I gave him a kiss as he walked in the door, and he leaned back to look at me, “What’s up around here lately? Something’s definitely different.” I hadn’t dared mention it, because I was pretty sure it wouldn’t stick. I hesitated, “What do you mean?” “Everything seems better like a weight’s been lifted.” And I smiled because I knew I was free.

Today was a pretty cool day. I made it through my 7th time reading through the Bible. God always shows me a little something new each time. Here’s what I know after finishing up this pass.

When people hurt me, I want to turn away. Who doesn’t? Most of us don’t WANT to stay in a situation where we’ve been hurt. And when we bump into people who’ve hurt us before, we’re not exactly delighted to see them.

FOR THE TIMES

You said too little

Or said too much

Something held you back

And the truth didn’t come out

You missed the opportunity

Or never even saw it

I take a deep pause when I’m singing aloud and get to the part that says I’ll never turn away from God, I’ll always praise, I’ll always remain steadfast. I mean I WANT to sing this at the top of my lungs, but can I? How can I know beyond a doubt that I will ALWAYS do this? I’ve let myself down before.

If we've chosen to slide, we can also choose to put on the brakes. We can choose to turn, to adjust what we're doing, and change the direction we're going. Jesus knew that Peter would slide and He gently encouraged him.

Have you ever felt like Lazarus? Dead + buried for 4 days, when Jesus says, “Lazarus, come out!” Man, what a day! He literally brought Lazarus back to life. What would you think if you saw this happen? Maybe we have a hard time imagining this actually happening. But Jesus does the same thing for us, when we believe. He raises us from the dead, He resurrects our lives.

God doesn’t speak to me. It’s easy to think this when we’re spinning. We feel alone + afraid. Maybe we’re trying to control our emotions, but past traumas have a way of dragging us under. And we’re trying to stop, but it’s hard. It’s hard to stop ourselves from going back to old patterns.

One of the most beautiful things in the world is hearing a child’s first question. As a parent, it fills us with pride and we think our little one might possibly be the most amazing person in the world.

Betrayal is bitter. It could be a sibling, a spouse, or a friend. It could be a coworker or boss. It could be our child. It could be ourselves. Betrayal comes in many shapes. And the sting is deep when it happens to us.

Jesus knew that after Peter failed 3 times, he would come back. And in an act of love, Jesus prayed for Peter’s faith not to fail, even though Jesus knew exactly what Peter was about to do.

It’s so easy to be consumed. On the urgent, on the loud, on what looks like a need. To have our thoughts spread out over so many different little fires. We’re stressed out, overwhelmed, breathing hard, just trying to stay in the game.