IBC Blog

Hope & Healing

An Unexpected Journey

How does a girl with many things working in her favor end up at rock bottom, which in this case, was a strip club?

It did not happen in one instance, or even two or three. It didn't happen on a rebellious whim. It stemmed from a lifetime of unspoken messages from a patriarchal society, from systemic misogyny, and from the childhood indoctrination into what it means to be a woman. All of which were communicated by otherwise well-meaning individuals - some of whom are Christians themselves. Let that sink in for a minute—Christians themselves. Even if it wasn’t said outright, there was certainly the undertone.

eLetter

People of Light

Yesterday, January 6^th, was what the church has historically referred to as the Feast Day of the Epiphany. Throughout the church’s history that day has been associated with the visit of the wise men who had come from a far-off place to visit the baby Jesus. It’s a day that celebrates the reality that, in his incarnation, Jesus came not only to be the messiah of Israel but the light to the nations, the savior of the world. For the church, Epiphany is a day of light.

Formed

The Thrill of Hope & Power of Prayer

Has there been a time in your life that God and His hope felt so far from your reach? He’s always near, but we don’t always feel it, do we? I was in constant pain starting in the 5th grade. It was not supposed to be that way. It was great pain, and when it wasn’t, it was a constant dull pain, never far from coming back with a vengeance. I had scoliosis and as I was growing rapidly, the curve in my spine was following suit. The doctor put me in a back brace to wear 23 hours a day… for my 6th and 7th grade year. As if junior high was not awkward enough! I did, however, get a waterbed out of the deal which delighted me to no end. (Hello, 1990s. Do they even make those anymore?!)

Unfortunately, the brace didn’t keep my curve from getting worse like they hoped. By 8th grade, at 13 years old, I needed major back surgery to fuse titanium rods and hooks to my spine to straighten me out. The final straw was that my ribcage was turning, which could puncture a lung, which could kill me. Kill me? Hard to hear as a 13-year-old.

Formed

A Thoughtful Spot to Rest

“This looks like a thoughtful spot to rest,” said Pooh. Winnie the Pooh knew Christopher Robin would come for a visit, so he sat at the edge of the meadow on the log beneath the tree to wait and rest.

These are trying days in all the ways that days can be trying. Are you at rest like Pooh, knowing in your knower that our strong and faithful God is watching over us?

Some days, I can answer positively, but if I’m honest, some days my thoughts are more like Tigger. I’m bouncing, trouncing, flouncing, and pouncing from here to there and back, lost in the fog of the emotions that so easily come…the thoughts and wonderings of the unknowns…is that a Heffalump?

Formed

So Loved

Lovers always want to measure love. Have you noticed? In one of the world’s most famous poems about love, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

Formed

Agreements and Vows

Lately I’ve been reading through John Eldredge’s Restoration Year devotional. I had saved it for a whole year and a half. I did want to get through my other morning readings first before I started this one. But it was almost as if I sensed I wasn’t ready for restoration. Or maybe I was thinking it might be too much work. But as I’ve gone through each day, I’ve realized I started it in just the right year.

This year has required us to sequester in our homes due to Covid-19. It’s given me time to reflect, to pray deeply, to journal more. Of course, I have to choose that over binge-watching Little Fires Everywhere, or Dead to Me. But when I have made the choice,