A Holy Pursuit

Here is an amazing recipe that Bryan and I tried recently and have made a number of times because it is so simple and wonderfully delicious! Herb Lime Chicken -Boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed -1 bottle lite Italian dressing -1 lime, halved and sliced -3 garlic cloves, minced -1/2 cup lime juice -Pinch of ground thyme Mix all marinade ingredients together (the last five) and set aside about 1/2 cup to use as chicken is on the grill. Put the chicken in a large plastic ziploc bag and pour in the marinade. Put in fridge and allow to set for about 5-8 hours. Then grill about 5 min on each side of the chicken or until done. When Bryan grills this chicken it turns out so tender and juicy... We love it! And it is perfect with some green beans or a nice side salad. Enjoy!

A couple months ago I woke up early to go for a run before work. There was a beautiful sunrise, with not a cloud in the sky. The sun was literally the brightest I’ve ever seen it at that time of the morning, shining brilliantly all around me. I found myself amazed at how God chooses to show His glory and just basking in His brilliance. Then as I looked around at the scenery the Lord impressed upon my heart to look at my shadow. As I ran my shadow was a consistent area of darkness on my left side. This realization caused me to wonder if in my life I prefer to acknowledge God’s greatness and glory and forget about my sin issues. Are there problems in my life that I need to be addressing and taking care of the right way, but instead I choose to ignore them and focus on the good things? If so, shame on me. God’s glory and brilliance will not have its full effect in my life if I am trying to hide from or ignore my sin. It didn’t work for Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter three and i...

Before I was married I heard numerous times that marriage always reveals exactly how selfish one is. I tried to take that statement to heart, but it’s genuinely hard to comprehend until you’re in the situation. Now I totally get it. Bryan and I have been married for 42 days as I type this and I have been reminded countless times of what a selfish human being I am. We have gotten into numerous discussions in which we represent two very different opinions and I am constantly amazed that he doesn’t just see things the way I do and change his mind. Yeah, I pretty much always think I’m right. I want to clean the way I am accustomed to, and cook what I want to cook, and watch what I want to watch. We have been learning that when we entered into marriage we had certain desires and certain expectations. However, when we each expected different things I quickly realized how selfish I am. Bryan and I are much alike in our Theology and the things that we feel really matter, but there are so...

It’s been three weeks now since I entered into the covenant of marriage with my best friend and the love of my life. It’s been a whirlwind, to say the least. Most of the wedding details were essentially DIY, which I greatly enjoyed doing, but caused the time before the wedding, and even largely during, to pass insanely quickly. I had so much wonderful help that I cannot even begin to name everyone who played a part in the big day, but I also cannot continue without recognizing the wonderful parents the Lord has blessed me with. My dad was a constant encouragement and helped in whatever way he could. He was always checking on me and making sure I wasn’t too stressed out; and if I was he immediately sought a solution or at least played volleyball with me to get my mind off of everything else, momentarily. My mom is literally a supermom, in every sense of the word. She helped make my dress, she catered the wedding meal, she made and decorated the most beautiful, delicious cake I...

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...