Shown Mercy

Every once in awhile, I wipe the literal dust off of my guitar and attempt to play a little.  Today was one of those days.  I pulled an old hymnal out and played a simple arrangement I had made a couple months ago. Here's the rough recording.  Hope you enjoy.

As I shared in my last post, identity matters.  Identity is foundational to understanding purpose. Every day we should remind ourselves of who we are.  Every day we should preach the gospel to ourselves.  Every day we should ask for God's help to remember our identity. A year or so ago, I decided to stamp a daily reminder of this reality on my wrist in the form of a tattoo.  Confession: getting a tattoo was never on my bucket list.  Perhaps midlife crisis has played a role?  Regardless, I thought to myself that if you're going to get a tattoo, it should be purposeful.  Therefore, in addition to the Micah 6:8 passage written on my foot, I added a Hebrew word on my arm to match the one Tony has on his.  The word: gaal .  One of the meanings of the Hebrew word gaal is  redeemed as seen when  God promised his people deliverance from bondage under the Egyptians,  "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm" (Exodus 6:6)......

Holiness and Community Recently, I was asked to participate in a women’s mini-conference along side of my friend (and neighbor), Tara.   The topic was on pursuing holiness and community.   Truth be told, when I received the invitation I was in a place of grieving relationships close to me where the opposite seemed to be true.   Naturally, my heart ignited with the idea of digging deeper into this topic for personal edification and sanctification.   The burden of preparing talks on holiness coupled with the opportunity to spend time with a friend whom I admire greatly though rarely see prompted my immediate acceptance. Not surprisingly, the weeks between accepting and the actual event were busier than our normal busy pace of life.   The battle between finding time to prepare and accomplishing the daily responsibilities of our lives was in full swing.   As I wrestled with my own perfectionistic tendencies and pride, I longed for things to come togethe...