What makes God good is not merely the good things He gives. It is God Himself. And because of that, His presence in my pain was the miracle.

Jackie stepped on stage and preached before she ever opened her mouth. Her obedience spoke, and I listened. Somewhere between the bass shaking the walls and worship rising in the room, a quiet question met me in my spirit: So… what about you?

We cannot always control what pops into our minds… but we can choose which thoughts we allow to stay. Your thoughts are the soundtrack of your heart. And soundtracks matter. They set the mood and influence how we interpret what’s happening around us. So today, what’s playing on repeat?

Why did God create life? More specifically, why did God create you? To be His servant? To “use” you for a specific purpose? While these are components of a life with God, they are not the purpose of it.

I asked the Lord for a sign, and He didn’t give it to me. In hindsight, I know exactly why. It taught me how to move forward in faith. The confirmation that I made the right choice came on the other side of obedience.

Reflections from living with the locals in Malawi, Africa. I went abroad planning to change other people, only to find that their way of living would change me.