Michelle's Shell

If you look through my archives, you can see that I've been a successful blogger since the good old year of 2006. Yet I've probably posted like 5 things since then, haha... I still don't promise that I'll use this thing, but I did just transfer some of my notes from Facebook etc. here just so it looks like I've actually written... something... since 2008! So you may get really bored if you follow my blog, but hey, maybe I'll change someday... ;)

From January 26, 2011 I can’t say I’ve had the best past week or so. My housemate was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer last week. Another close friend lost a family member to suicide. I have friends struggling with God, abusive pasts, and pain. Sometimes it’s tempting to feel like the devil’s winning all the battles. But this week I’ve also seen the devil lose. In the face of surrounding despair, God’s really been calling me to prayer. From January 5-15, some friends and I participated in the Operation Global Rain 10 days of prayer. If it wasn’t for those days, I know I wouldn’t have the same strength right now. And I’ve recently started praying with a group at 7:00 am. Yes, I mean morning. For those of you who know me, that’s a big deal :) You have no idea the difference that the combination of prayer and community has made. I believe it’s been life to me. Tough things have still been happening, but I have also seen God start to win some long-standing spirit...

From November 14, 2010 My grandmother lived a long and full life. Today (9/24/10) began her rest in Jesus - it's something we've been expecting for awhile, something that's for the best. But I post this old journal entry in her memory, and for those others eagerly waiting for a day of ultimate reunion. 9/29/06: I’ve known that Grandma’s been getting old for a while now. I’ve watched the declension of the vision, memory, reasoning, and energy. The woman who was once so close fades to someone I know less and less. Yet I still see glimpses of the “Grammie” I loved so much. The one I’d lay in bed with in her old Owensboro, Kentucky home and ask, “Grammie, tell me about when you were a little girl.” The one whose visits made sleeping in the guest room fun. The one who’s been there as long as I remember, and whose house was worth those long drives to go visit. There were the summer afternoons reading books on her porch. The tales about relatives, friends, and places ...

From February 16, 2010 Being called a “chicken” does not hold the greatest connotations in our American culture. A chicken can imply someone who is afraid, whimpy, a cop-out. “You chicken! You’re just too scared to… (insert remarks of jeering playground bully here).” But did you realize that God refers to himself as a chicken in the Bible? That’s right, He’s not only called the lion, the lamb, a rock and a fortress, but a chicken! Jesus in Matthew 23:37 laments, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (NKJV). A hen. A chicken! Yet this chicken is protecting her young. She is a haven. A hiding place. A safety for all of us “chickens” in the world who are taking off scared from the attacks of Satan and sin, or “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” from all the stresses and duties of life – scho...

Written January 10, 2010 It’s a battle for me. To know what is true witnessing. Living a real Christian life. Yes, I could produce number of quotes on this. But I'm talking practice - where the rubber meets the road. I’ve been trained to share my faith. Trained to start spiritual conversations. Share literature. Give Bible studies. Yet I personally hate when people are obnoxious with their faith. I’m afraid of being obnoxious myself. I don’t want to turn them off! I don’t want them to think I just do it for my church. But when I back down from risk of sounding too “religious” with people, or maybe fail to give literature to everyone I talk to, then I feel guilty for “chickening out” of possible opportunities. Honestly, I think witnessing in its truest sense is harder. It requires investment. Anyone can give out pamphlets. Anyone can work up the nerve to go door-to door and be “bold” for an afternoon. But sometimes, these things can be used to quickly appease our “witnessing ...