My Western Sky

I admit that I often walk into church with an agenda for God. I think, "Okay, God, I'm here and you know what I'm struggling with. You know what's on my heart, so please tailor the message according to my needs. Thanks." (I am not proud of this, but I don't think I'm the only Christian with these thoughts.) So when I walked into my church  yesterday morning and saw that Sameh Maurice, Senior Pastor of Kasr el Dobara Evangelical Church in Cairo, Egypt, was speaking, I admit that a part of me thought, "This is not what I needed today, God. What's going on in Egypt doesn't have much to do with my life." (Again, not proud, just keeping it real.) However, I listened to his message with an open heart as he spoke about the vision of the Church in Egypt. Honestly, it made me feel like a self-absorbed, ignorant American Christian. And then God did His thing and spoke straight to my heart.  Little did I know that something that seemed to be onl...

2014, you are 10 days old. Your New Year "smell" has already worn off for some people as they fall back into old habits and break those resolutions that seemed so doable only two weeks ago. But I'm more reflection than resolution, so here are some reflections from 2013: ~~I started writing "the book." ~~I got a tattoo (much to the chagrin of my parents--Sorry, Mom and Dad).  ~~I went back to high school (to work in a high school, I should say. And the one I graduated from, which makes me smile & think "You got me, God"  every day that I walk through those doors).  ~~I started running regularly & can run 3 miles without dying (okay--maybe I die just a little...) ~~I read some GREAT books.  ~~I met some AMAZING authors (RJ Palacio! Veronica Roth! Sara Dessen!) ~~I attended two Fightin' Texas Aggie football games, which one  turned out to be Johnny Manziel's last game at Kyle Field and the other was his last game as an A...