm glad I read it! Definitely something that left me impacted. We are really good at ignoring our fear and sometimes we need to face it head on with the truth - and that is what Bauman did in this book.

Here are a few links for those interested:
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/books/234659/break-open-the-sky-by-stephan-bauman/#details

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/authors/185732/stephan-bauman/

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinion and content are entirely my own.

The Chamberlain Key - Timothy P. Smith - Book Review

Codes in the Bible? I would have to say I was pretty skeptical coming into this book. I had heard a little bit about this concept before, but I didn't really know much about it and I definitely was hesitant to believe something like that!

Reading this book was incredibly informative and enlightening. Timothy Smith shared his personal story along with sharing the things that he discovered. I appreciated his honesty and authenticity. Another thing that I really appreciated was how thoroughly he researched everything that was put in this book - he didn't just throw out theories or random things. He thoroughly searched everything out and had experts confirm his findings. That was one thing that really helped me out while reading this!

Smith shares his life story and steps of the journey that took him to this amazing discovery. It was an incredibly intriguing and compelling read!

I'm still not completely sure what I think about the concept of messages being encrypted into the original Hebrew documents, but this book really challenged me to start thinking about this. And I began to realize that the biggest reason I doubt is because I don't really think that God could communicate like that - and that's because I have put God in a box. But this book challenged me to think about the fact that God could quite conceivably communicate to us in this fashion! God is not restricted by our understanding! I think that this is the biggest takeaway I have from this book - that God is not restricted!


Here are a few links for those interested:

Chamberlain Key Debate & Discussion Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1827281677560431/
More information: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/books/537278/the-chamberlain-key-by-timothy-p-smith-with-bob-hostetler-foreword-by-eugene-ulrich-phd/
Author bio: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/authors/2135192/timothy-p-smith/

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. The opinion and content are entirely my own.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about God by Eric Metaxas - Book Review

I was very excited to get this book! I had heard the name Eric Metaxas and seen several of his books but hadn't had the chance to read any until I got this book. I've read lots of different Christian apologetics books over the years and they can have a reputation for being dry and somewhat boring, but that was not the case with this book. The question and answer format of this book made it interesting and personable. It was like a dialogue between two interesting people who both have their different opinions and views but are trying to understand the other side. It made it more like a dialogue than a sermon – which helps keep your attention!

I appreciated how Metaxas delved right into the controversial questions with boldness but not rudeness. That is something that I always look for when a Christian is addressing touchy subjects. It is important to have a listening and an understanding attitude – and Metaxas exemplifies that in this book. His answers are very respectful and yet incredibly sincere. You can tell that he is speaking from the heart and from his life experience and not just preaching a sermon. The best sermons are the ones that are lived out and not spoken!

There was only one thing that disappointed me a little bit in this book. All throughout the book, Metaxas emphasizes how Christianity is not merely a religion, but an incredible opportunity to have a deep, intimate relationship with God. He does a great job of focusing on this point and I really appreciated that because a lot of apologetics books don't talk about things like that. But then at the end of the book, when he had a perfect opportunity to explain how to have a relationship with God, he mostly talked about going to church and the importance of fellowship with other believers. While fellowship with others is important, the point of the whole book is fellowship with God. This book would be a great book to give unbelievers or people who are seeking to follow God and for that reason, I believe it could have done a better job of practically explaining what that looks like – and how you seek God. It's not hard to see that Metaxas has a relationship with God – and so because of that, he has the authority and the experience and the insight to explain what relationship with God looks like practically.

Other than that point – which is merely my opinion – I thought the book was excellently written. It was engaging and easy to read. It is a great book to read if you have questions about God and how He works. I would definitely read other books written by this author. 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. But the opinion is completely and entirely my own.

More information: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/books/113616/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-god-but-were-afraid-to-ask-by-eric-metaxas/

About the Author: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/authors/68702/eric-metaxas/ 

Escapes Underneath the Berlin Wall - My Review of the book "The Tunnels" by Greg Mitchell

When this book first fell into my hands, I thought, "Wow. This is a big book! How will I ever get through it?" Although it was bigger than I had expected, I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting and gripping it was. I went through it fairly slowly but I didn't lose interest one time!

The book is about the Berlin Wall crisis as a whole, but specifically focusing on the tunneling attempts. The tunnels that were built are a dramatic pictur

e of how desperate the people of Berlin were to have their freedom. This book reads like a thriller and is filled with suspense and complex characters and the missions and the risks that brave men and women took for their families and loved ones.

This was a truly riveting book and I enjoyed it thoroughly! One thing I look for in a book about history is that it tells a story. Many history books are somewhat dry and filled with details and honestly, I quickly lose interest because of the writing style of the author. But Mitchell did a great job telling a story – the story of those who were passionate to have freedom.

In the acknowledgments, Mitchell writes: “When I started this book, I had no idea how many of the key tunnelers, couriers, and escapees were still living, or if they would be reachable, and if so, would be willing to speak with me. I made a list and, surprisingly, I was able to arrange lengthy interviews with nearly all of them, and then some.” It is evident when reading this book that his eyewitness interviews made all the difference in the world. He did a very thorough job and all of the interviews he conducted add an incredible depth to this book. It is almost as if he is writing down their story on their behalf. This book gave all the different perspectives from citizens of east and west Germany, members of the press, members of the government, etc. I appreciated how it showed all the different sides of the story.

I was definitely impressed by this book and although I do not appreciate the occasional language, I would definitely recommend this book to someone interested in this topic. “The Tunnels” definitely left me with a greater respect for the freedom that I have.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. But the opinion is completely and entirely my own.

Author's website: http://www.gregmitchellauthor.com/

Author's bio: http://www.gregmitchellauthor.com/bios/greg-mitchell

The Prayer of Sir Francis Drake

Several years ago I came across this poem that was attributed to Sir Francis Drake and it really was inspiring.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Late Night Thoughts...

Sometimes it's when you're really tired and really worn out when you hear Him speak the clearest. I think it's because when we are tired and ready to give up, we are ready to listen to Him instead of always listening to ourselves.

Sometimes it's those moments when you are feeling shattered and broken when you feel His love the strongest. Maybe it's because when we realize what a mess we are, we realize how complete He is.

Sometimes it's when you're experiencing heartache and pain when you realize that He is closer than He's ever been. Maybe it's because when you're hurting, you realize how much you need Him.

Because we need Him desperately.

                                

Breaking Boxes

I don't know about you, but from the time I was little, I had this concept of what prayers should sound like. And I guess I got these ideas from hearing other people pray. And so I guess I always prayed the way I heard other people pray. I didn't care to “experiment” with prayer and really open up my heart to God in prayer. I had my prayer life stored away in these nice little spiritual boxes and I was content with that. But recently, God has begun to break down the boxes that I've tried to put Him in.

I've been home from school for three months now and next week I'm about to go back. The way my school works is that I am there for three months and then I am home for three months. And for some reason I always thought that I would learn more during the semester than the off-semester, but God has shown me so clearly how He is my teacher. And while He may use another person or teacher to teach me, it is ultimately He who teaches and reveals those things to me. So since I have been home, God has continued to teach me more about who He is.

I just want to share a few things that He began to show me last semester and has been continuing to teach me since I've been home. I'm afraid that they might seem a bit jumbled and disorganized, but I'm going to give it a shot.

1. My prayers make a difference. God wants me to pray. I've grown up in a very conservative, Christian home but I confess that I had a very pathetic prayer life until more recently. And I think I know why: I didn't believe there was any power in prayer. I didn't realize that the most powerful force in the universe – God Almighty – heard those prayers and that they touched His heart. I may have known it in my head, but I didn't really believe it. I didn't realize that my prayers move the heart of God.

As I began to actually pray, I began to see God working in ways that went far above and beyond what I could have imagined – and through that, God began to dispel my unbelief and still is. God builds our trust and our faith through the experiences that He gives us and I've seen that true in my own life.

2. Prayer is warfare. In the past, I would begin to pray for someone or something for a period of time and then eventually just stop praying and give up because I wasn't seeing results. Looking back, I'm ashamed of that because I see how little endurance I had. I didn't tap into God's strength, but tried to fight the battle of prayer all by myself. I think many of us give up praying for someone too fast because we don't see what is going on in the spiritual realm. When we begin to pray for something that is near and dear to God's heart and pray in accordance with His will, things in heaven begin to shift and move around and Satan is being defeated. The problem is, we can't see it with our mortal eyes, so we begin to get tired and discouraged when we don't realize that progress is being made in the spiritual realm. And when we give up on praying for someone that God has put on our hearts to pray for, we are giving ground to the enemy. Satan cannot win.

Here is a helpful quote that gave me so much insight into what happens when we are praying for someone – particularly someone who is lost: “Legally, all souls belong to Christ because He paid for their sins on Calvary (1 John 2:2). But Satan, illegally and forcefully, continues to hold them bound in spiritual darkness until we take our rightful place and exercise our throne-rights by demanding their immediate release on the basis of Christ's shed blood and our delegated authority from Him. There is absolutely no reason for even one single soul to die and go to hell because Christ has already paid their redemption price. And the only reason why anyone will go to hell is that we have not taken our place of authority and bound the strong man, insisting on their salvation. The devil will not release them until we make him.” (Lee E. Thomas, Praying Effectively for the Lost)

We may not see results immediately when we pray, but our prayers are not in vain! God is working even if we can't see it. Faith is the evidence of things not seen – and we need to have faith that God is working.

3. Prayer is the work. Oswald Chambers said, “Payer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work.” I can't tell you how many times I heard that prayer – but God has shown me how true that actually is. Missions and evangelism are powerless apart from prayer. Mere words coming out of my mouth will not convince anyone. This is not to diminish the importance of missions or witnessing, etc. but I think that we put too much emphasis on talking and convincing other people and not enough on praying for others. Prayer is more powerful than my own words.

God taught me this in a very personal way recently. One of my closest friends was going through a difficult time and as much as I had tried to encourage this friend and as much as others had tried to encourage this other person, my friend seemed lost and confused. You see, nothing I could say made any difference. I think God brought this situation to me because I realized that only He can change hearts – I can't. So often I think that if I just explain something in a certain way or just say it using different words that I can speak to that person's heart and change their minds. But that's not how it works. God's Holy Spirit is the only one who can change people. So I found in this situation that the only thing I really could do was pray. And so I did pray. And I prayed a lot. I begged God to break through to my friend and to encourage my friend. And things didn't change overnight. They took months and months. But God had me continue to pray for my friend and one day when I was feeling especially desperate, I spent much of the day praying and asking God to come into the situation and change this person. I never felt so weak and so helpless than I did at that moment. I was completely powerless. And as soon as I was in that place of weakness, God demonstrated His strength by turning this person around – at the same time that I was praying for them.

Needless to say, this whole situation built up my faith in God so much. I realized that He hears my prayers and that He cares!

4. Pray God's word. My own words are pretty feeble sometimes and I don't always know God's will in a particular situation, but if I pray God's word, there is such power in those prayers because I can know that I am praying God's will.

For example, if I am praying for someone who is lost to be prayed, I can pray this passage: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; ... For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4, emphasis mine) So I can stand on this promise as I pray and tell God, “You said that it is your will that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth – so I ask that you would bring so-and-so to the knowledge of truth and to salvation.” If I pray in that manner, I'm not just praying what my will is, but God's will.

When I pray God's word and base my prayers off of God's promises, there is such power there! Because I am praying God's very heart back to God! There are verses in the Bible that apply to every area of life so there will always be a verse I can pray for every situation. If the Bible is the sword of the Spirit, using it in prayer invites that power into our prayers!! And that's so exciting guys!

So that's a few of the things that God is still teaching me. I don't know if that made a whole lot of sense, but I'm praying that God used at least part of this to encourage you and to help you with your prayer life.

I guess learning how to pray means breaking a lot of boxes of unbelief. I've kept prayer in my own little boxes for so long. I've had all these ideas of what prayer should look like and sound like, but I'd encourage you to seek for more than that.

We tend to pray the way we hear others pray, but that can be dangerous because then we are unwilling to venture into new territory. Don't be afraid to pray in ways you've never heard anyone pray before! Don't be afraid to be vulnerable before God and to tell Him everything that is on your heart. Don't be afraid to be desperate. Don't be afraid to plead and to beg. Don't be afraid to humble yourself before God. Don't be afraid to “experiment” with prayer and test God. Don't be afraid to listen to God and to ask Him how to pray.

Come before God with your prayer life and ask Him what is on His heart and what He wants you to pray about. You don't have to try to muster up spiritual sounding and powerful prayers, you just have to ask God to show you what to pray. Just listen to Him and I guarantee that there will be power in those prayers.

Prayer is conversation with God. If we can only understand that – it will completely transform our prayer lives. 

The Center of God's Will

Psalm 40:8 "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart."

It's 12:37 AM. I'm sitting at my computer, staring at the screen, wondering how to explain all the thoughts that are racing through my mind. The last month has gone by so quickly I feel like I've barely had a chance to think and sort through all the thoughts in my mind.

I went on a walk today, hoping to get some clarity of mind, but all I could see was a packing/to-do list scrolling through my mind. So this is an attempt to sort through everything in my head. Writing it out always helps me.

I've told people some details about the school that I am planning on attending and I've received various reactions from people. Some people think it's weird that I won't have internet access while I'm there. Some people think it's weird that I won't be able to date while I'm there for the next three years. So I just want to write out my thoughts about the school where God has called me to attend.

When I was twelve, I fell in love with the state of Texas. But it wasn't just that I thought the state was

Sunsets at Bible School

beautiful, I fell in love with a little Bible school nestled in Central Texas Hill Country. All of my older siblings went to this Bible school and so I got to visit several times throughout my teen years.

This Bible school is very small. About thirty students attend this school, so the atmosphere is very much like that of family and community.

But what struck me about this school was the devotion and the passion I saw in the students. These were some of the godliest and most committed young people I had ever come across. They devoted hours every week to studying and meditating on God's word and prayer. But what I noticed about this group of students is that their eyes shone with joy, their souls burned with truth and their hearts were full of God's love. They weren't boring. They weren't dull. They weren't locked away in closets studying all hours of the day and night. They were so in love with Jesus Christ that it wasn't a chore for them to read their Bible, it wasn't work to meditate on scripture, it wasn't tedious to do Bible study. They had learned the secret that if they died to themselves, Christ in all of His beauty and glory would come and dwell within them. They weren't perfect angels, but they knew that they had a perfect God who was still working on them.

The environment there is unlike any other that I have ever experienced. There is a light about this place and peace. Part of what provides this almost surreal environment is the limits that are placed on outside distractions. There are rules put in place during the semester to limit the distractions of internet, tv, etc. but it is so beautiful to go to a place where seeking God is more unhindered and there are less distractions calling your name. It's okay to have a period of your life where you have solid rules set in place that help you to spend more hours with the Lord.

And now, I find myself preparing to attend this college for myself. I don't care if people think it's weird and has weird rules. I don't care if people think that no-internet is a bit extreme. It's fine if people think the rules are strict. Strict rules are sometimes good for you. And I know that God is going to use this next chapter in my journey so much. I've seen how it's changed my siblings and how it's changed the lives of my friends who have attended there.

I'm okay with the fact that I'm not allowed to date for the next three years. I can just spend that time focusing on my relationship with God. That's okay with me. I can wait.

I'm okay with the fact that I won't have internet connection and unlimited phone time. There is a time and a place for drawing aside to seek God with less distractions and a greater focus. The internet has a lot of good things to offer, but as we all know, it can be easy to wast time too. So I'm fine with the fact that I won't have internet access because I'll be more motivated to work on studying the Bible and I'll have more time to spend in prayer.

There are many godly people in the Bible like Elijah or John the Baptist or even Jesus who spent time alone with God in the middle of a bare wilderness with no distractions, just their Creator. And God still provides "wildernesses" or periods of set apart time for us to spend time with God. Wildernesses are not the most fun places to be, they can be difficult and wearisome, but God still gives joy and He draws near in those times. This school is in the middle of literal wilderness and I feel so incredibly blessed that God is giving me several years to slow down the pace of this crazy world and go off to the "wilderness" to seek Him. My God is so good to give me this special set apart time just to listen to His voice and to learn.

So I don't know if my mind is any less jumbled, but one thing is clear: I have never heard God's voice so clear and without a doubt as I did when I was told that this was the place I was to go to school.

So sure, school is grueling. I'm going to have to learn how to die to myself more and more, and that won't be comfortable. But I feel peace knowing that I am at the center of God's will.

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." (Psalm 37:3-7)

To My NCFCA Friends

Dear Fellow Competitors,

Five years ago when I was a shy, nervous and awkward twelve year old, doing speech and debate was the most challenging thing I had ever tried. I remember my first few tournaments. I didn't really know anybody and I had no friends there. I would have never dreamed that I would meet my very best friends in the whole world through speech and debate. I had no idea how much you guys would all mean to me. I had no idea that God would use you guys in my life so much. And I had no idea that saying goodbye to you all would be so incredibly hard.

I want to keep this brief or I know I'm going to start crying and I really don't feel like doing that right now. So thank you for the fellowship. Thank you for the crazy conversations we had when we were all tired. Thank you for the respectful arguments. Thank you for the joking around. Thank you for not thinking it was weird if I cried if I was having a hard day. Thank you for smiling at me when we walked past each other in the hallway. Thank you for praying with me outside of my room. Thank you for providing me with an incredible environment to grow in my skills, but also to grow in the Lord. Because of you, I've had the best years of my life. Some of you I got to know very well, others of you I had smaller, shorter interactions, but it doesn't really matter. All of you left an imprint on my life and you've given me so many memories that I'm never going to forget.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for changing my life, for showing me how to smile when I'm disappointed, to find fun and enjoyment even under pressure, for long talks late at night, for words of encouragement you offered and for all of the things that you guys taught me.

I know that you've been told countless times that you are going to make a difference in the world, let me join in and agree. I've seen how dedicated and passionate you are to what you believe in and I am convinced that God is going to use you all to make an impact on the world. You guys give me so much hope.

You are an incredible group of people and I cannot even begin to say how much I am going to miss all of you. Thank you so so so so much for your friendship, your competition, and for all the love and the memories that I'm going to have with me for the rest of my life.

Okay, maybe I am going to cry anyway. I hope you can see how much I mean the "thank-you's" amidst all of the emotional "sappyness" :) But may God bless you all as you continue to serve Him. Thank you for being the crazy, wonderful people that you are.

Love,
Elizabeth

Look Up

Today the phrase “look up” came to my mind. So I decided to search the Bible for the phrase “look up” and there are only a handful of verses in the Bible that have that phrase, but there is one thing that they do have in common and symbolism behind m

any of the verses is just beautiful.

Here are the verses:

Gen_13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

Psa_5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psa_40:12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

Mar_8:25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

Luk_21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

All of these verses have the context of darkness or evil holding you down, but then when you look up at Him, you find that freedom, that restoration.

In the example of Genesis 13:14, Abram and Lot had just dealt with a large servant disagreement/quarrel by parting ways. I'm sure that that was a physically and emotionally tolling time for Abram because dealing with conflict is basically, a lot of work. Dealing with conflict can cause your feet to begin to drag and it can make your head hang in

discouragement. But in this verse it says that after the two had separated ways, God said to Lot, “Lift up now thine eyes”. That phrase has a lot of significance! God is saying, stop looking down, stop looking down at yourself! (Interesting note, looking down at the ground or looking down often means looking down at one's self) So God told Abram, “Quit focusing on yourself and how you feel. Completely move on from what has happened and lift up your eyes and look at the place that I have given you.” The symbolism of this verse is very extraordinary, actually. When we are mired down in discouragement, it is so easy to look down and not look out at the promises that God has given us.

In the verse Psa_5:3 it says “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Morning is the time of day that comes after nighttime. Morning and night have a lot of allegorical and spiritual properties to them as well. Morning is often used to describe a new beginning, a time when God's mercies are new and we have a fresh new chapter to begin with. Night is often considered a time of difficulty, temptation or evil and overall struggle. And so the psalmist specifically points out that we will hear His voice in the morning, after the night is over, calling us to look up, to turn away from our discouragement, to turn away from our fear, or temptation, our difficulties, and turn to Him. We will hear his voice and we will look up.

Mark 8 also paints another beautiful picture, illustrating the same concept. A blind man was brought to Jesus and those who brought him begged Him to lay His hands on the man and heal him. This man was living in physical darkness, trapped in a chasm with no light. Unable to walk about on his own, unable to see for himself, unable to see the light even if he wanted to. He was a prisoner in his own body, unable to get away. And Jesus spit upon his eyes and asked the man what he saw. The man replied that he could vaguely see moving objects but that they were very blurry and distorted. This could have discouraged both Jesus and the blind man, but it says “After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.” Jesus had the man look up and his eyesight was restored so that he could see clearly. In the same way, as long as we are looking down at ourselves, we are blinded, caught up in ourselves, unable to see anything beyond us. And when Jesus guides our head to look up, we are restored so that we can see clearly. Looking up gives us a new perspective: rather than looking at ourselves, we look up into the face of God. And looking up into the face of God changes your perspective more than anything else.

In Luke 21, God talks about a time of persecution when Christians are hated, pursued, and cast out by society. Verse 26 says “Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” This sounds like a terrifying time for any Christian. A time that would press you and shake you down to the core, testing your endurance and trust in God. But verse 27-28 once

again highlights the beautiful theme that has run throughout all of these verse, that even in the midst of darkness when all we can think about is ourselves and our own problems, God gently turns our gaze upwards once again. “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” I don't need to add anything to that, because it says it right there.

There are many other verses that talk about lifting up your head, gazing up, etc. but these five verses that contain the phrase “look up” really fascinated me because of the similar idea that they all express with the very different and yet so eloquent analogies. They all remind us that when our circumstances want to pull us back or our sin or temptation want to mire us down, we are to look up – look up and be saved, redeemed, renewed, and given a fresh perspective on what matters more than all of our problems: God and His plan for our lives.