The blogs below are written by guest bloggers and represent the views of the author.
11
Aug '18
Behold
11
Aug '18
Author: Rachelle Rieke
Last Saturday (as I post this, it is now two Saturdays ago… Sorry about that. Been a little pokey lately…) I had one of those life-giving and revelatory mornings – just one of those times of extra awareness of God’s presence. It was nothing grandiose or particularly adventurous, but sometimes the less Instagram-worthy (and especially the less Facebook-worthy) it is, the more it fills your bucket. I managed to get up relatively early to enjoy a cup of coffee and bask in the early sunlight streaming in through the kitchen window. Despite all of the cozy and notably softer places to sit in our house, I often find myself settling onto the kitchen floor to savor the flood of warmth, like God reaching through the window to cover me in a blanket of His personal glory.
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10
Jul '18
Masks of Men
10
Jul '18
Author: Rachelle Rieke
How often do you slow down to evaluate why you do the things you do? I imagine all of you highly introspective people know exactly what I’m talking about. I tend toward introspection myself… much to my chagrin. It just seems to muddy the waters for me, however I do find it to be important to consider the motivations behind my actions from time to time. To me, God makes it pretty clear that what we do doesn’t matter so much as why we do it. We can fool anyone since people can only see the outside, and I’m certain we try hard to fool ourselves sometimes, however God can’t be fooled. He makes it clear that He examines the hearts of men.
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15
Jun '18
The Importance of a Sassy Cat and a Dirty Couch
15
Jun '18
Author: Rachelle Rieke
So, forgive me if what you’re about to read seems to be a little unpolished. Unpolished and perhaps a smidge more flagrant than might be expected. It is in fact, basically a stream-of-consciousness writing (with a little revision here and there for words I like better of course) that was inspired by my cat jumping on my lap. Nevertheless, I thought it worth sharing. Cheers!
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08
Jun '18
Realizing the Connection
08
Jun '18
Author: Colin Rieke
Hey all! Please welcome guest blogger, Colin Rieke, my husband! His absolute favorite spot in scripture is John 15 (other than probably Romans 5-8), and I know it is an enormous treat for him to be able to share what God puts on his heart. And so here is his piece, Realizing the Connection. ~Rachelle Rieke
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19
Apr '18
Use Your Life Words
19
Apr '18
Author: Rachelle Rieke
“I can’t get sick.”
“I can’t get sick.”
“I can’t get sick.”
I sat in the passenger seat of our old burnt-orange Chevy reciting these words under my breath as my step-dad drove me to the bus stop. At the time, we lived out in the country off of County Road 76 on about an acre of land in an inviting baby-blue house we built from the ground up with a huge wrap-around porch and an unobstructed view of the mountains. Home. The sweet smell of country air. (Or perhaps not so sweet with the smells of algae-infested irrigation and the ripe manure from the sheep farm a few miles up the road, but even smells like that become a comfort when you grow up with them.) The piping of the sandpipers and the silvery song of the meadowlarks and red-wing blackbirds on their precarious cattail perches. The ankle-grabbing acre field of alfalfa that separated my house from my friend two lots down. On summer nights when it was time to go home, we would run like mad across that field in the dark rather than going the little bit of extra distance to walk down the driveway to the road. That alfalfa was extra grabby in the dark.
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02
Apr '18
What Forgiveness Looks Like
02
Apr '18
Author: Rachelle Rieke
I have been working on a pretty big project recently to share my story, and on the heels of Easter, I would like to share this chapter of it with you.
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17
Mar '18
Here Not There
17
Mar '18
Author: Rachelle Rieke
I just finished another poem that I’d like to share called Here Not There. As I was walking around at work the other day during my break, observing people passing by, I was struck, not for the first time, by how disconnected people can be. Stepping into the elevator, I can pass by unnoticed as the world is framed so neatly in a brightly lit few inches, the world outside becoming grayed-out background noise, and I wonder in which world life is really being lived. Here or there?
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21
Feb '18
The Cliffs of Peace
21
Feb '18
Author: Rachelle Rieke
Where do you go in times of trouble, of pain, of anxiety, of depression? Where do you turn when the weight of a burden crushes the breath from your lungs, robs you of rest, and causes you to withdraw into yourself because how could anyone possibly understand? Perhaps the “Christianese” thing to say is to go to Jesus, but what does that look like for you? The truth is there is freedom and tangible peace in the presence of Jesus no matter how big the living darkness is that threatens to overwhelm you in challenging seasons of life. For me, I have learned to meet Jesus at what I have come to call the Cliffs of Peace.
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19
Dec '17
Because God Said So
19
Dec '17
Author: Rachelle Rieke
Do you ever stop to wonder just how much the words, “It is finished,” really meant, how much was really accomplished on that day, and what it means for you and me right now? Though we barely scratch the surface, just imagine Jesus speaking to you:
You are my number-one. There is no one I would rather be with (Song of Songs 7:10). You are the most beautiful (Song of Songs 1:8), and you are perfect (Song of Songs 4:7, Hebrews 10:14). Honor me by accepting what I say about you. Look at who you are! You are royalty overflowing with life (1 Peter 2:9-10, John 7:38) and clothed in peace (Philippians 4:7, Colossians 3:15). The characteristics within you are pleasing (Galatians 5:22), and there will never be another like you, for you are unique (Isaiah 64:8). Do not even consider the mistakes and pain of the past nor the decay of the present because they have nothing to do with you (Romans 6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 2:10). You are strong (1 John 2:14) and a warrior (Psalm 18:39, 1 John 5:4, Zechariah 10:5, Ephesians 6:10-18). Believe me, and stop trying to become what you already are!
Though God’s Word is true because He said it, why is it so easily undermined within us by circumstances and emotions? Though life’s trials are very real, why do we allow them to be “realer” than the Word of God? I believe the time is now for us to declare truth over ourselves, and in a brilliant clash of raw and “realer” faith with the very “real” of our circumstances, establish ourselves in our “realest” identity… because God said so.
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19
Nov '17
What If It Was Never About Wrath?
19
Nov '17
Author: Rachelle Rieke
On my way home from bible study last week, as I was contemplating more on the ‘wrath of God’ subject, I had the thought: what if it was never about wrath? Could it be that man has perceived God wrongly ever since the Garden of Eden, an error that has permeated and perhaps distorted history ever since? Think about it. The first thing Adam and Eve did after they partook of the fruit was to attempt to cover themselves and hide from God. Their first response was fear:
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