House on the Rock

My beloved student body, When we got to Taylor University as freshmen, we were blessed to experience a powerful feet-washing ceremony. Surrounded by thirty of our closest friends and the ambient hum of worship music, we were prayed over, serenaded by songs of joy, and tightly hugged with cheerful thanksgiving. At the end of the ceremony, teary-eyed upperclassmen knelt to wash our feet. I remember being a bit uncomfortable as I watched four beautiful upperclass girls bend down and gently take hold of my ankles. My feet were stained with dirt from running around the lake, and years of being an athlete left me with blisters and bruises around my toes. However, as they dipped my feet into the water and wrapped a towel around them to clean them, I was suddenly unaware of the flaws in my feet. Those flaws didn't matter to the servants who were willing to wash me, regardless of my messiness. It's the exact same story that happens in John 13 when Jesus kneels to wash his disciple...

To the one whose existence stretches beyond time, could it be that your wisdom reaches beyond mine? To the one who brought the earth to life with just his voice - could it be that you already know the outcome of this choice? All-surpassing wisdom and knowledge you possess so why do I allow all my unknowns to cause me stress? Surely since you know all things, you know about this too. So father, guide me. Lead me please - I don't know what to do.

How do we praise when things look the same every day? When life never changes and routine straps us in and holds us back from breaking free? How do we sing a new song to the God who never changes? It looks like breathing in the splatter-painted sunsets and rolling clouds that tower like mountains draped along the modest midwest sky. It looks like the first spring flower and an army of believers singing hallelujah. It looks like coffee with a friend that God has faithfully found for you and it looks like the change to come back home. It looks like eggs in the dining hall - and I mean the rare days with real eggs - not the powdery bagged mysteries from mornings before. It looks like dolphin fins disrupting the surface of the waves at the exact moment you look toward the sea - like letters from grandma and classmates who pick up your plate because they care. It looks like dancing with the legs he gave you and laughing by the joy he brings. it looks like good books and summer nights and sn...

I'm learning that college friendships are the best but they're also the most brutal. Especially at a school like Taylor, where "intentional community" permeates every inch of the campus, it feels  necessary to be constantly surrounded by six or seven or twenty-five friends at all times. The friendships are harder because you never really get a break from anyone, and people want to go deeper, which means raw confrontation, rich conversation, and a readiness to call each other out. It's a time of road trips and spontaneous sleepovers and hometown visits getting to know people deeply, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Don't get me wrong, God has been so faithful in providing friendships at Taylor. My former roommates, famously deemed "The Maggies," are my constant companions and probably know more about me than I know about myself. When the Maggies aren't around, there are several girls on my wing that I can call up for dinner. I've had...

Dear Future Cali, It's funny, now, because time has passed and the days behind you seem so small. College flew by and now you're out doing what you've always dreamed of doing - or maybe not, but you're doing what God has planned for you. You're seeing that life is a mist and it's passing so quickly, but you've come a long way. You have learned so much and God has shaped you in ways you never thought possible. So as the time passes and sunsets turn to sunrises and years go by, don't forget the lessons you have learned. Don't forget the way God found you when you were at your absolute worst. Don't forget how he continued to wait for you and pursue you through your rebellion, and how he welcomed you with open arms when you finally took a step toward repentance. Don't forget how sneaking around with the wrong guy destroyed you, but worse, how it destroyed your parents' trust and the way your siblings looked up to you. Don't forget tha...

One of my favorite moments of the trip happened on a Sunday morning in the breezeway. The breezeway was a favorite spot because it was surrounded by palm trees and offered a beautiful place to hammock where the gentle breeze would disrupt the humid air. The breezeway was a place where you couldn't feel temperature. Weather was something you didn't really notice, because it was perfect. It didn't have a chill that brought goosebumps and it didn't bring a sweat-inducing heat. It was so perfect it was nearly intangible. These details aren't really relevant to the story, but it's worth acknowledging how much this location meant to me. It is where my most impactful quiet times happened, my richest conversations, and the moments where God spoke to me most.  This happened beautifully, like I said, on a Sunday morning. We were planning on going to a church in Belmopan (the capital city) called LifeNet. Because the tire on our bus was slashed, we had a bit more ti...

Stepping into a new year always feels a bit overwhelming. Even though it's nothing more than the turn of a calendar, it feels like the perfect time for a fresh start. A change. Time to refresh, rejuvenate, and refocus. A time to celebrate the past year and look forward to the year ahead.  2018 was a year of immeasurable, unimaginable growth. I experienced heart change, surrender, wandering through the wilderness, laughter, misery, desperate prayers, angry tears, and the faithful friendship and Fatherhood of God through it all. It was a year of stripping away selfishness and learning to love better. It was a year of being unshakable as I stood on the firm foundation of my Savior.  I didn't always make the right decision, and I certainly didn't always come out on top. I failed time and time again. I handled situations poorly. I feared when I should have trusted. I gossiped when I should have prayed. I sinned, but God forgives and redeems an...

I will never forget standing on these rocks in Galilee, just a few hundred feet above the sea that was notorious for its ship-smashing storms. These waters were rough - home to winds and waves so powerful that only the voice of God himself could calm the raging surges of rushing water. T he sea is 700 feet below sea level, and its location makes it subject to sudden violent storms as the eastern wind drops over the sea. Needless to say, these waters are rough.  However, standing on these rocks that tower several hundred feet above the sea, we were completely uplifted from the chaos below. In fact, we were lifted so high above the waters that we were able to simply look down on the waters and from where we stood, the storms seemed small.  As I looked out over the waters, I thought about the storms that abounded in my own life. Conflict between friends, fear of disappointing others, jealousy, heartache, broken relationships, loved ones lost, the destructio...

His eyes are an ocean, and not only because of the way the glittering blue sparkles like sunlight but also because of the vastness – a vastness you can get lost in as he looks deep into your soul and his pupils grow wide, the pupils that are dark like a swarming abyss while they expand because pupils grow when looking at something they love, and his pupils have never looked at a person he didn’t love; so it wasn’t a surprise when an elderly woman at church came to me and said, “I think so highly of your father,” because her husband was dying and they were new in town and he was the one to drop everything and cover them in love and his prayers would crash around them in wave after wave just like the ocean in his eyes, and he ordered pizzas for the baseball team when their first-baseman died, not because he had the money but because he has a love that makes him move and it is a love that lets you know that you matter and that you have potential so when he looks at you and his pupils gr...

May it be enough for me to see God in the world. He asked me to go get coffee. Is that okay with you? I know you kind of liked him. May it be enough for me to see God in the world. My picture got almost eight hundred likes! That's crazy because I didn't even post it at prime publicity time. May it be enough for me to see God in the world. My mom just randomly bought me this. I didn't even ask for it because it was probably a couple hundred dollars. She randomly buys me stuff all the time.  May it be enough for me to see God in the world. I got up at 6 this morning to work out. I like to start out my day in the gym because it gets me feeling good and improves my body. May it be enough for me to see God in the world. I spent two hours reading my Bible this morning. You didn't? I just feel like God really cherishes our time with him so that's why I try to get a few hours in.  May it be enough for me to see God in the world. I got a 96. I barely e...