The Simple, Saving, Radical, Real Love of God

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The Simple, Saving, Radical, Real Love of God

As many of you know I spend most of my days in my house with my little munchkins. 

Many of those days I try to leave the house, even if it’s for something small, like to go to the store to grab an ingredient I need for dinner. I sit the girls in the buggy designed like a car and swing by the bakery to get them a free cookie. That cookie and car-shaped buggy have saved my life multiple times, let me tell you. Sometimes, I will take them to the park or the library  and then coax them away with the promise of something “special” aka french fries. 

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Usefulness...It's More than You Think

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Usefulness...It's More than You Think

First and foremost, I bid you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s Thanksgiving Day, and I’m likely beginning my day with a delicious cup of coffee. Now, there’s something to be thankful for—COFFEE! I am exceedingly thankful for coffee. I believe it to be the most enjoyable drink on the earth. And it’s a drink to be had in any season. You can drink it all year round. 

For the cold months, there are a million ways to have it hot. There’s nothing better than sipping your favorite tasty latte to warm you from head to toe. Yet, even when the temperature outside rises too high, a well-made cold brew is absolutely appropriate, and quite refreshing.

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All Filled Up: Silencing My Inner Cookie Monster

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All Filled Up: Silencing My Inner Cookie Monster

A few weeks ago I shared that I was going to begin a Whole30. You can read that post here. 

Honestly, there is a part of me that doesn’t want to share this. Is this really important? Aren’t there weightier things we could talk about? 

I’ve recently come to terms with the fact that I cannot be who God has called me to be if I’m bound by an addiction of any kind. I am not as effective of a witness. I am not living free. If I can’t move past this then I am limited. My purpose is limited. 

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Dear Adults: A Word from Your Local Youth Pastor

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Dear Adults: A Word from Your Local Youth Pastor

My birthday is just around the corner. 

Now, I’m not that old, but the older I get it feels like the faster the world becomes. 

I’m a child of the 80’s. I can still remember using my grandmother’s rotary phone (if you don’t know what that is click here. haha.) to call home as a kid.

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No Second Chances: 9 Ways to Jumpstart the Call on Your Life

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No Second Chances: 9 Ways to Jumpstart the Call on Your Life

Let’s say you’ve felt the call to ministry in some form. Or maybe you just know that you’re meant to do more with your life than just survive at a nine to five job.

But there is no obvious path to take. You feel apprehensive about moving forward because the unknown is frightening at times.

On the other hand, you don’t know if you’re wasting the precious time you’ve been given. Let’s face it, our time is a limited resource. After all, when we see Jesus face to face we aren’t going to say, “Wait, Lord. Can I go back? I didn’t do that quite like I wanted to.” We get one life. There are no second chances.

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Consider the Source

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Consider the Source

Have you ever felt like you are supposed to flourish but you’re just stuck?

You tell yourself you don’t have the time or you’re too busy or it’s too hard right now to do the things you know you’re supposed to. Maybe you can start later or next week or on a Monday.

I was once in a relationship that became super dumb. Those are the nicest words I have for it.

At first it was not dumb. It was great and fun. We laughed and frolicked in fields with daisies.

But then it happened. You know those people who get a boyfriend or girlfriend and then they disappear? That was me. I became needy and insecure. That, my friends, is not cute.

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Battle Born: Fighting the Funk of Depression

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Battle Born: Fighting the Funk of Depression

The irrationality of fear first gripped me when I was young. 

I was in first grade…and the thought of school terrified me. 

But that’s normal, right? Its culturally common for kids to hate school and who, at some point, hasn’t ever seen a young child screaming bloody murder when getting dropped off to their first day of school?

Then came middle school, where at age 12, I was so distraught with anxiety, that I walked in one night to tell my Mom I no longer wanted to live. I told her I had been having thoughts of ending my life with my Dad’s shotgun. 

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Burn Your Stretchy Pants: A Story of Grace

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Burn Your Stretchy Pants: A Story of Grace

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

- Proverbs 3:5-6

I'm standing in my kitchen, mentally exhausted, with children beckoning for my attention.

In this moment, I could acknowledge God, run to Him for help, and find rest in who He is OR I could eat this Oreo and this dark chocolate salted caramel and this cookie I made the other day.

It’s kind of like a smoke break but with sugar and it seems so much easier than asking God for help.

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Destroying Porn: This One's for the Guys

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Destroying Porn: This One's for the Guys

**Note: While this post is intended to educate, challenge, and inform, it is of a particular graphic nature. Please read at your own risk.** 

Lets take the gloves off; porn is ubiquitous. 

As technology progresses, so has the consumption of pornography. As a result, porn usage has ruined families, marriages, businesses, churches, and many, many young lives.

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My Greatest Conflict: This One's for the Girls

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My Greatest Conflict: This One's for the Girls

There’s a fine balance.

Let’s take it back, all the way to the 6th grade.

Awkward was my middle name; being a tall, gangly, pre-pubescent was my game.

I was quiet. Too quiet. The boys thought I was cute and the girls could smell blood in the water. I wanted so desperately to fit in. But I didn’t know who I was, so I didn’t know where I fit. So, I got owned. Like all the time.  People made fun of me. People laughed at all my awkward and I probably helped a little too.

And then it happened. The switch flipped and that summer before going into 7th grade I said, “No more!” Slamming my fist on the table causing my milk to slosh onto my freshly toasted pastry strudel. 

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6 Ways to Seek Excellence and Grow Through It

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6 Ways to Seek Excellence and Grow Through It

A few years ago my husband and I started attending a very large church that, to some, might seem to have it all together but I think they would be the first to admit they don’t.

We are so thankful for our time there. We learned so much and we got to rest and recover.

But some of the typical things that people encounter with larger churches were things that we found to be challenging, and at times frustrating.

  • It was hard sometimes to feel connected.
  • At times things felt a little too well rehearsed.
  • And we wondered if we were “cool” enough.

Shocking, I know.

I have a tattoo. Matt wears skinny jeans. What more could you want?

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If We Truly Are Vigilant...

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If We Truly Are Vigilant...

Here we are. All of us together.

We have come to a point in history where we find that our desire to do good is thwarted by an acute case of self-obsession.

We are in slavery, our taskmaster, comfort. We dare not make way to the promised land knowing full well that between us and that place lies wilderness, lies difficulty, lies hardship.

Who am I to say such things?

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Stop Chasing Your Dreams

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Stop Chasing Your Dreams

"By the time a basketball or football player gets to Division I or Division II, they’ve already been a star in their own town and community. They have been elevated to celebrity status at such a young age, before their frontal lobe has even fully developed. It creates a high confidence level, but also a delusion around what’s actually possible."

– Dan Lebowitz, Exec. Dir. of NE University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. 

 

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Meet Brother Arnold

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Meet Brother Arnold

In 2007, I was asked to preach at a small church in Leavenworth, KS. It was the beginning of an encounter with a collective of people that I now know and love.

Upon my arrival, I was introduced to this jazz drummer who my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) referred to as “Cool Guy.”

“Cool Guy,” was a lighter skinned, elderly, black man. His body was slightly hunched and swayed to one side, bearing most of his weight upon a favored foot. Observing his stance, I noticed that the rest of his weight was held up by a long black cane. Through a quiet voice with a slight rasp, he extended his hand to mine and spoke,

“How ya doin’ there? I’m Brother Arnold.”

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Is There Anything for this Generation to Declare?

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Is There Anything for this Generation to Declare?

Churches everywhere are working to maintain relevance in this post-Christian nation, scrambling to survive.

Church attendance in many places is steadily declining as people go outside the church walls for spiritual fulfillment or people have just stopped caring about church altogether.

"One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts."

- Psalms 145:4

Let me ask you, is there anything for this generation to declare?

 

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The Minister's Manifesto

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The Minister's Manifesto

I don’t know how to be something I’m not. 

Most of us don’t.

Since I can remember I’ve loved 2 things: ministry & art. 

In the same way you like unique foods and your own manner of doing things, I can’t imagine not having a passion for these pursuits. 

For me, it’s a peculiar combination. 

Most of my life I’ve felt too “Christian” for the art world and too “artsy” for the local church. 

And so, finding a space to call my own has been a pursuit of discovery.

Its also been an intentional pursuit to carve out more space for others like myself...maybe for someone like you too.

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You Want Me to What...? Crucial Things to Remember When You've Been Hurt

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You Want Me to What...? Crucial Things to Remember When You've Been Hurt

The driveway slopes down to the street below. 

I've set up camp in front of my childhood home. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the neighborhood and the branches of the huge tree in our front yard mingle with the stars.

I am content with just my Bible, a big blanket, and me.

This is one of the few places I sense that all things are possible and the God who makes it so is ever present. 

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The Best Thing to Believe

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The Best Thing to Believe

Right now, my eyes are heavy and sweet sleep is calling my name.

I am writing this on a borrowed laptop, as we camp out in a nine year old's room while he sleeps on the couch.

This is life on the road for the Shirleys. 

The past couples weeks have been filled with incredible experiences, really good food and even better company. 

But as our time passes Matt and I find ourselves praying about the future and endeavoring to hold all things loosely. 

This time is conjuring in me a belief that grows more firm with each passing day. 

Jesus is enough. He is sufficient.

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Kill the Clutter. Reclaim Your Life.

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Kill the Clutter. Reclaim Your Life.

I really thought adulthood would be a certain cure to procrastination.

I thought I would arrive to a place where I could inherently muster myself to a place of responsibility, never to leave any of my work undone again.

I was wrong.

It's delusional to think that things will organize themselves.

Have you ever thought this?

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