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Feeling Broken Inside? This Is for You
The lingering daylight leads us to the woods again, and I sink into a moss-covered log while the kids throw sticks into the water. Something about the scene feels alive in the most organic way. It’s like a gentle reminder of how to have hope when you’re feeling broken inside. I’m thinking about life and fresh starts as the moisture of the sphagnum moss permeates my thin pants. It seems the rotting log is absorbing my weight as I enhance the decomposition and press into the dirt. The moss is all around me now, sucking its life from the rotting log’s decomposing nutrients. My mind shifts to Christ and his…
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Overcoming Obstacles With God: 4 Steps
The cold mountain wind rips at me while the sun scorches my chapped hands with desert-like heat. I spit out the gritty sand and continue my ascent. I don’t realize it just yet, but this ascent is teaching me about overcoming obstacles with God, a lesson I’ll need when different obstacles arise on different kinds of mountain climbs. Overcoming Obstacles With God Glancing upward, I’m only 60 yards from the summit. Sixty grueling yards of rough rock outcroppings and sheer drop-offs of over 1,000 feet stand before me. It seems there are cliffs on both sides of this journey. I’ve barely begun the decade of my twenties, and I’m certain…
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The God of the Valley Is Still With You
I slip into the woods on a Saturday evening as the golden sun kisses the horizon. Walking through the emerging skunk cabbage bulbs, the scene gets me thinking about trusting God in those moments when I start to wonder if the God of the valley has left me all alone. The sinking sun blinds me to the west, but to the east, the ponds reflect perfect paintings of cobalt skies and grey hills. The hills are on the brink of bursting into glory like maybe they’re waiting for redemption. Geese linger in a pond to the south, and I follow the winding valley to its deepest place. This part of…