Ezekiel 37:1-6 "The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know." Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"     If you didn't know, "bones" translates to death. We walk in a situation we've lost hope in and all we see is death and no redemption for us. We think, "God how can I recover?...

  Luke 15:25-32 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitues comes home, you'll kill the fattened calf for him!' 'My son,' the father said,' you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"   So here is J...

   Today marks one year since I -barely- graduated high school. I look back at those four years and cringe but I also have a sense of joy. Those four years brought me some of my best life long friends and some amazing lessons from some amazing teachers. As many know, I didn't choose the college route, I didn't even take my SATs because I KNEW what I was going to do. I knew what I wanted and went to go get it.   Oh boy, I was so unprepared for the real world. I am very blessed to be so heavily guided and protect in this transition of my life but trust me, it's no easy street. A wise and adorable English teacher once told me, "the only constant thing in life is change." (Norma Walker)   So to the class of 2016, and whomever it may concern: Everything changes.        People move away       Relationships end       Friends drift apart       Environment is different       And... you change. ...

  In your Christian walk have you ever said to someone, "I'm praying for you" but then totally forgot to even mutter their name during your prayer that night? Personally I've done that SO many times and what I've done to work it out is I have created a prayer wall. I have Polaroid pictures of people or things so I remember what I need to be praying for. Every time I am in my room I just turn my head like 45 degrees and there is a wall of people and things I'm praying for. I've really learned this year the power and importance of prayer.   "Christ can not heal what He does not hear." -Alberto Bello    In any relationship communication is vital. How can someone know you are upset that Starbucks didn't give you any extra caramel on your iced caramel macchiato even though you specifically asked for the extra caramel, unless you say something to them. They might see you are upset, but how in the world can they know the reason. You have a relations...

   Isaiah 40:26-31 "Look up into the heavens, Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become tired and weak, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."    I feel like I have been running on empty the past few weeks. I decided to take a "vow of silence"... I think we all know that lasted about fi...

  When I first started my job here in LA I was only getting three hour shifts during the weekdays. I would have about a two hour gap in between work and school in which I would go to Starbucks and order my venti black iced tea, with more sweetener added than there is tea, and my turkey pesto sandwich. Every payday I would go to the mall, pick up some bath bombs from Lush, and grab some Taco Bell. These things made me happy  and I looked forward to them but then my hours picked up and my money got tight. That was when I learned the difference between happiness  and joy .      Habakkuk 3:17-18 "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the field produces no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."    Joy is having a cheerful heart even when things in life seem to be crumbling apart.  ...

        I've gone back and forth about writing something like this because I am NO relationship expert, or an expert in any category for that matter, but I've noticed an unhealthy mindset in today's world and I hope that we can shift our perspective.     Okay so you're single. It is time to come to terms with that reality. You've been single for an hour to a year. Either way you've already picked out names for your cats and have already tweeted the hashtag '#foreveralone'. I can go on and on about how you are not alone, how you don't need to date now, and so on and so on but today I want to change your perspective on singleness itself. Maybe, just maybe , being single is not the end of the world. Maybe there's actually a sense of joy and productivity  in the season of singleness.    Relationships are HARD work and take time and attention to pour into them, just like any friendship. So you're single, where do you put all this extra time a...