As strange as this may sound, could you write your physical body a letter?

It might help you see it with God’s eyes.

Is living alive simply an individual quest?

Or does it include others?

Can you imagine receiving your physical body as a gift from God?

We get to make a choice.

Living alive starts in our physical bodies.

Would you say you live alive in yours?

As we start this year, I’m wondering: What does it mean to live alive? 

How do you do it?

But what if accessing and expressing compassion is not something that comes naturally to you?

Does it matter?

Guest Writer: my husband, Justin Bradbury

If we’re honest, a lot of us are living life on the defensive. Fearful, we attack and diminish others, if not out loud, then under our breath.

Would you rather hang out with someone who acts compassionately towards you, who genuinely desires to see you grow and flourish?

Or someone who is out for themselves, who selfishly schemes and postures to get ahead?

Guest Writer: my husband, Justin Bradbury

If the image of God is our truest self, is that identity clear in us?

Guest Writer: my husband, Justin Bradbury

We speak of poor connectivity when our technology coverage is threatened. More patchy, still, can be our human relationships and our true-worth relationship with God and ourselves. Instability and insecurity stalk us by our own consent. Technology is both a boon and a threat in our hands. Social media is making us less social, more flimsily connected and isolated from each  other.

But, what if, rather than feeling a sense of permanence, we struggle with being disjointed? It’s a sense of separation from ourselves and others. Even from God. We can feel fragmented.  Disconnected.

There was a time in my life, in my late 30s and early 40s, when it seemed God was more impersonal. I didn’t understand very much about being created in the image of God.

God’s image doesn’t exist solely in the man alone or the woman alone. But, fully, in the woman and man together. United.

I think so much of our division and disunity as men and women stems from a warped view.

Oftentimes while we wait for God’s vision to come about, others may come alongside us with encouraging messages. They are meant to be infused with hope and substance.

With any vision from God, there’s waiting. Yet, we struggle with it. I don’t think it's popular.  Or something we like.  Desire.  Or seek.

It’s easy for us to daydream, isn’t it? God, on the other hand, is not a daydreamer. He creates visions.

To believe God for something significant can feel foolish. Especially when we see no movement. Or the circumstances actually seem to be going in the opposite direction of the desire.

I’ve been offline. Intentionally quiet. Silently reflecting for several months.

Let’s be real, forgiveness is not easy.

Is it really possible to choose to forgive someone over offense?