Enchanting

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I love the old hymn Be Thou My Vision , it's one of my favorite songs. And I don't feel weird singing "Thou my great Father and I thy true son" even though I'm a girl.  Because of 1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children (sons) of God! In the ancient world women could not inherit, and as Paul says in Romans 8:17  Now, if we are children (sons), then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ The Greek word for children in both verses is téknon, while it's technically gender neutral it's most often translated "son". I think using context we can confidently interpret Paul's use of téknon as "sons" because he makes the connection to a position as heirs, which in ancient Rome did not exist for women. Thus, the statement "if we are children, then we are heirs" would be poor logic to the original audience. Being a child doesn't constitute being an heir unless y...

In times like these, we are each being bombarded with a thousand different emotions every single day, most of them unpleasant. There is a lot of fear going around, for obvious reasons. We might feel anxious, stressed, overwhelmed. For those of us who struggle with anxiety and depression in the norm, this is a whole new level. But even those of us who generally feel pretty capable and level headed are being tested. Many of us feel alone, unsure, and weary of the new burdens being placed on us. But what do we do with all of these negative emotions? As Christians, we are taught to be joyful at best, at the very least content. Our lives should be marked with peace that passes understanding, joy unspeakable, and the contentment of a sheep who knows they have a good shepherd taking care of them. God is good. The Lord provides. He has the ultimate victory. Even now in the season of Easter, a holiday marking the greatest victory of all: the defeat of death and the grave! Jesus ...

I just wanted to share the dumbest, simplest solution to a poor web design problem I encountered on IKEA's website to save others from the stress and frustration I experienced. When attempting to place an online order from my cart I had to enter the zip code to get a delivery estimate before being able to click "Begin checkout". But once I had clicked this a blank white screen loaded with nothing. Every. Single. Time. I tried it in multiple browsers, on multiple devices, I even tried to arrange to pick the items up at the local store.  Google came to the rescue and I found a Facebook post describing a similar problem (except hers included an error code I never got:  "We were unable to place your order at the moment, we are checking the problem. Please come back later". ) And I decided to try her solution. IT WORKED!!!! SOLUTION HERE: Ladies and gentleman, it is as simple as updating your profile information before trying to complete your order. So ridiculo...

I've been thinking a lot about freedom, and what that really means. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners" Isaiah 61:1 Jesus, as the savior, comes to set us free. But what exactly does that really mean? How does it affect our lives? I had the strangest epiphany a while back. While watching a random netflix movie I noticed the female lead literally towered over all the other women in the film. I was thinking, "She is really tall!" I was shocked when I got curious enough to look it up, and saw that the actress is shorter than me in real life. To be fair, she's only 1/2 an inch shorter than me, so we are basically the same height. I began thinking, "Is this how I look to other people?" The insecurity is rooted in old wounds from my teen years. ...

Identity... it's the very heart of the main quest of our generation.  Who am I?  Why am I here?  What is the point? It is also one of the biggest areas in which the devil likes to attack us, as Christians. I have felt it, I have seen my husband struggle with it, and I have heard from one too many dear brother or sister the cries of their heart echoing the cry of my own... God wants to settle this issue once and for all. We can no longer give the devil any voice in our hearts. We have to stand on the truth God has spoken. It's right here for us to find. It's in His Word. It's the whisper of truth in our hearts. It's the hope we feel when we enter into true worship. Our identity is found only in him. It is this crazy paradox: you can't find yourself until you lose yourself in Him.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39 We have to trust in Him, and make His voice the one tha...

You are the light of my life Without you, the whole world lies in darkness Save us from our blindess Righteous Sun with wisdom and grace Save us from our wicked ways Fill our mouths with love and mercy Let our lips repeat your praise Give our souls compassion and your transcendent peace They shall be known by their love for one another, let them be one as we are one This was your prayer for us Oh, how far have we fallen? How lost have we become? Rescue me, Father I don't know how to find my way I need your love to breathe, to live Give me another chance to be what I was born to be A shining light in the darkest places A fire of love in the coldest hatred A reflection of you, the one I was made for Show me the way to be I want to show the world your wonderful face Shine through me I will be a carrier of your grace I will choose to love, despite my hurt, my offense, my fear I will choose to stand firm The way you showed me You were silent when accused Brill...