A Holy Pursuit

God is faithful. He always is, even when we don't open our eyes enough to see it. God has once again proven His faithfulness to us when we least deserve it, but definitely needed it! Bryan and I have seen God work in so many ways in the past few weeks and months and we are amazed; not that God is still working, after all, we've seen Him move throughout our whole lives, but amazed that He still chooses to bless us beyond belief. We are undeserving, selfish, sinful, weak, and poor. Yet, the Savior of the world decided to open a new door of opportunity for us.  Bryan has been seeking an internship in order to complete his academic requirements at Moody and while some doors had been closing, on Friday, February 3rd, both Bryan and I had interviews with a youth pastor and his wife from a church in Iowa. There were other qualified candidates interviewing for the same position, so we prayed. It seemed too good to be true, so we prayed harder. God knew what He was doing the whole time...

Soon after Bryan and I started talking about the possibility of marriage and praying about such a big decision, he suggested we adopt the passage of Proverbs 30:7-9, which states, “ Two things I ask of you;   deny them not to me   before I die:   Remove far from me falsehood and lying;   give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is   needful for me,   lest I be   full and   deny you   and say,   “Who is the LORD?”   or lest I be poor and steal   and profane the name of my God.” My amazing and godly fiancé was challenged and in turn challenged me, to work hard and be wise in our saving and spending. In addition, we were challenged to be more generous with what the Lord has blessed us with. We aren’t striving for riches and wealth in our lifetime (we’re both going into ministry, so that’s kind of a given). Sounds like a noble plan, right? Maybe; but we soon got a taste of the reality that we were p...

Four years ago I started hearing about this place called Moody Bible Institute. I didn’t know much about it except that a couple pretty cool people were checking it out and planning to attend there the following fall, so I decided to check it out, too. That March I completed my application and scheduled a campus visit. After checking it out I knew this was where I wanted to be, there was just one problem: I had been placed on the waiting list. So began a four-month period of time in which I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I had a wonderful job that I loved and would be able to keep if I stayed in the area, but I also had the offer of playing volleyball at Moody if I made it in, which was a huge draw for me. I went through that whole summer in complete uncertainty as to what my future held. Finally, after months of waiting to hear from Moody, I decided it was useless to keep hoping. So I began to consider other options and look into classes at the community college I...

Last Spring I found myself in a stage of life in which I evoked the wisdom of my parents, a professor at Moody, and my aunt. I just needed some individuals older and wiser to speak into my life and pray with me. Although I just wanted someone to give me a straight answer as to what to do, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. So instead, I listened to their advice, Biblical counsel, and just processed everything the best I knew how. However, while I was talking with my aunt one evening she gave me the best advice I have ever heard. I was pouring out my heart to her listening ears and after giving some of her initial thoughts she wisely said, “Sara, you need to ask God what He is trying to teach you through this”. I thought to myself, ‘Well yeah, I am doing that’; but as I thought more about it I realized I had neglected to do so. I was so caught up in my own thoughts, feelings, and emotions that I had completely forgotten to just sit at Jesus’ feet and ask what He wanted to teach m...

This past weekend I was able to travel to Ohio with my fiancé to celebrate the first birthday of his niece. These kinds of celebrations are always exciting and joyful, but this one was especially so. Lily shouldn’t really be alive, according to many doctors and specialists. She was born last year on October first at only 25 weeks developed. She was barely a pound when she was born and comparable to the size of a Barbie doll. While Lily should have been snuggled safely in her mother’s womb to continue growing and developing normally, she was instead placed in an incubator with all kinds of wires and cords hooked up to her tiny body with machines monitoring her every breath and movement. It was incredible seeing Lily in such a helpless, fragile state, hanging on to life. However, there were many times then, and still now, that I thought of the verses in Psalms that state: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully a...

The theme for my dorm floor this year is “Bittersweet”. My RA has chosen this theme based on a book she read recently that focused on rejoicing in the good times of life, and learning from the hard times while looking for the redemption that can happen through each. Bittersweet has seemed to be the theme of my life recently, as well. Last year around this time my grandpa, who was a spiritual patriarch in my family, passed away suddenly, and about three weeks later my grandma followed him. Although my grandma had been ill for quite some time, it was still difficult to see her go, especially so soon after losing grandpa. This year, coming upon the anniversary of these events, I was feeling very fragile. I have never been one to cry very easily, especially in front of other people, but during this time I wept almost uncontrollably at times. Then I would feel guilty because I should have moved on by now, right? My grandparents are rejoicing in Heaven where they’ve wanted to be for s...

I have recently been involved in a summer Theology class studying Christology and the analogy of the Church as the Bride of Christ. I have been reminded of many astonishing and refreshing details along the way, such as the analogy in Ephesians 5 regarding Christ and the Church as compared to a husband and wife. It is so awe-inspiring and convicting to re-learn all of the things that should characterize the Church, as well as recognize God's never ending love and faithfulness for His bride. I am reminded of the Old Testament narrative of Hosea and Gomer in Hosea 1-3. Hosea was an upstanding, loyal prophet, while Gomer was a prostitute. Nonetheless, God commanded Hosea to take Gomer as his wife and be faithful to her, despite her unfaithfulness. Hosea obeys and he and Gomer have three children together, whose names are symbolic of God’s feelings toward Israel. Then the bad gets worse and Gomer goes back to her life of prostitution and is finally placed on the auction...