Living life with steps of faith

Tonight as I read a book on Music and Theology for class, I made the conscious decision to look up in the dictionary words for which the definition was unclear. I was amazed by the impact this simple tool had on my comprehension of the book. Words that I had simply assumed the meaning of based upon contextual tools and use in other life circumstances gained a depth of meaning and color they hadn't previously revealed. As I read, the message of the text became a masterpiece illuminated by a master painter. As I wondered over why the author chose to use one word over another to articulate an idea--poetry emerged. The melody was replaced with an intricate harmony of ideas, language, history, worldview, and education. I realized that in order to hear a word, one must first know what the word means. To not know what the word means is to make the word equivalent to a sound uttered by an immigrant in a foreign tongue. It is disguised in such great manner that it is not repeatable or memor...

"Would he [God] be nailed to the cross for your sins and then disregard your prayers?" - Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace I read this quote yesterday morning and it really struck me as something to think about.

Wedding Photographer Shopping - Blah!

"It follows from this that the universe is good, that the reason for its present lamentable state is not to be sought in the Creator but in the fact that the highest created state is that of a free, rational being, so that to create a universe capable of containing the highest form of goodness was to create a universe that depended on the free obedience of rational beings, the fall being the failure of rational beings to remain faithful to the good." - taken from xlviii of the Introduction to Genesis I-II in the "Ancient Christian Commentary On Scriptures: Old Testament I: Genesis I-II" edited by Andrew Louth, Marco Conti, Thomas C. Oden, and a list of others.

The most difficult decision I've had to make thus far in preparing for our wedding ceremony was selecting the maid of honor. I have two best friends who I have asked to be bridesmaids and I love them both dearly. I call them both "my best friend." I know that the word "best" implies only one, but for me, I've never been able to nor felt a need to choose one of them over the other. They are each my best friend in a different and unique way. Recently my grandmother asked me to read the book "The Shack." At one point in the story the main character is asked which of his children he loves the most. His answer is simply that there is not one child he loves more than another, he just loves each child differently. How would a mother choose between daughters as maid of honor? How would a sister choose between siblings to be the maid of honor? In my situation it would have been the easiest to choose my sister, but I really want to have one of my best frien...