by Maddie

Yes, this is the weirdest blog title ever. It foreshadows the end of this Bible story, which centers around a sun. And this sun is special because it shines much longer than it should. For a full day, in fact, until the Israelites’ latest battle is won ( Josh 10:13 ). Ultimately, God’s the one responsible for this high-in-the-night-sky sun, since He’s answering the prayer of Joshua, His once-again-faith-filled servant. You see, the Jews have a plethora of enemies, and once t

Do you ever get nervous when God starts answering prayers? It seems counterintuitive, I know, but after an eventful few weeks and studying what happens after   Jericho falls , I’m thinking that angst is a pretty common response to the Lord’s work. Can you relate to that? Any times where God’s done something monumental … and you’re left panicking? Not gonna lie, I feel that way right now. But as our studies are about to show us, this panic is brought about because our eyes str

A couple months ago, my pastor gave a fascinating sermon about a common phenomenon found in Christian's lives. He called it Jesus plus . To sum it up, he was saying how we have a tendency to not be content with Christ alone, but to take up idols to serve in addition  to Him. For the Israelites in the Old Testament, they often sacrificed on altars for both God and gods, of the literal, statue variety. However, Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament reveal that idols don’t have

Today's topic is about sheep ... partially because I discovered this picture from my Ireland excursion and couldn't resist sharing such cute little lambs ... and partially because I've been studying Psalm 23. It goes like this: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.   He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside … still waters.   He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness [for] His name’s sake.   Yea, though I walk through the valley

If you've been here a while, then you'll know that I really like studying God's Word. So, today we're gonna talk about Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Oh, and did you know that she was previously called Sarai, but God renamed her Sarah , or Princess . So we have Abraham, the father of many nations , which might as well make him a king, and Sarah the princess. Look how God renames as He redeems! Nevertheless, although Abraham and Sarah are well aware of the Lord’s promise of desce

What do you know about Sodom and Gomorrah, aka the salty cities of the Bible? Abraham's nephew Lot (who is the focal point of this blog) lived there, and well, let's just say that these two cities were extremely messed up. Wickedness prevailed in every way imaginable, so much so, that not even ten people in the cities were considered righteous ( Gen 18:22-33 ). As such, God decided to rain down destruction… on everyone except Lot. This man was  deemed righteous (because he be

I wanna start with a quote today: “Act not on the mere strength of what you have, but in expectation of that which you have asked.” -...

Did you know that Jesus is actually a part of the Old Testament? Even though the New Testament is comprised of His life and ministry, mentionings of the Messiah are certainly not limited to this latter half of the Bible. In fact…   Way back in Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve sin, God curses the Satanic serpent. He declares, “I will put enmity [between] you and the woman, [and] between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, [and] you shall bruise His heel” (Gen 3:15)

I wanna tell you a little story. A couple years ago, in a season where lies felt more potent than the Truth, I went to my parents and asked the most vulnerable, soul-bearing question I could think of: Why do they love me? When I asked this, I was expecting something along the lines of, Maddie, we love you because you’re smart. We love you because you follow Jesus. Are kind, creative, etc. Instead, my typically-stoic dad gave an answer that stopped me in my fear-believing trac

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Joseph. He liked to dream, had a rainbow-colored cloak, was betrayed by his brothers, imprisoned, and ended up ruling over Egypt (Gen 37-41). We're picking up there - in Egypt... in the middle of a famine. In response to the famine, Joesph’s put in charge of grain conservation and distribution (Gen 41:55-57). So when his brothers travel to Egypt in search of food… guess who they’re about to see! Suffice to say, this family reunion does

Today we're going to talk about Jacob... who's just swindled his twin brother, Esau. The entirety of Genesis 27 documents this saga, but I’ll give you the abridged version: With the help of his mother (Rebekah), Jacob fools his elderly father (Isaac) into giving him the blessing reserved for the firstborn (Esau). As you can probably imagine, this plan has some major consequences... With a murderous Esau out for revenge, Jacob’s forced to flee from their home, hoping to find

If you've been here a while, then you'll know that I've been studying Genesis like a mad woman (because I'm determined to read through the Bible... no matter how long it takes me). So, today we're gonna talk about Sarah, the wife of Abraham. (Fun fact: she was previously called Sarai, but God renamed her Sarah , or Princess . So we have Abraham, the father of many nations , which might as well make him a king, and Sarah the princess. Look how God renames as He redeems!) While

Friends, I've been traversing the book of Genesis, and I have just gotten to the sibling rivalry (between Isaac and Ishmael) part of the Bible. Truth be told, I don’t know what to make of it. This chapter is so full of family drama, it’s like a soap opera… Isaac, the long-awaited child of our favorite elderly couple, has finally arrived. Woo-hoo! But with him, comes a lasting feud between Isaac and Ishmael (remember him? Abraham’s son from Hagar, his wife Sarah’s servant… w

What do you know about Sodom and Gomorrah, aka the salty cities of the Bible? Abraham's nephew Lot (who is the focal point of this blog) lived there, and well, let's just say that these two cities were extremely messed up. Wickedness prevailed in every way imaginable, so much so, that not even ten people in the cities were considered righteous ( Gen 18:22-33 ). As such, God decided to rain down destruction… on everyone except Lot. This man was  deemed righteous (because he be

A few months ago, I decided to read through the Bible. Chronologically. To take my time with it. Go at my own pace. Suffice to say, I'm still in Genesis (which is why I've been writing about Eden and Abraham and today, Sarah}. But before we get into Sarah, the stressed-out elderly mom-to-be, I have a fun fact for you... With God, names are important. He changed Abram to Abraham (meaning father of many nations ), Saul to Paul, and many more. Including Sarah. Abraham's wife was

Do you ever feel like God is calling you to do something? For me, He urged me to start running. Outside. In public. Waayyy outside of my comfort zone. But I just did it, today, for the first time. God wanted me to face my fears (because I had been talking about doing this for a while) and well, I finally decided to walk (more like jog) in faith. I mention this little anecdote because a) I literally just got back so I’m all hyped-up and excited, but more importantly, b) it see

Do you know the first time that afraid is used in the Bible? Genesis 3. After the fall, where Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, obviously. And it is here, where fear was birthed, that will be our focus today. After eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve learn that they are naked, feel shame for the first time ever, and hide in the underbrush that now clothes them... because they hear God coming. “Where are you?”  He calls.   Adam’s reply is wher

Do you have a problem with change? I know I do.  Even now, as I’m writing this, it's hard to switch over from Designer Maddie (I’m trying to make a Handiworks business card) to Writer Maddie. So if I drift off and start writing about font sizes and centering images and a bunch of digital mumbo-jumbo…  Well, you can’t snap me out of it. Because you are not here with me as I’m writing this. But you are my faithful readers, to whom I am grateful. (Don’t worry, Writer Maddie will

I really like having long hair. It took me a while to convince myself that I deserved it though. It sounds silly, I know, but I had this weird notion that I wasn’t pretty enough to have long hair. But over the last few years, I’ve repeatedly told that lie to shut up . Beyond the fact that you don’t have to earn a hair style, the Lord has shown me that I’m a lot more beautiful than I give myself credit for. However, that’s not why I’m talking about long hair. For all of its be

I have a Hebrew exam today. Forgive me if this post is a bit short. Or abnormal. Or if I randomly start typing Hebrew characters instead of English. I’m particularly concerned about this exam because our study guide alone has 538 words. God help me. During our review, even my professor was forgetting words. Again– God. Help. Me. And He will. It may not be in the way you’d think; I may not ace this exam. But God has already helped me with something more important than a grade: