"My grace is sufficient"

I haven't written here in a long time, and I can't remember if I've squashed this topic, but I have to mention how mediocre I am. God blessed me with no natural abilities...I was a 2-point-something student. I didn't like tests. I played outfield. I was the only 8th grader in cheer to not go to competition. I finally got a solo in choir, and choked on my spit, and ran to the bathroom in the middle of singing in front of the entire middle school. I practiced with the swim team in high school. I never competed. I can't look back at my life and say- Oh that. I'm good at that. To be honest, if I excel in anything, I can tell you for a fact that I don't excel because of me. I excel because of Christ in me. I am not being humble or hard on myself. I'm super excited to tell you this. I have many years of failure to prove how lacking I am and how full His grace is...I don't have the time to explain it, or share the minutes and the moments, but I can assure

I want to say something that I'm afraid not enough Christians are saying. And if we truly believe that we are living in the "last days", as Paul did, that we would speak up a little bit more often. I am fortunate to have a degree in Sociology, and I want to be upfront. I spent 5 years in college reading essays, novels, articles, and dealing with statistics that all championed the minority. When I say minority, I mean race, gender, and sex. I also volunteered with an AIDS resource center, and spent hours interviewing gays, drug addicts, black men and women, and even a former prostitute about their experience in contracting HIV/AIDS. In the interviewing process, I learned the very hateful and horrible things that many people go through when contracting the disease; many are treated as lepers, and for a gay man to be further isolated in his human experience, I gained insight and compassion for the people that I became very close to. I also did research for the center I wor

I have an inside joke with God. It's been running since I was little. I used to go up to communion, and take the body of Christ, say "amen", and walk up the isle, back to my seat next to my mom. I would always say "Hi God, it's me again." And I would talk to him. I can't explain the comfort it gave me to taste the unleavened bread at mass and sit in a dusty pew, on my knees in prayer to God. It might not sound like a really funny joke, but I remember, being 8, and thinking that it was so funny that He and I would get away together to talk. I never said the Hail Mary, and I never said the Our Father, but I talked to Jesus. Beyond all of the confounds of the church pews, and the words that didn't make sense to me at the time, and the seemingly holiness of the priest, I would get away with the Lord, and he would take me with Him. He would let me talk to Him. He let me know that He knew me, and that He heard me. Now, I am 34. But sometimes, I feel li

 I knew it the first day that I met Jon. He was the one that I was going to marry. I don't think it was smart; at least not in worldly standards. I was twenty, and in my 3rd year of college. I still was not sure what I wanted to be, or who I was. I was close to moving back home, and I had only been really walking with God for 2 years. But I knew it. And still, today, almost 13 years later, I am sure that Jon is the man that the Lord had intended for me to marry. I hear a lot of conflicting arguments about  marriage. Just like everything. But this is my story. And my lessons learned. And I don't think that they are "right" or "wrong", but they are what the Lord had intended for Jon and I. I'm almost 100% this blog post will out me as a Christian who is still in need of much training. But I can't have our 10 year anniversary pass without reflecting upon the lessons that I have learned, and to also reflect upon the work in progress I will be. Ten

It was my first year in college. I was so proud to hold my course handbook, and choose the classes that I wanted. I was so fortunate to have my mom pay for my classes, and to live under her roof, so I didn't completely understand the stress of paying tuition and rent somewhere. However, I was a waitress 4 nights a week to pay for my car, insurance, registration, and any extra activities that I would want to participate in. I also used the money to go on vacations, and to buy clothes. I made it a habit during that time to work out 5 days a week, and when I did not study, go to class, waitress, or have social activities, I worked as an AVID tutor 3 days a week at a middle school. My second year of college, I added to my list of activities a youth group volunteer. My responsibilities on leadership  included leadership meetings, planning for and leading bible studies, going to church weekly and youth group at night. I remember dreaming about the future. When I would only have to work,

"My grace is sufficient": Our first family communion : I am a mom who has a deep desire to share God's love with my kids. I want them to understand the wholeness of Jesus. I want them to fall...