March 15, 2018 DAILY READING Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 This weekend’s reading: Luke 2:1-20 FIELD NOTESI’ve read these verses countless times. Yet today I notice something different. Verse 11 particularly stands out to me: “God has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they…

March 14, 2018 DAILY READING Psalm 8 This weekend’s reading: Luke 2:1-20 FIELD NOTESThis psalm of celebration reminds us of God’s ultimate power and authority over all Creation. And yet as I read through the verses I am reminded yet again of God’s propensity to flip power on its head. “Out of the mouths of…

March 13, 2018 DAILY READING Matthew 25:31-46 This weekend’s reading: Luke 2:1-20 FIELD NOTES“Thank God I didn’t give her any money.” The words were full of anger as a Christian member of my family recounted the story of encountering a woman panhandler and her children one day outside of a grocery store. The woman had…

March 10, 2018 DAILY READING Isaiah 6:8 This weekend’s reading: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 FIELD NOTES(Student-written poem.) “GO: It says Go, make disciples of all, for the Father and the Son,not sit down and hope others will get it done. God’s Heart is never closed, and you don’t need a warning. His door is always…

March 9, 2018 DAILY READING Isaiah 6:8 This weekend’s reading: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 FIELD NOTES(Written by a volunteer on the 2012 Sonshine Choir Tour.) On Thursday, July 19, 2012, the Sonshine Choir arrived at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago, Illinois, at 9 a.m. After 125 youth and chaperones were processed through…

March 8, 2018 DAILY READING 1 Timothy 4:11-16 Isaiah 6:8 This weekend’s reading: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 FIELD NOTES(Written by a volunteer on the 2016 Sonshine Choir Tour.) This was the first time I had helped chaperone a choir tour. I was pleasantly surprised to learn on the tour that students wrote daily devotionals for…

March 7, 2018 DAILY READING Isaiah 6:8 This weekend’s reading: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 FIELD NOTES(Written by a student on the 2017 Merge middle school retreat.) I have felt God’s presence on many retreats, but I felt he was extremely present on Merge. It was the second day that I felt he was most present.…

March 6, 2018 DAILY READING Isaiah 6:8 This weekend’s reading: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 FIELD NOTES(Written by a student on the 2017 Bahamas mission trip.) One morning on the mission trip to the beautiful island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, my team and I were working on a man’s house (we never actually learned his…