confetti © by Looking Glass

My college experience was one best characterized by all the fun I had. By senior year, I was extremely pleased with my long list of friends and was typically in the know about all the best parties. Most importantly, the majority of cute girls on campus were at least familiar with whom Brandon Howard was and in this, I was well pleased. From time to time I managed to sneak in a little studying as well.

After graduation, I fully expected that, while the setting might change, the party would certainly not end. I pitied friends who were jumping into post-grad life feet first by adding a wife, a mortgage, grad school loans, or jobs working long hours. Some were even crazy enough to complicate life with babies. Those seemed like such “grown-up” decisions and I resisted them.

“Why rush into so much responsibility with so much youth left?” I asked myself. [Read more...]

chairs © by davedehetre

“Relationships aren’t the best thing, if you ask me. People can be quite untrustworthy, and the more you get to know them—by that I mean the more you let somebody know who you really are—the more it feels as though something is at stake. And that makes me nervous. It takes me a million years to get to know anybody pretty well, and even then the slightest thing will set me off. I feel it in my chest, this desire to dissociate. I don’t mean to be a jerk about it, but that is how I am wired. I say this because it makes complete sense to me that we would rather have a formula religion than a relational religion. If I could, I probably would have formula friends because they would be safe.” Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

I had an accountability partner in high school. We met at summer camp, and she lived in another town. Since we were far away, we wrote letters and prayed for each other. We reported our quiet times, worked on Scripture memory, and felt good about our special friendship that lasted about two months. [Read more...]

Holy Spirit dove window © by hickory hardscrabble

In the church where I grew up, the phrase “hearing the Holy Spirit” was never really uttered. Well, maybe someone in a back hall said it, but it sure didn’t get mentioned enough where I could hear it. Therefore, I never really connected it in my young mind as being a “normal” part of the Christian life. For almost two decades as a Christian (ages 10-29), I did not pursue a relationship with the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Sure, He was with me at all times, and led and protected my steps in countless ways I’ll never know, but I never actively pursued to hear His voice or call Him by name.

I was 29 when I went on my first sabbatical, and in the couple of years leading up to that time I kept thinking that there had to be more to the Christian life than what my life had become. I had allowed myself to fall into the greatest trap in western Christianity: to become comfortable. To achieve “nice guy” status rather than becoming a reckless follower of Jesus Christ. [Read more...]

288/365 - Prayer Journal © by aithom2

Facebook, Twitter, television, websites, commercials, billboards, radio, sports, up-to-the-second news, iPhones—the Enemy loves it.

I’m trying every day to still myself before the Lord, but a lot of times I let these good things from the modern world devour the great things the Lord has for me. Oh, the power of daily resistance to settle for good and not great. That’s why I’ve found it invaluable to go on periodic sabbaticals or spiritual retreats from time to time, even if it’s just for a weekend.

Last week, I discussed my first, and longest, sabbatical which lasted 5 days back in 2010. A little more detail about the preparation I did in advance: [Read more...]

{Editor’s Note: Today’s post was written by Jennifer Anderson. You can find out more information about Jen at the end of the post.}

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Childhood workbook © by robynejay

It’s such an innocent and common question. But the truth is we don’t have much control over our lives. Sure we make decisions, we seek out relationships and careers, but God’s powerful and sovereign hand guides us and is stronger than anything we think we do to create a future for ourselves. In fact, if we are completely honest, we have very little control over most of life.

At different points in my life I thought I would be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, missionary, astronaut, mother. I actually have had some of those roles, but others have not come to fruition. But one thing is for sure, I never expected to be a single woman who is licensed to be a foster parent. [Read more...]