Author: Lyndsay Taylor

About five years ago, I set out to write some songs that could explain the following much-used words:

Love

Peace

Hope

Miracle

Spirit

Some of those songs were recorded and released, and some have yet to be. Love and Hope were released as part of an EP several years back (I hope you go listen on Spotify, Apple Music, or my YouTube Channel LyndsayTaylorMusic) because I love how they turned out. Spirit and Miracle may or may not make it out into the world, and Peace is actually named “Safe”…and it’ll be the next one I record, Lord-willing. But years before this idea, in 2008, I wrote the song Faith for my friends whose son was dying. He didn’t die though! The Lord had many more years in store for him, and I’m so thankful. But nonetheless, we all needed a “way to be” while we waited.

That matters. It makes me think of that song we used to sing so many years ago in church: The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, is mighty…He is doing something in us that can only be done through suffering, fasting, and prayer. He is in the midst of thee. He is with us, strategic, precise. Praise the Lord that He always has a “way to be” to impart to us, as we slow down, seek His face, hear His voice, and reorient our lives to His Word and His ways. We wouldn’t choose these times or this way…yet we can agree with Him who IS Wisdom, Righteousness, Perfection, Grace, and Love in submission.

Honestly, the posture, the “way to be” is like that song “Battle Belongs”: And when I fight, I fight on my knees.

Yes, we will ask because we know His Word has told us to ask our Abba Father for anything! And yes, we fight back the darkness without ceasing and without doubt, because we know the power He has given us to demand Satan to release his grip and abandon his plans. We take His Word and come to Him with it, using what is ours in Christ Jesus! We learn how to pray through being in His Word. And we do it in a posture of submission to Him, for He is worthy of it.

Right now, this song that I wrote in 2008 is on my mind as we walk through a valley of shadow and Light with one of my dearest friends in this life. I want to share it here today.

I don’t know if you’ll heal these burns deeper than my skin, I am

Closer to the fire than I have ever been

I have no assurances, and I have no immunities, I am left with nothing that puts

This circumstance at ease

And faith is more darkness than light

You can dress it up to sound nice, but faith is the bloody fight

A stubborn resolve to surrender heart and mind

It’s the long hard climb

Up an unmeasured mountain

With the dawn on the other side

It’s easy to hold to my faith if faith is believing I’ll get my way

But when it means I must submit, I don’t know if I can handle it this time

I feel I’ve walked this road before, but I stopped just shy

Of the place where I want you more than the miracle I’m waiting for

Oh, to want You more, more than the miracle I’m waiting for

Faith is more darkness than light

You can dress it up to sound nice, but faith is the bloody fight

A stubborn resolve to surrender heart and mind

It’s the long hard climb

Up an unmeasured mountain

With the dawn on the other side

My trust that You are faithful despite what my eyes see

My hope in Your provision as I lose everything

My faith- This is all I have to bring, this is my offering

I am waiting here in this silence, help my heart to know that You are always good

I am waiting here in this silence, help my heart to know that You are always good

You are always good

You are always good

Faith is more darkness than light

You can dress it up to sound nice, but faith is the bloody fight

A stubborn resolve to surrender heart and mind

It’s the long hard climb

Up an unmeasured mountain

With the dawn on the other side

I pray this encourages your faith today and reminds you that you do have power, you do have brave actions to take and scriptures to claim, and you can fight from a place of rest, submission, and peace. God is doing a work in each of us as we suffer and as we pray for others who are suffering. May He finish His good work in us, to His glory. Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession! Whatever it takes, Lord, purify Your Bride. We are here for it. Sustain us. Call us up. Be magnified.

I have always been interested in personality styles. I believe we can develop a greater empathy for others if we understand how they think and express their emotions. Often we assume people don’t care, aren’t willing, or some other negative thing…without acknowledging differences not just in content but in how we process.

I am a big, big, big processor. When I say “thank you for being my friend” to my friends, I mean it. I verbally process, and I write in a journal, and I make lists, and I do art and music, and I pray, often out loud. I process the heck out of things, and it helps me tremendously. I can’t imagine not being that way.

But I was thinking today there are different types of people in regard to what they do with all they take in. In our “climate” today, I mean spiritually, politically, emotionally, all of us are dealing with a lot. I see people making great choices to pick up their Bible instead of their phone, to eliminate some of their lifeless habits for life-giving ones, and to snap out of the fog in order to live fully awake to the part of God’s story they are meant to be an active part of. I love this so much! I want to do the same.

I came up with four different styles of How People Process…tell me what you think!

A: The Expresser. This is the kind who will likely have to get their detailing thoughts and feelings out with a trusted friend, maybe a blog or Facebook post, photography, art, songwriting, journaling, or something that is shared with at least one person. This is how what they are feeling and thinking gets figured out, and it gets “figured out” pretty quickly because expressing it relieves pressure. Even if the problem still exists, this way of processing helps this type of person feel a greater sense of well-being in the midst of the issue because they have been heard and accepted on a small scale, and that was enough. Their mantra: “I have to express this with my senses in some way.”

B: The Entrepreneur. This is the type of person who creatively expands their mind to devise a big solution, a product that will help a larger scale of people. They start businesses or non-profits to help the causes they care about. They process pain and suffering of their own or others to cultivate environments for change, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Sandy Hook Promise, or Compassion International. This can also be on a smaller scale but it has to do with starting new things as a way to alleviate and work through feelings of sadness and a desire to help. Their mantra: “I have to make something happen!”

C: The Ponderer. The Ponderer keeps things hidden in their heart and mind. They process alone, inside themselves. Not that they never express these thoughts, struggles, and conclusions, but they would do so after that secret and quiet place is ready to be shared. They would share carefully. They may be full of questions, concerns, and things they want to look into regarding the issue, or they may just want to peacefully keep their thoughts about things to themselves. Their mantra: “I have to make time to think about this!”

D: The Bypassers. The Bypasser really doesn’t process at all. They don’t know why others need to, and sometimes, when others process out loud, Bypassers may react in one of two ways. They may react with loud opinions or soundbites they have heard from others, or they may react with frustration that you brought up the issue, as if being “forced” to talk about it made the problem more severe. Bypassers do not plan on working through feelings or possibilities. Their mantra is: “What is there to process?”

Which one are you? 🙂

There are three things I feel on my heart today to share, and I can’t say it is in light of any particular shooting – because there are too many to count – or any particular government authority either, even though I could write a book about that. But these three things can help organize our thoughts regarding our fear, anger, and grief as we live in this shaken, violent, yet beautiful world. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are waiting with me for the return of our King. Until then, we can have hope while we accept what this world is really like and we can share this hope with others.

1. Yes, this is trauma. Seeing people get shot on social media is trauma. Watching people jump from burning towers on TV in real time is trauma. Government authorities misusing their power and making radical changes that do not represent the people is trauma. Wars that go on for months and years with women, children, and hospitals being strategically bombed is trauma. Immigrants and people who simply look like immigrants fearing detention, separation from families, and deportation without due process is trauma. Both the transgender movement and the abuse of transgender people is trauma to many. These are truly just a few of the shocking, jarring experiences we are seeing. Those who are living through these things and those who are watching them happen, feeling like they can do nothing to stop it, torn inside, torn outside because of family members and best friends they can’t talk to about their sadness: this is trauma. What makes it a trauma? Because it changes you forever. Is it actually PTSD? No, not for those of us who are just watching. There are very specific symptoms that make up a PTSD disorder. But trauma is not a disorder, trauma is an experience, an experience that makes you, your brain, your spirit, feel like a line has been crossed, like a very scary precedent has been set. Humanity’s line has been crossed. And yes, that is trauma.
2. Yes, this is absolutely nothing new. Just because it is new to me means very little. As we look through history books, we can remember that this world has always been a dark place since sin entered the world. Is the world getting darker? I really don’t know that it is. Think of the Holocaust. Think of WWII when kids were sent from the major cities to the countryside, to strangers. Can you imagine parents’ fear and the kids’ anxiety? Think of the Roman occupation and crucifixions of anyone who defied their rule. Think of West Africans being kidnapped from their villages, torn from families and enslaved for the next generations by white people. To be perfectly honest, there are people here in the United States whose lives are a living hell and always have been because of an abusive father, an alcoholic mother, or poverty that led to forced prostitution. To them, they can absolutely say this darkness, this fear, and this pain is nothing new. Yes, that is depressing, but it must be said because we need to see that our privilege has led us to think this is something outrageously new. No, it is just darkness, sin, confusion, the work of the enemy, and the pride of humanity showing up in new ways. One of the worst insults to add upon injury is when what is evil is called good, and what is good is called evil. Look for these as hard things happen, see if that is partly why the darkness feels so dark right now. To me, this is the addition to the darkness that makes it extra hard to bear.
3. Yes to Jesus, yes to accurate, culturally sound teaching of the Bible, and yes to the Church: Friends, Jesus is still the answer. He is at the right hand of the throne of God interceding for us. He is speaking to His sheep, yearning for them to hear His voice, and calling them in to take refuge in Him. He is tarrying that others may come to know Him because He loves the whole world and everyone in it. The Bible is still relevant truth to live by, with accurate ways to handle problems if we would abide by it whether we like parts of it or not. If we do not lower our pride and humble ourselves, adhering ourselves to the ways of Jesus, we will drown in the fear, sadness, and anger of these traumas. The Church can still be a beautiful force of kindness, humility, and servanthood to the world if we would focus on what our job here is. Since this is my blog and just my opinion, I am going to take a stab here at what I believe our job is: To live in this world, strategically seeing all people as precious souls who need to experience the characteristics of Jesus through us. As we abide in Christ, we have His Spirit who overflows out of us. Some of Jesus’s characteristics are protecting the least of these, speaking against authority that calls good evil and evil good, calling people up to a healed and whole life. He was never militant, degrading, violent, or demanding to be heard or seen. He carried a grace and confidence as He obeyed His Father. He wept, He cared, He loved, He gave Himself away. He carried our traumas, our sins, and all sin-trauma-wounds done to us to the Cross, and by His stripes we are healed, so those sin-trauma-wounds do not define us anymore or continue to haunt us. This is part of the living Hope we offer. We are in this world at a hard time, but a strategic time. Lord, help each of us see precisely why we are here for such a time as this and send us out of our homes each day (or to our prayer closets) to be Jesus. By Your grace and Spirit’s power living in us, paired with humility on our parts, we can represent You well and be a beacon of Light. Father, we are so divided right now that honestly, we do not represent You much at all. Please help us, please help the Church, to not fail at such a time as this to take refuge in you and provide Your refuge to others.

Sometimes, okay, most of the time, I am in “work-mode.” Duty-mode, plans-mode, schedule-mode. I didn’t use to be this way, but after becoming a mom, homeschooling, and now with teens (even though we are not homeschooling), I feel a little hypervigilant to keep all the things remembered, prepped, finished on time. (Ugh! Who am I anymore?) This can be worked on, by the way; it is not our fate! But anyway, sometimes I am in this mode and I forget…I forget that God is behind the scenes working even now, and I forget what miracles He has done on our behalf. But this past month, I could not forget. God used the reality of surgery, days in the hospital, and watching my daughter in pain, to get me out of my usual fog and see something clear and bright.

Our Eva (Orlanka) was adopted from Haiti nine years ago. She is now 14 years old. Ever since we met her, we knew that she would need special medical care and even surgery someday. She had chronic bullous lung disease and constantly struggled with allergies, asthma, coughing, inflammation in her chest, and infection in her lungs. She had had some serious lung conditions as a toddler but recovered from them in Haiti before we even met her, and we think that is why one of her lungs was so damaged. She was born the year of 2010 earthquake, so this might have played a part as well. After many bronchoscopies, CT scans, and x-rays, it was finally time for Eva to have her left lung completely removed, and the surgery happened on July 16, 2025, just a month ago.

As I said, I was used to the busy fog and the dedication to my calendar. But the day Jack and I took Eva to the hospital for surgery, none of that mattered, and our hearts and minds were completely intent on Eva’s care, pain management, successful surgery, and recovery. In that space, out of nowhere, the Lord impressed on my heart that He brought her to the United States for this. He wanted to rescue her and give her a long, full life and testimony. His plans were not so much about the Taylors, even though He is blessing and refining us through having her as our daughter…He was like: “Lyndsay, I have got my eyes locked on this girl. I have a plan. This is part of it.” He also impressed on me that this adoption was not just my idea or my desire, but He really confirmed that it had been Him pressing it upon me until it was finished. I sat in awe as these realizations flooded my heart and mind. Lastly, He said in so many moments, especially when the pain was unreal as she came out of surgery: “This is not going to break her; it’s going to make her.”

She wants to be a doctor or a nurse someday. She has received Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior and has made that public through baptism. On the other hand, she’s working at many challenges in her life and there are times our personalities and desires clash like WWIII. But God! God has His eyes locked on our children, your children, too. He is at work. He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. He has a plan and will do more than my lecturing, planning, and other tasks I perform could ever do. We pray and speak life and hang in there, but always, always, always – HE is their Waymaker, Miracle-Worker… and He is our’s too.

We have to care how people are treated. Full stop. Both the Constitution and the Bible make this clear.

Let’s chat about immigration for a minute.

• Every president has detained and deported thousands of illegal immigrants (not just Republican presidents), but right now, the quota this administration wants to meet daily is allowing for massive ICE mistakes, such as detaining and traumatizing actual citizens, in their frenzy.
• Our president jokes about deporting citizens he doesn’t like and parades a few White South African “refugees” in the country to show what kind of immigrants are welcome. I genuinely feel like this and many many other things he has said are meant to remind us “we” asked for this, “we” asked for someone a little crazy, a little abusive even, to get things done that “needed” to be done. And “we” are going to pay for it. (That is just opinion, of course.) I will be the first to say that I do not believe it is reasonable to hope our government or culture will mirror the Bible or Heaven (again, my opinion)- that’s not what I vote for or look for or expect. It is my prayer and aim that the CHURCH would mirror the Word and the Kingdom, but not an expectation I think it is reasonable to have for my authorities on this earth. But when people are being treated this way, I will do three things: One, I will pray for God’s intervention, for the wicked and their plans to be thwarted, and for the Church to rise up. Two, I will help my neighbor and look for ways to undo the pain and ugliness this administration is causing. Three, I will speak out in every way I can so that I will not go down in history saying I lived through this and didn’t fight.
• We all know about the centers that people are being detained in, with current focus being on a facility in the Everglades where one need not worry about spending too much money on guards since the snakes and alligators will kill any who try to leave, one report concludes. (I will include references for all this by the way.) These centers and what goes on there are shameful. Period.
• It is not White European illegal immigrants in these facilities or being targeted, it is people who have darker skin and don’t culturally blend in as well. It is not White European illegal immigrants who are afraid to go to the doctor or immigration court right now, it is those with darker skin. What does this tell you? Obviously racism, but also that dark-skinned families will not get the medical and educational care they need, even though, legally, all immigrants regardless of status are entitled to these things.
• What makes someone illegal? Well, what used to make someone illegal was to be in the US past their visa allowance, or they “snuck” in. I don’t remember there being a lot of argument about that; it is a crime to be illegally present here and there are legal ways to get that resolved with immigration lawyers. What was NOT illegal was to be here with a student visa, a green card, temporary protected status, certain other visas such as those for adoptive children who must seek citizenship within a certain number of years, or seeking asylum. I think we can all track with this. But now, these last “statuses” are at risk of being detained and/or deported without due process, and it has already happened to many. Why? How is this legal? Why are people still closing their ears and their eyes and saying, “Well, they were illegal which clearly means they shouldn’t have been here in the first place.” No, they were NOT illegal. They came here legally and are being treated like trash, their lives being upended for absolutely no sane reason whatsoever.
• Probably most sickening of all is when our president slanders immigrants, calling them rapists, murderers, and the reason we have drugs in our country. This is literal slander and lies. To be allowed to spread slander that goes against all statistics is wrong, and it has fed into the racism that is not only rampant but now somehow (seemingly) acceptable since it is coming from the top down.
• Just today We Choose Welcome shared about a man who helped the US government in Afghanistan. He is here legally. He was arrested when he showed up to immigration court. He will be sent back to Afghanistan where he will be killed for assisting US, yet US has turned their back on him. What in the actual world is going on that this is happening and that EVERYONE isn’t in an uproar about it? This is not political, like left or right, conservative or liberal. This is RIGHT or WRONG. We are living in a bad movie, and it seems that everyone is feeling the anxiety of the bottom falling out. This is one of the reasons why. There is no stability or order, and we all feel it.
• What is done to the least of these MATTERS. I want to stop hearing people say, “Why are you so worked up about illegal immigrants? Don’t they deserve what they get?” This is my answer:
• a) I am worked up because even truly illegals (snuck in, etc) shouldn’t be treated in this way. They shouldn’t be apprehended at church and school. They should have a court case to prove they are truly illegal. They shouldn’t be in overcrowded disgusting facilities without medicines and decent food while they wait to be deported. They shouldn’t be separated from their children.
• b) I am worked up because it is not even truly illegal people that are being targeted. Aside from the mistakes that have been made that have traumatized actual citizens, people on student visas and the other statuses I mentioned have been threatened, asked to leave, detained, deported, and mistreated. People who were promised temporary protected status, such as from Haiti and Venezuela, are being sent back because their situations back home, this administration has decided (a little too late), aren’t that bad. Why are we waging war on immigrants who are working, finishing up paperwork in immigration court, paying taxes and raising families?
• c) I am worked up because “rules” cannot change this easily and this quickly. Executive orders are power-hungry moves and we know they have been issued in a rage in order to confuse and overwhelm the court system. That’s embarrassingly bad leadership. Children who are born here should be citizens, as the Constitution allows. The path to legal immigration should be offered and people should not be arrested when appearing at immigration proceedings. Due process is a part of the Constitution as well as standards for no cruel and unusual punishment for prisoners. These are all “rules” that apparently are being canceled, just like that.
• d) I am worked up because of the racism and White supremacy at play. I don’t just mean Black and White problems, but the apparent desire of this administration to blame and remove visitors (if not longterm residents!) of non-White cultures from our country.
• e) I am worked up because this administration said they wanted to get illegal immigrant criminals and drug dealers rounded up and sent away. Ok. Great! But that is not who they are focusing on at all. Why? Hmm, maybe because there are simply not that many of them… but there is a quota to fill, after all.
• Here are some resources to back up my rant…

Click to access unaccompanied-children.pdf

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/06/30/afghan-ally-who-was-detained-ice-now-facing-fast-tracked-deportation.html

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/immigrants-and-crime?fbclid=IwY2xjawLvwa1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHsWHJ4GD6GtNOJz9d8UPSku28uKf1rPaE8Pd96fUtrRldgkktalFD15qTPLU_aem_6Cr28Z1R7dwx3vjZrAEGaQ

At Graduation Time, ICE Targets Young Dreamers

https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/23/florida-is-locking-up-innocent-immigrants-and-calling-it-justice

https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/07/21/you-feel-like-your-life-is-over/abusive-practices-at-three-florida-immigration

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/06/26/politics/immigration-deportations-trump-asylum-seekers

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-degrading-language-immigrants-rcna171120

https://p2a.co/kjDqW6f?fbclid=IwY2xjawLvRutleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFDMUpPZXZjMVpNVkczTWxUAR6O_iFADCfqriz1liiurOINF0Ql223siDFjFjfjLSjlxpbjvyjpXiwRAhnqFA_aem_vts-rSR543UFSqUBMzT79Q

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/american-citizens-wrongly-detained-in-trump-administrations-immigration-crackdown#:~:text=What%20happened%20there?-,Laura%20Barron%2DLopez:,shared%20his%20story%20with%20us.

It’s okay to get mad. It’s okay to speak out. I can be a peaceful carrier of the Holy Spirit and also have some hard truth at the same time coming out of my mouth. Think of Nehemiah. As he rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem, he had a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other. That’s us. We need to do both well and wisely.

Ways to get involved and stay informed:

https://www.wechoosewelcome.com/about

The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics

https://www.russellmoore.com/category/podcast

https://thepourover.org

https://www.holypost.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22638784509&gbraid=0AAAAApxeIY5-P0no3VEj_NJcdXL117V6m&gclid=Cj0KCQjws4fEBhD-ARIsACC3d2-6E9kQTXDgGc4rmqSBOUXfGi0i8kC3QN3toJ7jHZWRJppd_qO4vbEaAkG9EALw_wcB

https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/david-french

We are balancing a lot, and each day has responsibilities we are privileged to have.

This is how my journal entry began last night.

And then…

But it’s too much, and I constantly feel like I am messing up…why has God called us to do, supposedly, more than we can handle?

And then the Lord reminded me of His yoke…(Matt. 11:28)

Pressures and difficulties and responsibilities do belong with us, held across our shoulders along with His, but you know what? Guilt, doubt, and worry don’t. They only make the heavy heavier, the hard harder.

So we reject the guilt of what wasn’t above and beyond – who we did not remember to check in on – or what area of life got ignored today…what wasn’t “enough.”

We reject the doubt that says we can’t handle it, we aren’t cut out to do such hard things, or that on a grander scale than just today we have epicly gotten it wrong.

We reject the worry that, actually, things aren’t okay and won’t be okay, because of something we are missing…

Guilt, doubt, and worry: They are an OPTIONAL burden on top of a non-optional one. It’s like Jesus and I are carrying this yoke together, and my side has extra. We aren’t going to be able to move forward!

In Christ, we have the power to call those heavy thoughts and feelings exactly what they are and reject them, take them off…just carry the burden, the yoke, we are meant to have.

And instead of guilt, worry, and doubt about all we are doing…

What shall we pile onto our burdens, brothers and sisters in Christ?

-The love of God and freedom from condemnation! Romans 8

-Truth, perspective, and thanksgiving! Philippians 4

-Trust in His ability to guide and provide! Psalms, Proverbs 3:5-6

-Courage. Joshua 1:9

“Come into the light…”

Come to the Lord, let His light shine on your burden; the heavy lightens when we see it as it is.

It is:

-temporary

-useful

-refining

-an opportunity to bring a sacrifice of praise

-an opportunity to stop and see what really matters, what we are really living for (Matthew 5)

-an opportunity to know Him right here and now, in a new way (Psalm 34:8)

I realize that there are many different feelings and opinions in the United States right now, even and especially, among followers of Jesus. I have felt torn and I know many others have as well. There are certain things about our current president, not only his character and history, but also his actions and the way he carries them out, that make me think we have genuine reason to fear. On the other hand, I know that our country elects its representatives so in a way, our two choices for president this term represented who our country actually is. I have to come to grips with that. We all do, even though so many of us are moderates.

So I wanted to write a blog today that doesn’t even try to speak to specific topics, because I recognize that I do not know enough. I do not know enough about the way things were in past administrations to be able to compare with the way things are and will be in this administration. There are so many lies flying around, and people are taking one sentence that may or may not be true and allowing themselves to form a complete belief from that one statement. Obviously, there are many more discrepancies and frustrations that could be brought up but I will stop there. I don’t have the time or the expertise to fully understand and research all the things I would like to. So I will stick to the basics, from God’s Word, to guide my heart and maybe yours if you are seeking a general direction in all the chaos.

What do we do now?

1. We actually, really, truly get in prayer. We pray for the people who are suffering, regardless of whether or not we agree with what is happening to them, for example, the refugees that are dealing with broken promises, and of course, people in Ukraine and the Middle East. We pray as God leads us to pray. We take our agenda off the table and we let him lead us in prayer for guidance for our leaders, and those they appoint, whether we like them or not. We pray for the people that are very upset, people that feel like they have no hope, people that are confused, people that have lost their jobs. Far it from us to fail to pray for them in their suffering, if we are Christians, no matter how they arrived in their situation. This is call for mercy that true followers of Jesus must heed.
2. We do good in the land we are living in. We should be the most excellent at our jobs. We should have the most life-giving words on our tongues. We do not need a government to tell us how to treat other people. We are generous people; we look for ways to serve. We do not use our leaders as an example if they are not wise, loving, servant-leaders. We respect them but we do not automatically or in any way emulate them, adore them, or put our trust in them. As believers, we treat people as Jesus would treat people, full stop.
3. We understand that we are not here to make a Christian country club, expecting everyone else to love our God, our Bible, and our morals. We understand that if we are not being persecuted, if we are not suffering, if we are not the least and the small, if we are not powerless and poor and unimportant, we likely are not in step with the ways of Jesus at all because we are to be resident aliens here! Resident aliens don’t get the royal treatment! We must get a grip on understanding why the Lord has left us here on this earth for this time and get off our high horse. I am not saying that Christians should never have anything to do with politics, or with school boards that direct curriculum, etc., but there comes a time where a shift has to happen. This shift is from an idea of “everyone needs to do what I think is right” to “I am going to show God’s love in the actual realities of my country and this world today.”
4. We have reason to fear because our nation and the world is not safe, but we do not fear because we have our hope in the eternal kingdom of Jesus. We do not fear because our Lord told us not to fear. In fact, He said only fear what can damage your soul, not your body, life, possessions, etc. In this time, we have to focus on our soul and the souls of others. As C.S.Lewis said, we are not just bodies with souls; we are souls that also have a body, a life, a short time on earth attached to them. Bad things are happening and will happen but when our souls are bound to Jesus, we find we are not afraid and we move from a life of self-protection to such a broader more beautifully open space.—————————————————-
   Lord, please get our hearts in the right place so that we can be vessels for your spirit in this one life we have. Help us not allow ourselves to be blinded by all that we cannot change and all that we cannot do, missing out on who you want us to be and what you want us to do now. Amen.

24 Reasons I Would Marry You Again

1. You love God and are very authentic about your relationship with Him and also your struggles.
2. You are a very excellent, determined, and hard worker who cares deeply about all people. 
3. You love it when I laugh and am relaxed, and you work to make that happen.
4. You can stay up late and get up early (which particularly impresses me since I can’t do either very well 😬.)
5. You take the kids to school every morning, dealing with 3 teenaged girls getting out of the house. 
6. You do lots of things for me to be warm because you know it makes me happy.
7. You remember things that I don’t, sentimental things that matter.
8. You see the world very differently and it has made me slow down, learn to listen a little bit better, and think outside the box. 
9. You appreciate beauty and nature and food, and that has made me live a fuller life.
10. You always genuinely think I look good and you enjoy my morning hair with the humor it does indeed deserve.
11. You offer me your coffee even when I said I didn’t want any but now it looks really good. 
12. You fill my Christmas stocking and give me good birthday presents. 
13. You talk very nicely to others about me, and actually talk nicely about everyone. 
14. You’re happy to help me with my concerts (or any endeavors) in any way. 
15. You’re loud so I can be quiet and wallflowery sometimes.
16. You have always taken us to church and been very involved there. 
17. You love to give when someone is in need, regardless of how much we have. You set an example for the kids with me of helping strangers.
18. You try really hard to not talk to me first thing in the morning. 😘
19. You adore animals and babies, and I think that says a lot.
20. You always tell me to go wherever and do whatever I want; you trust that I know what I’m doing and are excited for me.
21. You are super fun to go on dates, double dates, movies, shopping trips, hikes, and vacations with. 
22. You’re a great driver, even if I do act like I’m having a seizure in the passenger side sometimes.
23. You’ll pray over me when I am sick or when the girls are needing prayer.
24. No one could have known for sure because only time can tell this about anyone, but the 24th reason I would marry you again is that you have not gotten tired of me or given up on marriage, even though it has been difficult and bewildering for both of us at times along the way. God gave me you, a man who would not waver in his promise to keep trying, to not grow tired of me, and to keep wanting to do life with me. That is no small thing, and I am really honored and thankful. ❤️ To the next 24! 🥂