Salty Zebra

   Sometimes life is hard. Things just don’t add up. You hurt. You’re worn out. You’ve waited and waited, and reprieve doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. The Bible doesn’t shy away from these difficult seasons in our lives. It doesn’t shame us, or tell us we’re wrong to feel sad, scared or lost. Instead, it comes alongside us and says, yes, your brothers and sisters have felt that way too. You are not alone. The Bible teachs us about Lament.  What is lament and how are we, as Christians, to use it in our spiritual life? Lament isn’t something that is often talked about in church or by the Christian influencers online that we follow. According to  Bible Hub , lament is, “a form of prayer and expression that encompasses sorrow, mourning, and a plea for divine intervention.” It is a spiritual discipline, much like prayer and Bible reading. But lament is not just an expression of grief, it is also an articulation of trust in God amidst suffering and injustice. Lament...

  Every day I will praise you! I will praise your name continually! The LORD is great and certainly worthy of praise! No one can fathom his greatness!   Psalm 145:2-3  This psalm begins, "David's Psalm of Praise," indicating that it was personal and special to him. Today, I'm writing my own psalm of praise after its pattern.  A Salty Zebra’s Psalm of Praise My heart considers You, my Wonderful Creator. You are good and all-knowing, Your power knows no end. My ancestors praised You, following You all their lives. I’ve endeavored to teach my children Your ways, Your praise will echo throughout eternity as Your children honor You! In the morning, I consider Your Word. You open my eyes to see amazing things You have done, My heart quickens at the epiphanies You provide. You are powerful to save, nothing is beyond You. You created it all, And all of creation is Yours. To whom shall I compare You, for You are above and beyond all. Your goodness never...

  Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing regular posts about how I'm preparing for radiation. I'm hoping these can help someone else, as I struggled to find a conversational source like this that dealt with the subject. For more information on my brain tumor, check out these posts .  I've spent the last three months' worth of Mondays sharing with you all about how I came to do radiation therapy for my brain tumor and how I've been preparing for it. My hope is that these posts can serve as insight, advice, or even just commiseration for others that are facing brain radiation, as I struggled to find a resource out there like this one. If you have found value in these posts, I would greatly appreciate it if you'd let me know in the comments and/or share this series with anyone in your sphere that might be able to benefit from them. The Monday that this post is published marks the final week of my treatment. As I mentioned in this post , the literature suggest...

  Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Prase ye the LORD.   Psalm106:48 KJV  Amen. You’ve read it. You’ve said it. Do you know what it means? What do you mean when you say it? Charles Spurgeon in his commentary on Psalm 106 shares that, “It has been adopted, and without translation retained, in all languages in which the gospel of Jesus the Son of David is preached.” Webster reflects similarly that, “This word, with slight differences or orthography, is in all the dialects of the Assyrian stock.” He goes on to share its meaning, “As a verb, it signifies to confirm, establish, verify; to trust, or give confidence; as a noun, truth, firmness, trust, confidence; as an adjective, firm, stable. In English, after the oriental manner, it is used at the beginning, but more generally at the end of declarations and prayers, in the sense of, be it firm, be it established.” As Spurgeon so neatly summarized, amen mean...

  How can I repay the LORD for all his acts of kindness to me? I will celebrate my deliverance, and call on the name of the LORD.   Psalm 116:12-13  Jesus’ last night on Earth, prior to His resurrection, was one filled with drama. He sent His disciples to prepare the Passover feast in a room that had already been made ready for them. There, He told them ahead of time that one of them would betray Him, someone who had dipped their bread into the same bowl. He shared with them the first communion, telling them that the bread represented His body, broken for them and the cup represented the blood of the covenant, His blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins. They sang hymns together, one of which was Psalm 116, our passage for today, then they went out to the Garden of Gethsemane. Here Jesus prayed deeply and poignantly, to the point where He sweat drops of blood ( Luke 22:44 ), but the disciples were so worn out that they could not stay awake, keeping vigil with Him....

  Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing regular posts about how I'm preparing for radiation. I'm hoping these can help someone else, as I struggled to find a conversational source like this that dealt with the subject. For more information on my brain tumor, check out these posts .    Whether because of an accident, serious illness, or natural aging, we will all face the end of our lives. If you're breathing, this pertains to you. Most of us don't want to think about dying though, I know I didn't, and so we put off conversations and avoid thinking about our preferences when it comes to end of life care. Sadly, that can result in our loved ones being put in a difficult position of not knowing what we would want and having to make choices on our behalf, choices that can be difficult or even traumatizing, and may not be what we would prefer at all. How can we avoid that burden being put on those closest to us? By thinking ahead a little and recording our prefere...