Saturday, September 4
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Saturday, July 10
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Jesus Christ is perfect theology. For anyone who wants to know the will of God, look at Jesus. He is the will of God. Some pray “If it be thy will”, as though God’s will is unclear. You would have to ignore the life of Christ to come to such a conclusion.
How many people came to Jesus and left sick? None. How many came to him for deliverance and left his presence still under torment? None. How many life-threatening storms did Jesus bless? None. How many times did Jesus withhold a miracle because the person who came to him had too little faith? Never. He often addressed their small faith or unbelief, but he always left them with a miracle as a way to greater faith. Jesus Christ, the son of God, perfectly illustrates the will of God the father. To think otherwise is to put the father and son at odds. And a house divided will fall.
Why did Jesus raise the dead? Because not everyone dies in God’s timing. We cannot have a father choosing to do one thing and Jesus contradicting it with a miracle. Not everything that happens is God’s will. God gets blamed for so much in the name of his sovereignty. We have concealed our irresponsibility regarding the commission that Jesus gave us under the veil of God’s sovereignty for long enough. Yes, God can use tragedy for his glory. But God’s ability to rule over bad circumstances was never meant to be the evidence that those circumstances were his will. Instead it was to display that no matter what happens, he is in charge and will rework things to our advantage and to his glory. Our theology is not to be built on what God hasn’t done. It is defined by what he does and is doing. The will of God is perfectly seen in the person of Jesus Christ. No one who ever came to him was turned away.
— Bill Johnson (excerpt from Face to Face with God)

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Wednesday, July 7
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Let's Just Be Real Here, My Family Is Ridiculous:

  • Mom: Wow! Look at this beautiful road! What a forest! The trees are so big and dense! Lauren, if you crash your car out here, no one will EVER be able to find you. Wow!
  • Lauren: ... Thanks mom.

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Tuesday, July 6
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Nothing is impossible.
— God
(Mark 9:23)

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Reasons Why My Grandpa Is Hilarious, Part 3:

  • (While checking in at our hotel in Texas)
  • Hotel Clerk: Okay, now I just need to see your ID and credit card.
  • Grandpa: Oh you bet. I got an ID. Everyone knows me! The FBI! The CIA! The KKK! You name it.
  • Mom: Uhhaha, he's kidding...
  • Me: Merp.

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ZOMG! In other exciting news, I just finished my glorious little circle scarf! Just in time for Missouriiiiiii.


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Reasons Why My Grandpa Is Hilarious, Part 2:

  • Grandpa: You know to be honest, I really love to travel. I've always wanted to! But, we never had the time, money, or transportation...
  • Mom: Well, now you can! You now have the time, money, AND transportation!
  • Grandpa: Yeah... but now I don't have desire. Now I'm just old... and lazy.

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Monday, July 5
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Reasons Why My Grandpa Is Hilarious, Part 1:

  • Grandpa: You know Lauren, I'm really glad you're going there (to the International House of Prayer) and not doing gang-banging or anything.
  • Me: Uhm... me too Grandpa... me too...

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Wednesday, June 30
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Solitude

“Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it’s mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.”

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox



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Monday, June 28
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City Driving

  • [Tori and I are headed down the 60 Freeway. I'm merging onto the exit ramp]
  • Tori: Man, people in Arizona just don't know how to drive.
  • Me: I know right! Everyone is a crazy-bad driver and doesn't know what they're doing. Oh my gosh... I need to get over into the exit lane... That truck won't move over! He won't let me merge in front! I'm not going to get into the lane! Ah! MOVE OVER TRUCK! AHH!!!
  • Tori: TURN YOUR BLINKER ON!
  • Lauren: Oh! Yeah...
  • [Silence]

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Mm. This is my “I’m feeling nostalgic about life right now” song apparently…


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Saturday, June 26
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“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief…and unspeakable love.”

Washington Irving


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Thursday, June 24
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“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

-Helen Keller


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Tuesday, June 22
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