A little over a year ago my family and I were at a wedding in Texas. During the reception, I received a text from my aunt asking me to have my dad call my uncle. I remember feeling a check in my spirit that something was really wrong. I watched my mom and dad from a window as they stepped outside to make the call. The distraught look on their faces confirmed the uneasiness I had.

My grandmother has had the same morning routine for years. She wakes up and makes herself a cup of coffee, frothed with piping hot milk because that’s how she likes it. Once she has that all-important cup, she sits down at the kitchen table with her iPad, a notebook, and her Bible. As she works her way through her morning coffee, she worships, reads devotions, takes notes, and prays.

It just absolutely blows my mind how God can completely use us in the most insane ways when we are “all in” for him! When we have a strong passion to glorify him in everything that we do and we put all our trust in what he has for us, we are unstoppable. Without God, we are mere weak human beings with no strength or wisdom. We think we can map it all out, but when God sets foot in our lives, forget about it! However, when he starts to direct our path, it's like nothing words can even describe. And when you put together a group of people determined to see God's will be done, amazing and beautiful things are most certainly bound to happen.

When I was five years old, I thought I knew what love looked like. It looked like daring tales involving glass slippers or enchanted castles; a prince in disguise that swept the beautiful heroine off her feet in all the Disney-saturated technicolor of the late-90s.

Let’s get right down to it: We are missing out on such a great opportunity to have a beautiful love story with Jesus when we are living the lukewarm Christian life. When we allow ourselves to be lukewarm, we are literally forcing ourselves away from all the beautiful blessings He has waiting for us. We are denying ourselves of His grace and His Holy Spirit.

Why don’t more people talk about Hannah? Found in the opening chapters of 1 Samuel, Hannah is one of two wives to Elkanah the Ephrathite, and in just a handful of short verses, she quickly becomes one of the most relatable women in the Bible. First, you might be thinking, “Hold up, did you say Hannah was one of TWO wives?” Yeah, you read that right, which might not be helpful in my case that Hannah was super relatable, but stick with me.

Some days a beautiful verse like this is hard to believe when our discouragement is weighing so heavy on our hearts. When you feel like there’s no way out of the cycle you havefound yourself in. Some days it’s hard to believe that God can truly change everything for you, but once we stop focusing on all our problems and sadness, we can see God for who He truly is.

So, let’s talk about worship. More importantly, let’s talk about worship on those days where even getting out of bed is a big accomplishment. We’ve all been there, and I know you know what I’m talking about. Those days where staying asleep seems like the better option because reality hurts a little too much for your liking. Those days where your stomach is in knots, your joy is all dried up, and honest, heart-healing worship seems like an action that is next to impossible.

I don’t think I have ever read anything more beautiful, pure, challenging, and fulfilling than what this verse says. Just think about that: as a deer longs for his source of life– water– so I long for my God. It’s basically saying that God is our one and only source of not just life, but life to the absolute fullest.

I’ve always been the girl that cries at weddings. I even get choked up while watching sappy bridal shows like Say Yes to the Dress. So imagine my elation when I was asked to be a bridesmaid and invited to join a dress appointment for a close family member earlier this year. I’ll keep details short because the wedding is in September, but the moment that she put on the dress she knew she’d get married in, the atmosphere in the room changed.

It all begins with an idea.