Here are the dresses that I wore today and yesterday. I'm excited about supporting this cause, and I'm even more excited to tell you why. But how deeply should Christians get involved in social justice? You'll have to wait until tomorrow to hear my thoughts. 😁 The short answer: You in your small corner, and I in mine. December 4, 2019 December 5, 2019 Help me raise $1,000 to fight human trafficking.

There is a certain freedom that comes with knowing your identity. Even Jesus, when He was entering the final great conflict of His earthly life, found peace and assurance in His identity. In fact, it was this knowledge which precipitated service for others (John 13:3-4). When I look back on my life, I realize that this ministry started because this little girl was trying to find out who she was. She wanted to be free from the pain of criticism and ostracism. She wanted to be free to be herself, to pursue her interests, to live life to the fullest. So she chose to ground her identity in Christ. I still struggle with really being me: defying that illusive conception built only by others' limited impressions of who I am. Honestly, this struggle has hampered my existence. Instead of enjoying life, I had come to resent it. But by God's grace, I can be the most complete and beautiful Gabrielle that God has intended for me to be. With such a firm grasp of who I am, I can now s

After one year of silence, I have the privilege of reviving my ministry by supporting the prospective ministry of another young person. I remember when I was a junior in high school, marking out plans for my life. I would take my GED, complete my Certificate in Journalism - giving me enough time to turn 18 - and then go to ARISE Institute in Oregon. (My mom convinced me that I should get some medical missionary training, too.) I would be a Bible Worker and Freelance Writer. It would be a dream come true. That dream did not quite come to fruition. I was penniless after my studies with UMass, and I was injured to boot (having painfully sprained both of my hands). After praying, I determined that God did not want me to go. I was fairly heartbroken but accepted His will. In the course of time, I rediscovered another passion of mine in the field of education. I ended up moving to Oklahoma Academy to work as the Registrar. Thus I had the privilege of meeting Reise Campbell. He was a

Recently, I read this quote from "Spurgeon: Sermons on Proverbs" by Charles H. Spurgeon - "He has asked the Spirit of God to make him acquainted with divine truth, so that he has not only read of it but he has communed with it, and now he lives upon it, eats it, drinks it, receives it into the inward parts of his soul, and retains it there as a living and incorruptible seed. Now a man who does this year after year is the kind of man who, by God's grace, will take fast-hold of instruction, and will prove a faithful witness for his Lord."

http://nahum115.tumblr.com/post/138016870469/a-lesson-from-the-snow

http://nahum115.tumblr.com/post/137900097404/why-am-i-sitting-here

I know what "self-sacrificing" means in English; but to see it expressed in another language gave me a new and deeper perspective than I have ever had. The Spanish word misericordia means "self-sacrificing." When I look at the word, I see three parts: one, the root ser which means being or existence; two, although I do not know this to be true in Spanish, mis- in English is usually a negative prefix (meaning whatever follows is not true); and three cordia , which reminds me of the Spanish word for heart, corazón . The rough interpretation that immediately entered my head was "a heart that is willing to give up its existence." For me, that was powerful. The Bible expresses it this way: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) Self-sacrificing love is a love that cares so much about you that I do not care about me anymore. It is a love that feels that your life, even without me in it, is more