Shattered Silence

A Year of Gold: 2016: The good, the bad, the blessed, and the unfortunate (Photo Credits Belong to Photographer: Amber Nicole Ginter feat Buddy) The year of 2016 has been quite an adventurous and strange resolution for this old-fashioned soul of mine. I have experienced some of the worst things that I could never imagine possible, but considering those turmoil’s, I have also treasured some of the most loving and life-changing events God could ever bless me with. It has been a year of self-discovery, love, loss, and bravery, but also denial, questioning, confusion, and fear. Yet as the old saying goes, "Good times become good memories, and bad times become good lessons" meaning that everything we go through in this sometimes hectic and chaotic world, is for a reason much greater than we may comprehend at the time. Beginning with the start of the year, for instance, 2016 didn't have the most eloquent and desired kickoff. In fact, I was probably the mos

Winter Snow (Photo Credit Belongs to Photographer: Amber Nicole Ginter) This article is based on the song “Winter Snow” originally written and performed by Chris Tomlin feat Audrey Assad, as I was asked to sing a song for the Christmas Eve and Christmas services at my Church. If you were to describe the condition of Christmas now days, most people would say rushed, noisy, stressful, and jam-packed, as just a few of its descriptions.   Yet was this beautiful season always mentioned as so? Take a look back into memory lane as the birth of Jesus and the very first true Christmas were to occur.   Was it noisy?   Was it stressful?   Was it jam-packed with our planners bursting at the rims?   Of course, not, because that is not what God had in store. In an elegant entrance that was quiet, soft, and slow, Jesus made His way into the world.   Yet not elegant as in how we see the flattery of cheap array today, but in the simple fact that His humbled birth in a stable came j

The Pursuit of Waiting (Photo Credits Belong to Photographer: Amber Nicole Ginter) Recently, I just completed a three-day Bible Study on the concept of waiting, and to be honest with you, it most certainly wasn’t what I wanted to hear.   The Author spoke about how many characters in the Bible had to endure waiting, because it was during those times that God allowed them to grow in their faith the most.   From Mary and Joseph, to Abraham and Sarah, and Hannah and Elkanah, each had to endure tremendous times of waiting, often not understanding their wait at the time, but being brought to completion through Christ after their long awaiting was ceased.   Hannah, for instance, was a woman who waited well in her calling.   Having no children, but desperately wanting to be blessed with some, Hannah cried out to the Lord and began her long, but endured journey of hope amidst the waiting.   And through her brokenness, confusion, doubt, and failed circumstances, Hannah chose to rejo