Spiritual Disciplines | A Conclusion

Well it's been a journey that's for sure. I've taken part in four spiritual disciplines as described in Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. I've completed each discipline three times and blogged on everyone chronicling by experience and what I've learned about the discipline itself. Some of this came from Foster's book itself some from outside sources and some from the beautiful pages of Scripture itself.

If I could use one word to describe this journey it would be growth. I feel like I have grown and stretched myself in my faith and in my methodology concerning personal worship experiences. While I thought some of these exercises pushed the "biblical" limits just a bit I'm not one to throw the baby out with the bath-water. I've taken every moment of this as a chance to learn and grow closer to my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. He's why I do this, regardless of the fact I had to do it for a class assignment, I wanted to know Him more. I wanted to hear His voice and understand better His leading. I honestly feel these last 21 days have helped me in those areas. I'll definitely be repeating some of the practices. I found some of the meditation and solitude practices to be my favorites, but thought I was able to articulate what I learned best from study and saw the most growth from fasting. Overall it's been a great experience. One I am glad to have journeyed through.

Study | Pt. 3

STUDY

During this time of study and exploration I will be examining butterflies and moth's emerging from their state of Chrysalis. I'm hoping to liken this state of emergence to the life of a Christ-follower.

THE EXPERIENCE

When I first heard the word "chrysalis", what came to my mind was images of a weekend youth retreat at my home church in North Carolina. I'm not sure the weekend retreat was called that, it may have been "metamorphosis" or something similar. However when I googled Chrysalis one of the first things to come up was a weekend "Christian renewal movement" called Chrysalis. Now, I'm not trying to judge a book by it's cover but I am, Chrysalis looks to be stuck in the early 80's trying to appeal to a modern generation of teens and young adults. They need some serious revamping of their website and material. None of that really matters. The reason the camp is called Chrysalis is that it compares itself to the state of chrysalis that butterflies and moths enter into their cocoons. Here's a video of a Monarch Butterfly emerging from it's chrysalis state.

In this cocooned state a caterpillar transforms from being something wrinkly and gooey and yucky looking to something that is truly breathtaking to

behold. The same is true of the Christ-follower before Christ we are covered in the filth and dirt of our own sin and wrinkly gooey yuckiness. Then

Jesus washes us clean with his shed blood and transforms us into something beautiful. We are made glorious. It's such a beautiful thing to be known

as one who as been washed clean by the blood of the lamb. I'm remind of the words from Steve Fee's song Beautiful The Blood off the album We Shine.

I never knew death could be so sweet

I never knew surrender could feel so free
I never seen such meekness in majesty
That the blood of Jesus was bled for me

And now I sing freedom for all my days
It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised
The King of Glory rescued me

How beautiful the blood flow
How merciful the love show
The King of glory poured out
Victorious are we now

Never knew through these nails would love unfold
And never knew these wounds would heal my soul
I've never seen such beauty and sorrow meet
The blood of Jesus was bled for me

Now I'll sing freedom for all my days
It's only by the power of the cross I'm raised
The King of Glory rescued me

How beautiful you are
How merciful you are
How glorious you are
Christ the Savior

How beautiful you are
How merciful you are
How glorious you are
Christ the Savior

Study | Pt. 2

STUDY

For this time of study I'll be watching my sucker fish OS X Leopard. I want to figure out what exactly the purpose of a sucker fish is. Are they really called "Suckerfish"? or is there something else they're really called. Do they really just lay around on the floor of fish tanks across the country with nothing to do? What can I learn from these little fish that can teach me something

THE EXPERIENCE

So here I sit, and here my little sucker fish sits. I decided to google him just because all I know is that he's an algae eater fish. Here's what I got. Plecos, Hypostomus punctatusare, widely known as "the" algae eater at the fish store. Though it is seldom they tell you that they grow to be a foot long and will destroy your plants as they get bigger. They have also been known to get a bit more aggressive as they get older. They do a decent job of cleaning the glass. Bristle nose and rubber mouth plecos may be the best choice for a planted tank. The bristle nose stays a bit smaller than its cousins and is a nice addition to any planted tank, eating many forms of algae.

Plecos, or the Sucker-mouth Catfish, are ideal in a very large tank ( 300 liters and up ), with other large feature fish. Include some drift wood for them to use as a resting place and retreat. They are nocturnal so it is usually best to feed them at night time. Omnivorous. They do eat algae. As well green foods such as lettuce and peas, cucumbers, plus vegetable-based flake foods. Will also accept small live or frozen foods. They will eat any fish that can fit into their mouth. Also, they have been know to latch onto the side of larger fish. They can be quite destructive when moving around the tank, lashing plants and dislodging rocks with a swipe of their powerful tails. Plecos will often eat the plants in the aquarium. They grow up to 60 cm, need a pH around 7 and temperature 25'C (http://www.aquariumalgaeeaters.blogspot.com/)

There's a lot to this little guy. A lot I didn't know. For one I didn't know I should be feeding him algae flakes or tablets. I didn't know he could grow quite as large as they say or that when he gets that big it's possible he may even eat my other fish.... yikes. This guy could be just like a monster. At times we all have monsters in our lives don't we. There are all things laying dormant on the bottom of our tanks that we feed and let grow until they take over our lives. At first they seem small and helpless, we feed them and enjoy them. Then before we know what happened they have destroyed everything we hold dear and snack on the bright and colorful healthy areas of our lives for lunch. What area's in my life are monster's lurking in the deep laying shallow and quiet, but growing. What are those things that could potential destroy all I love? I must not become victim to this bottom dweller. If I let it go unchecked. It could ruin everything.

Study | Pt. 1

STUDY

"The Discipline of study is the primary vehicle to bring us to "think about these things." Study is tied most closely to the discipline of meditation. "Meditation is devotional; study is analytical". It's true that both study and meditation overlap in someways. The third journal entry I did by meditating on God's creative artistry in each of the fish in my fish tank would be tied closely to me studying my fish. However studying examines in more intricate detail the fish and from there creates a framework for the meditation to take a deeper shape. Foster explains that there are four main steps that make up the discipline of study: Repetition, Concentration, Comprehension, and Reflection. Ultimately study requires humility in that "we must be willing to be subject to the subject matter."

For my three times of discipline tonight I will be examining three different items in hopes of getting a better understand of them in order to better understand God through them. Foster calls this the "Study of Nonverbal "Books". I will take from the example in the chapter by watching multiple YouTube videos of moths emerging from chrysalis, as well as re-examining my sucker fish, OS X Leopard, in order to better understand what makes him tick, and finally I'll be listening outside for the bullfrogs that have decided to spring forth from their tadpole state in the pond behind our apartment and researching a bit on them as well. Each of these three will come in the form of a separate blog. I hope you'll enjoy journeying with me.

THE EXPERIENCE

For my first experience I decided, since my internet speed was lagging like crazy, to head out to my back porch once again and listen to the American bullfrogs that have taken residence around my pond. These frogs sing in chorus. It's like they call out in rhythm to each other. One deep throated frog will call out to the others and they respond in higher pitched ribbit noises. I opened my back door and listened for a bit only to hear nothing. The frogs for whatever reason aren't singing tonight. I wonder if that's how we seem to God sometimes. There are moments in our lives where He calls to us and we answer back to him in a chorus of praise. There are also moments when God calls out to us and we don't answer back. We dive deep under the mud and ignore God. We sink down deep into corners of our hearts we haven't surrendered over to God and we hold on so tight that we don't even answer God when He calls for us. The truth is that God love us and has a plan for our lives to give us hope and a good future. All of that can only happen if we have faith to trust in God and answer when He calls. When has God called to you recently when you have chosen not to answer Him.

Solitude | Pt. 3

SOLITUDE

I've decided to spend this time of solitude and silence sitting out on my back porch this evening. It's raining and dusk is setting in underneath the cloud cover, my duck friends are as happy as can be swimming about on the pond enjoying the weather. It's here I'll spend the next few moments reflecting in silence asking God to reveal himself through these variables and constants of weather.

THE EXPERIENCE

I pulled up our deck chair close to the railing of our third story apartment overlooking the pond and whipped out my headphones to put them in my ears to close out any white noise that may come from inside my home, my cat meowing at the screen door wanting my attention. In silence I've watched the wind blowing through the leaves of trees as each individual leaf twists and turns dancing underneath the cloud cover and rain in the worship of their Creator. So funny how they worship so easily. They know who created them and what they were made to do and there they are doing it.

My duck friends are grouped up close to one another quacking excitedly I think they as well may be thanking and praising God for the rain. In the silence I'm thanking Him to. Rain always reminds me of God's restoration and renewal. It reminds me of how God washed clean my sin sick heart of crimson to make it white as snow.

A group of small bats just flew by my porch at eye-level. It's another joy of being so high up birds and bats and all other form of flying creation come just inches from me and I see first hand the craftsmanship of the Carpenter.

Back to the rain. Rain does much the same as Christ did in my heart. Rain washes away impurities, it cleans of the dirt and pollen from what it touches and gives the nutrients needed for new life and growth in all in touches. Jesus is my Restoration. He is my saving grace. My only hope. My source of freedom. He is love. He is my love and is in love with me and I with Him. I don't know what my life would look like without Jesus. To be brutally honest, I'm not positive I would actually exist on the planet had it not been for Him.

I'm reminded of a song written by the PA band twelve.o.one (rip) entitled My Limbs, Once, Like Legos

my limbs, once, like legos, were snapped into place, by the hand of the father, i was showered with grace, he stitched me together, my sinews like thread, untied me and told me to walk with the dead, my heart much like adamantium, more stagnant and stalwart than ever before, for love to flow from these veins alone as painful as pulling a sword from a stone, and i sung, "hold me father, for i am lost in my love for what is not of you, my hands are trembling, my heart pleads with my body, hold me closely, make me new," (the only step that i should take would be to put my faith in what you have made me and though i feel a little bit lonely, i am yours) and written on the back of my hand was a reminder, in smeared black ink, to give you all of the glory, for i know now that i cannot save myself, and in giving you the pen, i surrendered my story, for i was lonely, but you were with me, and i was helpless, but you strengthened me, you saw right through me, and i sung, "hold me father, for i am lost in my love for what is not of you, my hands are trembling, my heart pleads with my body, hold me closely, make me new," and "only love can save me now, only you and i am longing, for something, amazing love, unchanging love, spirit breathe into me now!" every morn, when i awaken, sunlight pours through the window pane, i am reminded of your mercy, with each drop of falling rain, and the showers so refreshing, they revive me from my grave, i begin to bloom, arising from the grass in which i laid...

- James Edmund Porter

Had it not been for the great love of my dear savior I would be "lost on my love for what is not of" Him. It is His grace that saved me and restored me and constantly renews me.

Thank You Father for the rain.

Solitude | Pt. 1

SOLITUDE

"Where shall the world be found, where will the word resound? Not here, there is not enough silence."

- T.S. Eliot

"So I think I'll stay caught up in silent prayer, I believe in silence our hearts speak the same word."

- Blindside | Silence

The lyricist and frontman of the band Blindside sings something very true in those lines. How often is it that I am caught up in silent prayer. Prayer without any distractions of noises. Prayer that is so silent and still and alone from all other things that in those moments our hearts speak the same words as God in that He moves in us and speaks to us in the silence and solitude.

Solitude has a great deal to do with getting away from normal distractions in order to quiet oneself and listen for the voice of God. Silence then is a large part of this as well. Foster writes, "Our fear of being alone dries us to noise and crowds. We keep up a constant stream of words even if they are inane. We buy radios that strap to our wrist or fit over our ears so that if no one else is around at least we are not condemned to silence." Giving further instruction on the discipline Foster continues, "We can cultivate an inner solitude and silence that sets us free from loneliness and fear. Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment. Solitude is not first a place but a state of mind and heart."

So how does one experience or take part in this discipline of solitude? Do we just sit around silent staring at walls or what? "Simply to refrain from talking, without a heart listening to God, is not silence." Our time alone in silence must be intentional. It must be for the purpose of honing in on the supernatural voice of the Creator of the Universe who is longing to speak to us if we are willing to listen. Solitude is a mindset of being.

Foster gives some great advice concerning how to move into a lifestyle that reflects the discipline of solitude. "Discipline yourself so that your words are few and full. Become known as a person who has something to say when you speak." This is something I would like to be marked by. I've known, and know, men who I consider to be plethora's of wisdom when they speak. They may not say much, but when they do you'll wish you had a pen and paper ready to write it down and remember it. Foster challenges the reader to "Try to live one entire day without words at all. Do it not as a law but as an experiment. Not your feelings of helplessness and excessive dependence upon words to communicate. Try to find new ways to relate to others that are not dependent upon words. Enjoy, savor the day. Learn from it." I may try this one before I'm through with this discipline. Keeping a journal of the things God speaks to you in the silence is also recommended.

Overall the spiritual discipline of solitude is designed to strip away the noise in our lives and focus us in on the voice of our God.

For my first experience with the spiritual discipline of solitude I'll be spending 20 minutes "caught up in silent prayer." I've brewed a cup of decaf coffee and I'm planning on just sitting and enjoying it while listening for God to speak. If you would like to participate in this discipline yourself a good way to begin in prayer is to simply pray something like this: "God I'm here. I'm silent in Your presence. I'm here to listen and hear Your voice if You are willing to speak." Then remain silent with your heart tuned in and focused on God's voice and what He has to say to you. Write down what He speaks to your heart.

THE EXPERIENCE

For starters lets just say I may be the most easily distracted person I know. I've been sitting on my living room floor in silence trying to focus on God's voice with my decaf coffee just as I said I would and it felt like every single distraction possible came my way. My Macbook started making update noises, I had forgotten to turn off the sound so I came over and turned that off. Then my cats wouldn't leave me alone and decided it was time for me to interact with them. So I shooed them away and continued on in my silent prayer. Then every single noise that I normally don't hear because I'm making my own noise seemed like it amplified. The clock on the wall ticked louder than ever, my fish tank's water filter began humming like a bee buzzing around my head and it seemed like even my own heavy breathing was loud enough to distract me. I tried my best over the last 20 minutes to focus in on God's voice. This stuff takes time and practice though so I don't know that I'd call this attempt a failure... simply a step forward in my journey into spiritual disciplines. I may try this discipline again tomorrow morning and perhaps in the afternoon as a rest from the day... we'll see. Blessings.

A Change In Disciplines

Until recently my final two disciplines I would be taking part of in my study of the spiritual disciplines were solitude and watching. However with finals week approaching the idea of take 3 all nighters to pray just didn't seem like a wise choice. While I would still at some point like to participate in the discipline of watching I'll be removing it from the line up. It will be replaced with the discipline Foster calls The Discipline Of Study. I'll write more on it when I reach it. This week I'll be taking advantage of moment ins solitude and blogging about my experiences. Thanks for staying with me on this journey. I really appreciate your comments and thoughts along the way. Thanks so much.

SOLITUDE

STUDY

Fasting | Pt. 3

FASTING

I've always been told that "fasting" can be done with something other than food. That one could fast from say, video games, music, technology... you name it. So I decided to break the food fasting and switch to fasting from blogging for a few days in order to see the difference between the two types.

THE EXPERIENCE

Obviously this fasting was easier to take part it. I'm a pretty avid blogger and thought it would be more difficult but, honestly it wasn't. With food, hungry comes much quicker than with technology. However I found myself having more time to think and pray in the times when I would normally be blogging. While normally I'm blogging about the things that I'm praying and thinking about it was nice to just have me and my thoughts for once. While food fasting is much more focusing that technology fasting, not to mention food fasting is the only one that Jesus talks about - maybe because there wasn't blogging available.

Fasting | Pt. 2

FASTING

There's not to much more I can actually say about fasting, within the context I will be experiencing it, than I wrote about yesterday. There are different kinds of fasts from food. There's a Daniel fast in which one only eats vegetables and water for a time. There's a lemon & honey fast in which the participate can boil water and make a lemon/honey tea to drink if energy is feeling low. These are both called "partial food fasts". A true fast which I wrote on earlier means to abstain from food for a certain period of time with the purpose of replacing that time with prayer. Today I will be replacing a different meal with a time of prayer.

THE EXPERIENCE

"So this is morning. It's when I spend the most time thinking about what I'm giving up."

- Jack's Mannequin

This morning I woke up about 6:45 to pray. I decided breakfast would be the meal for me to fast. I wanted to know what it felt like to start my day with a time of fasting. I'm again fasting and praying for our student ministries department and staff for wisdom and discernment into where God would have us move in the coming months to make what we do more effective for the Kingdom. I'm fasting for our students that those who don't know Jesus Christ as personal Savior would come to know him. I'm praying that our current students would invite their unsaved friends to church so they can have an opportunity for us to share Christ with them. I'm praying for my fellow pastors and staff: Tom, Jeremy, Aaron, Aaron, Jordan, Brian, Stephen, Jason, Tammy, Lynsey, and Caiti. I'm praying for protection for their integrity. I'm praying that God will keep them close to His heart. I'm pray that God will guide each one of them into a greater understanding of who He is in order than they can communicate that truth and live it out among their families and friends. I'm praying for them to have lasting relationships with the students in their focus groups. I'm praying for them to be surrounded with and feel the love of God on an entirely new level. We need clarity.

I will say that this morning is much harder than lunch yesterday to fast. I'm really tired. I keep getting distracted thinking about coffee and falling asleep. It's takes a much harder effort for me to wake up early and fast than it does for me later in the day. This is something to keep in mind for more lengthy fasts, it's good to know that mornings will be harder. They're also more beautiful. I've been watching the sun come higher and higher in the sky as I've been praying. I've watched it bring color and life to the creation below it. I pray that God will bring the same color and life to our student ministries department. I pray that He will give us a fresh wind and fire of His Holy Spirit and that we would move forward without inhibitions.

Blessings.

Fasting | Pt. 1

FASTING

"Fasting helps us keep our balance in life. How easily we being to allow nonessentials to take precedence in our lives. How quickly we crave things we do not need until we are enslaved by them"

-Richard Foster

I have to be honest here. I've tried fasting before. However, I don't know that I've ever done it successfully. "In Scripture the normal means of fasting involved abstaining from all food, solid or liquid, but not from water." I tend to have a problem with setting, in retrospect, unrealistic personal goals for myself and really getting down about it. When I first read Foster's section of fasting I thought about going on a 21 day food fast all together. (yikes) After some prayer and intelligent thinking I came back down to the realization that I didn't have to go that extreme starting out. In fact Foster discourages me from doing so. He believes that starting out in a 24 hour period fasting is generally easiest from "lunch-to-lunch". This would mean that breakfast would be eaten on the first day and dinner the second. Fasting can also be done in short periods. I've known men to fast a single meal in a day to spend that time in prayer over a decision they needed to make or a need that needed meeting.

The first experience I ever had with fasting came through a friend of mine named Abby who in our middle school years after a youth camp decided that God was calling her to go on a 40 Day Food Fast. Abby was and is a smaller girl. There wasn't much weight to her and I remember thinking that this food fast might kill her. I couldn't help but be so absolutely perplexed as to how someone could go without eating for 40 Days. She did it. All 40 Days. She drank water and took some vitamin supplements as recommended by her doctor but she did it. This inspired me then as it does now. "In most cases fasting is a private matter between the individual and God. There are, however, occasional times of corporate or public fasts." There were times in the history of Liberty University's formative years in which founder Jerry Falwell called the student body to fast for certain things. I'm sad to not have been a part of some of those years and stories but, I rejoice in what God has done because of those times of fasting and praying for His work to be done.

Is fasting commanded? It seems that in Jesus teaching on the Sermon on the Mount that "giving prating and fasting are all part of Christian devotion. We have no more reason to exclude fasting from the teaching than we do giving or praying." "Jesus stated, "When you fast..." (Mt. 6:16). He seemed to make the assumption that people would fast, and what was needed was instruction on how to do it properly."

Are people who fast closer to God? I'm not sure to be honest. I don't think it makes anyone more "holy or righteous" than anyone else but, there is something to be said of denying yourself the basic needs of life to rely exclusively on being "fed" by God's voice and your time spent with Him. It's important to remember that fasting should never be done out of vain reasons (wanting to loose weight) but out of a specific desire or event to be prayed over. Fasting is a way to help show God we're serious about our prayers. We're willing to work towards the completion of the things we're asking Him to help us do rather than sitting back, "rubbing the lamp" and waiting for our "God Genie" to arrive, snap his fingers, and give us our three wishes. We must be willing to move into action. Fasting helps communicate our seriousness if not truly instill it in our own hearts and minds.

I will be taking part in 3 partial fasts over the next few days. Normally I'd keep these times to myself and private as I spoke of earlier. It's merely for the purposes of this blog that I will include the details of my experiences. I will begin today by fasting one meal, lunch. I'll be heading down to the prayer room in the PowerSource room and spending about an hour in there praying for our student ministries staff meeting today. It's my desire to see God really move in the lives of our students. I would like God to reveal to us as a staff areas in which we can improve and how we can improve and maybe even where we need to get out of the way a little bit to let God be God.

THE EXPERIENCE

My experience today has been a hungry one both physically and spiritually. I spent much of my lunch hour thinking about our staff meeting today and praying for clear minds and hearts. I headed down to the Living Proof room later than I had hoped. I got down there and opened my notebook to the list of the problems we had identified from the weeks before. It was a bit overwhelming. I spent the next few moments praying over those problems and our conversation to come. It felt good to be so focused on one thing as I prayed.

Our staff meeting went fairly well. We didn't solve the problems of the universe but, we weren't expecting to. Our conversation did seem fairly united on one thing. It was good to all be focused there. Not sure we made too much headway and I think these discussion will be going on for some time. It's my continued prayer we'll follow God's leading there.

To be honest I felt pretty attacked in the meeting early on and didn't say too much after but merely observed and took notes. There wasn't anything new for me to say that we weren't already discussing. I wonder if the attacks came because of me fasting or if it was something else. I take refuge and shelter in my God and King. I hold fast to Him.

I'm off to a bass lesson then home for a good bit of reading tonight.

Blessings.

Meditation | Pt. 3

MEDITATION

This will be my third and final practice of the spiritual discipline of meditation. It's been an interesting journey so far to say the least and I am excited to be taking part in these things. I've come to the conclusion that there is a fine line to be drawn when it comes to meditation. Things like the "lotus" position and the like come from Zen Buddhist practices. While there may be some "good things" in other religions practices those "good things" stem from truth and have been distorted. The only source of anything good and true is Jesus Christ. All truth comes from Him. He is truth (John 14:6)

Todays meditation comes in the form of focusing on an aspect of creation to reveal something about the nature of the Creator. I will specifically be focusing on the fish in my fish tank. I have some Fruit Salad Tetras: (2 - Blueberry & Pineapple); a Rainbow Tailed Guppy (Cobra); and a Suckerfish (OS X Leopard).

Any aspect of creation will do. "Choose something in the created order: tree, plant, bird, leaf, cloud", you get the point. I'll only be doing this meditation for today, however Richard Foster recommends exercising this meditation for about 5-10 minutes a day for a few days and in addition to one of the first two meditations I've already blogged about in my previous 2 posts.

This meditation begins much like the others with focusing on breathing by slowly inhaling and exhaling. After arriving at a state of openness and calm ask God to fill your mind with truths about Him from His creation. Focus in on the one aspect of creation you have chosen. What thoughts does it bring to mind about God? Spend some time meditating on those things. End this meditation with a time of praise and thanksgiving to God for what He has revealed to you and for what He has still to reveal.

THE EXPERIENCE

I began this meditation sitting down in a chair at my kitchen/dining room table, closed my eyes, and slowly began to inhale and exhale focusing myself on hearing from God. I opened my eyes and just watched my fish for a while. The first thing that came to my attention was Cobra. Being a Rainbow Tailed Guppy means you come with a really bright tail. He's by far the most colorful and fidgety of all the fish in my tank and the patterns on his tail are simply beautiful. I began thinking about how amazing of an artist God is to create just this one fish to be so breath taking. Then I thought about how Cobra is just one of probably millions or billions of guppies and there must be more like him and some maybe even more intricately patterned as well.

The Fruit Salad Tetras in my tank are quite different from Cobra as are they all different from the OS X Leopard AKA Sucker Fish. They each have unique characteristics and qualities about them that make them pleasing to watch and marvel at.

I pondered this idea of God being a unique and creative artist and different races and faces started flying through my imagination. There are so many people in this world. Each one unique in his or her own way. Each one beautiful and created by a Creator who loves them and longs to know them personally as Savior and Lord. Every person on the planet has something about them, a characteristic or quality that makes them pleasing for God to watch and marvel at.

God marvels at me.

He created me and shaped me and molded me to who I am.

He is continually feeding me and molding me into who I will become.

There's a line in the song Our God Reigns by the band Delirious? in which singer Martin Smith croons

"God didn't screw up when He made you. He's a Father who loves to parade you."

It's so comforting to know that God created me how I am for His purpose and His pleasure.

Huh. Who would've thought all this from fish.