Hannah was married to Elkenah. He also had another wife. That wife had borne him children. Hannah had not. Her most fervent desire had not been answered. At what had to have been one of her lowest points, and I think we can all identify with this moment, she is at the temple praying. It says she is moving her lips but words aren't coming out. In fact, the priest Eli, accuses her of being drunk. In reality she is praying with all her heart. Perhaps she is so full of emotion that audibly speaking them will unleash the tears. Perhaps she struggles to even find the right words. Perhaps she is afraid to even speak out loud those personal desires. I've been in all of those praying situations, haven't you? In 1 Samuel 1:10 it says, "And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore." Can you feel her there? In the bitterness of her soul? When it feels like there is no goodness left aro...
As we were driving to Indianapolis last week, Kyrie and Ella were sitting next to me and commenting on how unorganized my phone apps were. Some were duplicated and they knew I sometimes had trouble finding things. I simply hadn't gotten around to, which means MADE TIME FOR, that organizational process. So I handed them my phone and let them get to work. They deleted apps I no longer used - like the MyVerizon app because we changed providers four years ago 😬- and renamed my groups. This they did with a witty, humorous flair. Health and Fitness became "At Least You Tried". Maps became "Probably Gonna Get Lost Anyway". I contributed the name for social media as "Fellowshipping". We laughed and I thanked them but then as I looked at the groups I paused and thought about how I use my time and specifically how I let my phone dictate my time use. And I rearranged the groups. I moved "Jesus Stuff" to the first ...
I looked around the table at the teens eating waffles on our last day of Seminary for the semester. We have studied and learned so much in this semester in the Old Testament. "How would you sum up the message of the Old Testament? What have you seen or felt over and over again?" I waited, curious at how they would respond. "Prophets. There were lots of prophets warning people." "People mess up a lot even badly." "And yet...." I prompt and wait. "God still loves them." The others nod their heads. "God gives second chances," one student firmly states. "And third chances and fourth," adds another. I smile and the Spirit testifies that they have picked up part of the important messages. "What else?" I continue. "Even though He loves us He still requires us to be obedient. Love isn't just letting them do whatever they want." Then we talked about the Abrahamic Covenan...
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