Run The Race

A small group of us have been reading through the Psalms together and discussing them.  During our time together this last week, the majority of our discussions landed on forgiveness... or lack thereof.  Each of us (including me) had a story of unforgiveness - the way it stirs our hearts and minds.  Some of our stories included people still in our lives, others will never see the "offender" again - yet each story stirred an amazing amount of emotion in each of us. God taught me to forgive my abuser almost 10 years ago.  There are times when something triggers a pain from the past and I have to go through the process all over again.  After forgiving this person, it seems like I could forgive anything, yet I still struggle with it at times.  So as we discussed our unforgiveness this week, I was really pondering the "hows" of forgiveness. David, a man who wrote the majority of the Psalms and was also chosen by God to play a significant role leading up to ...

The church leadership recently announced that we would be studying the Psalms together.  About 2 years ago, when our son Elliot was stillborn and a few months later my mother passed away, the Psalms played such a significant role in strengthening my relationship with the Lord rather than simply wallowing in self-pity.  Now that so much fog has lifted from my day to day life, studying the Psalms with my church family is much like looking back through an old photo album.  It is filled with much emotion but a richness that only life's experiences with God's presence can produce. The book is filled with prayers of worship, confession, lament, requests (supplication) and praise.   Worship The Psalms of worship were perfect because in my deep grieving – there were times that, even though I knew God was mighty, loving, and was my ultimate refuge – I had difficulty coming up with my own words, so I simply would read/pray the Psalms to Him for my time of worship. ...

"Have you brought your foster kid to your house yet?"  the 7 year old boy asked from the other side of the fence.  This was a follow up question to several meetings we've had at the fence over the last 3 months.  This boy, whom I will call Sam, frequents our neighborhood because his foster parent's family lives near by. Sam told me during our first meeting about the more than a dozen foster homes he and his little brother have been in.  I told him that our little boy is in a foster home and about his recent move to a new foster home.  This somehow connected Sam and me.  Now we often meet at the fence to check in with each other. During one such meeting Sam told me that he hopes he will get adopted by this family. "Do you know what it means to pray to God, Sam?" I asked. "Sure, I think so." "Well, I think God has a plan for you just like he has for our son that we are adopting.  So, lets make a deal - I will pray everyday for you an...