Thomas and Other Doubters

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

Thomas missed the disciples first meeting with the risen Christ (John 20:19); I wonder what held him up? Broken sandal? Tilted sundial? Camel trouble?? Maybe tucked in Thomas’s story is a side-bar about being on time for parties?! Regardless, God has some treasures in the story of Thomas missing that first meeting. Somewhere along the road of church history, he was bestowed the unfortunate nickname “doubting Thomas” and it stuck; now he’s the poster boy for doubting.

I have a feeling that “doubting Thomas” has made us subconsciously think that only one in twelve Christians suffer from doubt (and therefore if we doubt, we are in the minority). As if Thomas was the only one who had any doubts! If you rewind one week to the morning of the resurrection, all eleven were swimming in their doubts: Mary reported Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb, but the disciples did not believe until they met with Him later (check out Luke 24:9-11).

A glance back through the Bible will reveal more doubters to join Thomas: Eve, Lot’s wife, the spies of the Promised Land, Gideon, David and other Psalmists to name just a few!

Gideon struggled with belief somewhat famously - I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers a wet-fleece themed Sunday school craft. Defeating the Midianites was huge undertaking, and Gideon needed extra reassurance that he was hearing God, and that God was who He said He was! (See Judges 6-8 for his story.) David, the famous King of Israel called in the New Testament a “man after God’s own heart,” reveals his wrestling with doubt in many of the Psalms: 

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.” (Psalm 22:1-2) 

He takes his concern and doubt straight to God – he’s praying with those very words! But listen to how his heart shifts as the prayer continues in verse 19 and 23-24: 

“But you, O LORD, be not far off: O my Strength, come quickly to help me…You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” 

God turns David’s doubt to hope even as he prays. As Pastor Corey said on Sunday, “Allow your doubt to drive you to seek Him.” Gideon did. David did. (Other Psalmists, Asaph and the Sons of Korah, did as well; see Psalms 10, 42, 43, 73, and 77 for their examples.)

The Bible also shares the stories of those who tried to lean on their own understanding to remedy their doubt. Eve doubted God’s goodness in His command not to eat from one tree, and that doubt led her to sin. Lot’s wife doubted God’s command not to turn back to see the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Ten out of the original twelve spies of the Promised Land doubted that God could conquer the land from the “giants” living there; they died in the desert with the rest of their unbelieving generation (Numbers 13-14, specifically Numbers 14:10-12, 20-23).

Gideon, David and even Thomas doubted just like us – especially in times of trial and struggle. But they turned to God with the doubt, and God is faithful! Eve, Lot’s wife and the spies doubted that God was who He says He is, and that He could do what He says He can do. Their doubt drove them to believe that He was far off, He would not help and that He was not good.

In Thomas’s story of doubt, we get to see Jesus’ immediate response. Jesus didn’t rebuke him, shame him, or call him out for not listening to the other disciples. We also should not feel shame or guilt about wrestling with doubt. Jesus provided what Thomas needed to strengthen his faith; He said touch, see, and have what you need to be sure of Me.  

Thomas was the last disciple to have his doubt turned to faith, not the only one. We all struggle with doubt, especially in times of trial and temptation. When we doubt on our own we ask, “Is He good? Is He here? Will He help?” but we are left with only our current measure of faith to try to answer. So, let’s have our doubt drive us to Him.

Instead, bring those questions to God and ask Him “Are You good, are You here, will You help?”* Pray for help with the unbelief. Let Him speak into the doubt, and increase your belief!

*These specific questions (and some of the background for these thoughts on doubt) come from a sermon by Matt Chandler called Trials/Temptations based on James 1:2-18 preached at the Village Church in Dallas on February 15, 2015. You can access that sermon on this page. 

How to Live Boldly for Christ

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

In Christianity, phrases like "Live boldly for Christ" are fairly commonplace. Yet I've never really seen a definition of what "bold" means when it's used that way. Does it mean selling all my stuff so I can give away all my money? Does it mean moving to Kenya to become a full-time missionary? Does it mean going to seminary and becoming a pastor?

If I don't do any of these things, am I a failure at living boldly?

Most of the time, we equate bold with BIG. What counts is the action, the big, dramatic things that make people take note.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Irwin Scott, Creative Commons

In 1 Samuel 13 and 14, we see the contrasting stories of Saul and Jonathan. Both act boldly, but in different ways and with different outcomes.

King Saul’s bold move was to offer a burnt offering. He was getting antsy waiting around for Samuel to show up to offer the burnt offering, so Saul went and did it himself—his rationale being that he wanted to seek the Lord’s favor before battle. Overall, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal, except he had been explicitly told not to. Instead of waiting patiently for Samuel to show up, Saul let his own misgivings drive his behavior. And, when we look closer at Saul’s motivation, we see fear and doubt that God could and would do what he said he would.

Jonathan’s bold move was to seek out what God would do. He took his armor bearer with him and headed to a Philistine outpost known to be dangerous, saying, “Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” (I Samuel 14:8) His goal wasn’t to make himself look good (because only he and his armor bearer even knew he was going), but to see what God would do—because Jonathan trusted that God would.

On the outside, King Saul’s action doesn’t seem so bad, and Jonathan’s seems perhaps a little foolish. King Saul was seeking God’s favor, and Jonathan was putting his life and someone else’s in danger.

Except these were merely outward actions. While Saul’s inside motives were not so great, Jonathan’s were—making his actions the ones that were bold in a good, God-honoring way. There are lots of bold actions that are great things to do, but if we’re doing them with the wrong heart attitude, they’re not good things at all. Being bold for Christ isn't so much about the outside as it is the inside.

For some of us, being bold might mean giving away all our money, moving to another country, or becoming a pastor—but for many of us, being bold won’t look like any of those. And if those actions aren’t accompanied by a trusting heart ready to be used by God, they’re empty, not bold at all. On the other hand, actions we consider commonplace or even “small”—showing up to work diligently, being a good neighbor, serving at the church—can be our way of living boldly.

In the end, it’s our hearts that determine whether we’re acting boldly for ourselves or boldly for Christ.

[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

Light in the Dark

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

Photo Credit: Flickr user Jeff Babbitt, Creative Commons

I am often astounded by my husband’s ability to see in the dark. He claims he’s normal, and that there’s enough light from streetlights, the moon, clocks and other electronics to see the outlines of most rooms and furniture. When my contacts are out and my coke-bottle glasses are off, the dimness of night is equivalent to closing my eyes – my darkness is complete. It is inconceivable to me that he can actually see (and yet, he doesn’t run into nearly as many doors, walls and pieces of furniture as I do!).

I am regularly astounded by God’s ability to see in the dark. When we blindly stand in the complete dark of life, God stands in the light and knows just where we’re going. 

Pastor Dirk brought us Paul’s testimony this week out of Galatians 1:11-24. He had been zealous for God and His law as a Jew, until God interrupted with His glorious grace. Paul was in the dark, blind to God’s grace, when his eyes were opened (literally – see Acts 9); once he saw the light, he could do nothing but praise God and share the message of His amazing grace! In the letter to the Galatians, he testifies to God’s grace – grace that redeemed him to everlasting life, and the gracious act that was his personal story. Paul had persecuted Christians – he was wildly undeserving of God’s favor. But that’s grace: he was undeserving, but Jesus called him, loved him and saved him. He was graciously saved by grace.

Paul’s story is only one of many; Naomi was another undeserving person on whom God lavished abundant grace. Famine drove Naomi’s family from their home in Bethlehem to the foreign country of Moab. Her sons married, but then they and her husband died; Naomi was plunged into a different, difficult life. With no one to care for her and no hope of heirs, she left for home, filled with bitterness. Naomi was in the darkness. 

In darkness she returned to Bethlehem, but the rays of light began to break through. Ruth, her daughter-in-law (the only family she had left!) met Boaz. He married Ruth to redeem them, to provide heirs and restore their lives. Boaz and Ruth had a son and those rays of light burst into glorious, grace filled joy. The book ends with a family tree: Naomi’s grandson became the grandfather of King David! In 2 Samuel 7:16, God promises David a kingdom and a throne forever, which He ultimately fulfills through Jesus, the “Son of David” (Matthew 21:9). What a life redeemed by grace! 

In the middle of it all, Naomi’s darkness was quite complete; in Ruth 1:21 she says, “I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty…” Naomi could see nothing in her darkness. But God could. Without the difficult season, the King would not have come through her line. God was preparing for a greater glory. He was laying the groundwork for the Savior, and revealing His own role as Redeemer!

I’m tempted to look at Naomi’s story the way that we look at our own stories; ready to point out and proclaim God’s grace and salvation at the end, but forgetting that He was there all through the dark. He didn’t show up when Naomi and Ruth met Boaz; but perhaps that’s when He was revealed. God was there the whole time, seeing in the dark where Naomi was blind, knowing His plan for her good and His glory. Psalm 139:12 says “Even the darkness is not dark to you, and the night as bright as day…” Even when my darkness is complete, God is enough light to see everything!

In our own testimonies of God’s grace, aren’t we tempted to lean the same way – to know His grace and glory when we are headed toward those rays of light, but to forget His grace and sovereignty when we are on the way down or wallowing in a dark night of the soul? We talk about the times when God rescued, the times when Light broke in and swallowed the dark. We skip the confusing part where we stumbled or fell or were cast unaware into the pit – it seems too difficult to explain how or why God would put us or let us go there. All we see is the dark, but He sees the plan. And by His grace, He brings us out on the other side, transformed evermore into the likeness of His Son. (2 Corinthians 3:18) By His grace He invites those circumstances into our lives to shape and mold us, to prepare us for the good works He has had ready for us since He formed us! (Ephesians 2:10)

”He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” Daniel 2:22 NIV

[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, including humility and patience.]

You Can't Screw Up God's Will

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]


Every time I hear a sermon or read an article or book about finding God’s will, I hope that this will be the one that makes it clear for me once and for all. Yet even as we after hearing about the importance of knowing God’s word, of surrounding ourselves with people who will give us godly advice, and learning how to seek God’s perspective on things, the decisions we face in our everyday lives can still seem cloudy. Which job should I take, or should I go back to school? Is this the right school for my child or would they do better at that one? Should I stay in Grand Rapids or move somewhere else? If we apply all the good tactics Pastor Dirk has been talking about for the past few weeks, we can still be looking at these decisions with concern that we’ll make the wrong choice.

When I’m looking through the Bible for advice on God’s will, the book of Nehemiah is not typically where I’d land. But I think it works. God clearly gave Nehemiah a task: Rebuild the wall. So Nehemiah became singularly focused on that task. Everything he did he compared back to his ultimate goal: Will this help me rebuild the wall, or won’t it? Once Nehemiah had his eyes set on his goal, the other decisions became easier.

We likely don’t have any giant walls to rebuild, but on a large level, if we call ourselves followers of Jesus and are seeking to live and love more like him, our ultimate remains the same as we go through out our lives. We are to love and serve the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

While I’m absolutely on board with loving and serving God as my ultimate mission in life, there’s still something in me that balks at the idea of that being the magic bullet answer to all my life problems. I can love God well in the house where I currently live, and I can love him well if I live somewhere else—but that still doesn’t tell me where I’m supposed to live. If God has a plan for my life, why won’t he just clue me in on what that is, down to the little details that keep me up at night?

Maybe we sometimes unnecessarily complicate finding the will of God. If we’re keeping our ultimate task in mind, we can’t screw up God’s will as much as we think we can. Like Nehemiah, we can compare all of our choices back to the task God has given us and try to remain singularly focused on that. If one choice clearly takes us away from looking more like Jesus, that one is automatically out.

And the rest? If they’re all pretty evenly aligned with their potential for loving and serving God, then we use the tools God has given us for discerning his will—knowing his word, praying for guidance, and seeking advice from trustworthy people—and we make the best decision we can. But we don’t have to worry so much about choosing something that’s “out of God’s will” if it isn’t clearly going to impede our ability to live out our ultimate task. In the face of our everyday decisions over which job we take, school we pick, or city we live in, God’s will will happen just as he meant it to.


[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

How to Seek God's Will

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

The past few weeks at Encounter, we’ve been looking for God’s will. Pastor Dirk keeps finding it…in the Bible. Whether it’s the general guiding principles, where to turn for advice, or how to gain some perspective, the Word of God is the source and anchor for seeking His will.

I know that God’s word is truth, and is full of everything I need. So why do I often spend more of my time reading Facebook? Watching random TV shows I don’t even like that much? Strolling through the internet looking for instructions on how to build a retaining wall, yet ending up with plans to build a strawberry tower (that is two hours of my week I’m not getting back)? Perhaps you’re more disciplined than I am, but I have great intentions to read my Bible, yet my time is “stolen” by so many lesser things.

Photo Credit: Flickr User compujeramy, Creative Commons

Every so often, Facebook or my email update their policies, so they helpfully invite me to peruse them; I have to click agree if I want to continue using the program. It turns out there are important disclosures in there, like how they’re going to borrow my information and sell it to other companies, and other things I should probably know. 

Have you ever read any of the policies that you have to click “agree” to?  Confession time: I don’t.  I bypass the ones from social media services, or the manifestos that appear while I’m installing programs on my computer and phone; I scan like a hawk for the “Agree” button, and move on with life. I know I should read these disclosures – but I lack thirty free minutes and a law degree (I know that’s just an excuse…but don’t pretend you read them all either!).

We are beyond blessed to live in a time when the Word of God is so available – I have a copy next to me right now that I can freely read, I can read it on my phone or on my computer – I can even read in different translations and, if I were so educated or inclined, different languages! I embraced early on that Christians believe the whole Bible – every word is inspired from God (2 Timothy 3:16). I went ahead and clicked “agree” to the Bible…long before I had ever studied even a fraction of it.

But like all of those long disclosure agreements, if I’m going to claim that I accept and believe it – I should consider myself on the hook to get into it and know it, to hear from God in His Words, and to obey them.  It’s wonderful to accept it as truth, but I also need to know what that truth is!

I have sought Your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.  I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to Your statues.  Psalm 119:58-59 NIV

Psalm 119 is a beautiful (very, very long) proclamation of love for God’s word. In these two particular verses, the author recognizes that his ways – his will or his plans - were not in line with the ways of God. How did he discover the ways of God? The other 174 verses in the psalm would suggest that he knew them by being all up in the word of God: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” he says in verse 105, and “Direct my footsteps according to your word.” (verse 133)

When we read the Bible to meet God, to hear from Him and learn His ways, it’s going to wrinkle our brains and alter our perspective on life. God sees from an eternal, unlimited perspective while we have only our peephole perspective on the whole thing; His ways might make sense to us, or they might also blow our minds. But if we never seek His perspective, if we never let the truth of His word saturate our minds and hearts, lifting us up out of this dark world to see with His light, then we will only be seeking our will, our way, our path based on our desires, our motivations, and our perspectives.

The Bible is a serious, sometimes overwhelming undertaking (have you ever noticed how many pages there are?!), and it takes some effort to read; but knowing God and having him change my perspective takes more than hearing someone talk about the Bible once a week, or hanging out with people who I assume are reading the Bible. God has gifted us with His Word, and He wants us to dig in, immerse and saturate ourselves in it, and get to know Him.

Maybe you’re so in love with the Word that this long winded thought has served only as a reminder of our commitment to God’s Word.  Or, maybe you’re feeling the motivation to crack open that beautiful Bible you have.  Either way, God wants us to know Him, to get out of our self-seeking worldly perspective and be lifted up to catch a glimpse of what He sees. He wants to speak to us, and to change us. He wants us to know His will!

Your statues are wonderful; therefore I obey them.  The unfolding your Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.Psalm 119:129-130

[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, including humility and patience.] 

The Best Advice for Finding God's Will

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

Making decisions is not my strong suit. Even something as seemingly simple as buying a pack of pens can take me a very, very long time. What color(s) of ink do I want? Fine point or medium? Can I justify a 10-pack, or should I stick with 5?

Fortunately, I’m usually able to make these types of decisions on my own, but anything much more important than that and I’m tempted to start calling reinforcements. Which sounds like a good idea, but as we learned on Sunday, we have to be careful who we take our advice from. 

Photo Credit: Flickr User Dean Hochman, Creative Commons

At first, it seems like King Rehoboam is being wise about his decision making. When the people of Israel go to him, he doesn’t answer immediately—he tells them to come back in three days, after he’s had time to think it over. Next, he consults the elders who had served his father Solomon—so far so good. Unfortunately, he doesn’t like their advice, and here’s where he takes a wrong turn in decision making. The next people he asks are his friends, who likely were concerned about staying in good standing with him, and not necessarily about what was best for the people of Israel.

When it comes to finding the will of God, it’s not just about knowing the “top-level” truths laid out in the Bible, or just taking the time (as much as is realistically possible, anyway) to seek out advice—it’s about seeking advice in the right places.

In her book Bittersweet, Shauna Niequist writes about the idea of the “home team.” She writes:

Everybody has a home team: it’s the people you call when you get a flat tire or when something terrible happens. It’s the people who, near or far, know everything that’s wrong with you and love you anyway. The home team people are the ones you can text with five minutes’ notice, saying, I’m on my way, and I’m bringing tacos.

She goes on to write about the importance of being there for the people who matter most, but I think her concept of the “home team” applies to the people we turn to for advice as well. Who are the people who know us, love us, and care about our well-being?

Here’s where we need to be careful though. Rehoboam probably liked his friends. I Kings 12:10 describes them as having grown up with him, which implies they had known each other for a long time, and probably knew each other quite well. But their advice was terrible. It’s possible that people we like and who like us in return can still give crappy advice.

Yet we can seek to make sure we have a “home team” though by actively pursuing Christian community, in all its many forms. It might include immediate or extended family, a pastor or other spiritual mentor, friends, Bible study members, and any other people who will give us admirable advice.  These aren’t relationships we develop instantaneously, but must be willing to commit to with the long, good work of developing trust and allowing others to speak truth into our lives.

Even after we have these good people in our lives, how do we figure out the bad advice versus the good advice? The answer is the same one that caused my shoulders to slump last week: the Bible. This time though, I’m a little more on board with it. While the Bible still doesn’t have our life plans written out in specific terms, it does have some pretty great principles that course through it.

When we get advice, we can compare it to what we’ve learned through studying the Bible. Does it point us back to Christ and to the way he lived his life? Does it promote love, mercy, patience, justice, peace? Do the people on our “home team” who are giving us advice have our good in mind, while also considering the effects our decision will have on the people around us? Are they willing to ask us hard questions that make us fully think through the decision we’re about to make? Making big decisions likely still won’t be easy, but we can make it easier by having people around us who we can depend on to give us wise counsel. 

[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]

The Life Hack to Finding God's Will

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]

I’m a reader. Books, blogs, magazines—I think they’re all great. When I have questions or am curious about something, most of the time, I’ll try to read about it.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Stewart, Creative Commons

This past Sunday I was in Tots, so I listened to the sermon on my phone while on a run. This type of environment doesn’t create the easiest listening situation, but when I heard Pastor Dirk say something about a “book recommendation,” my ears immediately perked up. “An awesome book about finding God’s will that I haven’t read? This could solve all my problems!” was seriously the thought that ran through my head.

I’ve been doing this church thing for a while, so I should have seen this one coming, but when the answer was “It’s the Bible,” my shoulders slumped. Not that I dislike the Bible, but the thing is long. It’s not the book I turn to when I’m in the mood for a fun, lighthearted story. Nor does it have Brianna’s Life Plan in an easy-to-read, color-coded format like I’d like it to.

When we talk about how we want to find God’s will for our lives, asking him which school to go to, whether we should buy this house or that one, how many kids we should have, and so on, I think most of the time we want the easy “life hack” answer. We want a quick reference guide we can pull up in the heat of the moment, something quick and simple with very clear answers.

The Bible doesn’t work like that.

Most of the time, finding God’s will doesn’t work like that.

We can be assured that God’s sovereign will, or what Pastor Dirk defined as “the stuff that actually happens,” will always come to be. He’s God, after all. He’s got it. God’s moral will, outlined in the Ten Commandments and elsewhere in the Bible, gives us a pretty clear set of behaviors God does and does not want his followers to adhere to.

His personal will though, the specifics of which job to choose and where to live and when to have kids, is often not nearly as clear. Honestly, passages like Proverbs 3:5-6 often irritate me more than comfort me.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.”

It sounds so nice and simple, but while it says so much, when I’m freaking out over what to do next with my life, it feels like it says so little.

Here’s where my love of reading becomes a danger to me: There is no handy-dandy magical guidebook to how God wants me to live my life.

The way to finding God’s will is the long game. It’s about more than reading his word; it’s about digging in, sitting in it, and then living it. It’s about more than praying for five seconds once a day; it’s about figuring out what a true relationship with God looks like. It’s about more than saying we trust him; it’s about wholly submitting each and every piece of our life to him, every day—which isn’t easy either. “Trust God” is one of those nice Christian-y phrases we like to throw around, but when the tuition is due and the bank account is empty, when the baby is sick and the doctors don’t know why, when the relationships are broken and there’s no foreseeable fix—throwing around “Trust God” seems a bit flat.

Yet it’s right there, in the Bible. So I think learning God’s will and trusting God’s will are things we learn by doing. The Bible tells us to do them, but it doesn’t lay out what it looks like in our individual lives on a daily basis, in the nit and the grit with meetings to attend, children to be fed, bills to be paid, friends to be loved, and decisions to be made. No book in the world can do that.

There is no easy “life hack” to finding God’s will. It’s a process, learned moment by moment as we earnestly seek him. 

[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. You can read more of her musings on her own blog or follow her on Twitter @bwitt722.]