Run The Race

 It's the story that just about every American child knows... the story of Noah's Ark.  How cute - the animals going in 2 at a time... there's no mention of years of outcast from Noah's community, poop having to be picked up, or anxiety felt by Noah's family once they had to board the ark and just sit and wait. As I was reading the account of Noah's Ark in Genesis this past week, a few things really struck me about this story.  First, had anyone asked me how Noah decided to get off the ark - I think I would have only recalled him sending the raven and the dove out; I have assumed that Noah decided for himself when to get off the boat.  That is not what scripture tells us in Genesis 8:15-16, God told Noah it was time to leave the ark, and He gave him some instructions regarding the animals. The second thing that deeply struck me was the amount of time between Noah knowing there was dry land and when God told him to leave the ark.  From Noah's first indica...

Dare I write a post about the New Year, only to have my writings lost amongst all the other "New Years" postings by everyone across the world? The end of each year will forever be filled with a mix of emotions as Elliot died just before Christmas in 2011.  As time has passed, and we have been intentional in grieving well, depending on God, loving others, and allowing others to love and invest in us - I now find myself in a place of immensely deep gratitude.  I'm not sure when the days switched from intense grief to what it is today. I am so incredibly grateful also that we are saying goodbye to 2014, not because it was a terrible year or because I'm running away from it - but because I sense this momentum leading into 2015.   Most of 2014 seemed to be "training" and "waiting" for what lies ahead.  I see the Lord's fruit growing and growing and growing, and, it's as if, I am just waiting for the day to sink my teeth into it all.  I can...