"We are the clay and You our potter" Isa 64:8

Death. The one word that sends shivers through our bodies. To some it seems as though only a word for those of advanced years, and to others it is the quintessence of all their fears, yet to still others it is merely the door to a life far greater. As an athletic trainer at the University of Tennessee during my undergraduate experience, I struggled with how to deal with telling athletes they had a season-ending injury. How do you bring comfort to someone in a moment where that which defines them has been taken away? Or even, loosing a hard fought game, what were those magic words that would lift their spirits and keep their heads high? Through my 3 years facing such situations I leaned towards the side of, “Hey there’s nothing we can do about what has happened, but how do we move forward and learn from it” type of comfort. But still I knew there was more. That did not satisfy the root of the problem, their identity as division 1 collegiate athlete was being threatened. The one constan...

I walked away from a long exam one morning enjoying how it felt to be done. A brief breath of air amongst the tide of constant studying. It's a great thing to work so hard for something, finish it and get to look back on what you've done with a sense of accomplishment and relief. We have all had that feeling and the pride that comes with it. And yet this morning I also realized this momentary joy doesn't even compare to the joy you get from looking back at that same huge task knowing that in and of yourself there was no way you could scale that mountain; yet here you stand by the power of God alone! That feeling, not of accomplishment and pride, but of utter humility and awe is one of the greatest feelings in the world! So you can work really hard, grit your teeth and accomplish whatever dream is in your reach, or you can step out on faith. Follow God when He leads you to something you could never do on your own. Then all that hard work and the mountain that has been moved...