This week, I met a new friend for dinner. While praying to bless the food, I said something along the lines of, “Lord, give us the courage to walk in your will.” When I finished, she asked me what I meant by asking for the courage to walk with the Lord. And I sort of paused, because it’s something I have been asking God a lot lately in my personal prayers. Have you ever been praying to God for something, and in your own mind the path from A to B is obvious? Have you ever mistaken that easy, obvious path as God’s will? Or maybe God closed the door on that route and left you feeling confused. Why would God tease us with something that seemed like an answer to prayer, only for it to pass right over us?

When I’m angry at someone, the last thing I want to hear is that I need to be the bigger person. I think that’s a normal response to being told to take the high road when you’d rather slum it on the low one. And there will be times when it almost pains you to take the high road. Because the person that’s hurt you has hit you so close to home that your heart breaks. Or because someone you love or trusted is the one who did the damage.

My mom has been cleaning out the basement of her house. How do I know? Over the past week, I’ve gotten numerous texts asking if I want her to keep or send me certain childhood items to pass onto any children I may have one day. Disney VHS tapes, college decor, you name it. Well, one item she texted me, she knew I’d want to keep: the picture Bible that I’d always kept as a child. What I didn’t remember, was that someone very special had gifted that Bible to me: my Nana Jennie.

I've been loving this deep dive into female faith rockstars in the Bible. And although today is going to mark the end of this cool little series, it doesn't mean that these five women are the only ones that showed incredible faith or fit into God's plan of redemption. The point is, these women are all throughout the Bible. There are far more in the Old Testament: Abigail, Esther, Hagar, and Hannah to name a few, and even more in the New Testament. I'd love to get to all of them eventually, but today, I want to spotlight a very important lady who appears in the beginning of the Book of Judges. Her name is Deborah, wife of Lappidoth and a prophetess chosen to be a judge over Israel.

From the moment I was allowed to sign up for classes for my junior year of high school, there was one class that I was dying to take: photography. Little did I know, as I sat down on my first day, that I was about to learn an art that took a whole lot more work than the point-and-click photography I was accustomed to. Oh, no. This photography class dealt solely in film. We learned every step of creating a photo, leading up to the ever-exciting experience of using a dark room.

I think one of my favorite things about Abraham was how imperfect he was. The founder of faith itself was an imperfect person. To me, when I really see that, it encourages me that I can have earth-shaking faith, even when I think I’m failing. I mean, think about it. Abraham, over the course of 10 chapters of the Bible, evolves from an ordinary man picked from the masses with a weak faith and a large ego to someone who God Himself created a covenant with and made the faith we all cling to possible.

When I think of Soul Deep, I think of it as something that God led me into, using me to share Jesus with and blessing me immensely. God peeled back the layers of me that told me I could not do it and used all the passion I had for writing lying underneath. The passion I have for sharing God's word with others through words and being there for other people is probably one of my biggest passions. There is not much I love more than writing about God. God speaks through me as I write, how could I not be in awe that He’s chosen me to be His mouthpiece?

Anyone ever felt forgotten by the Lord? Don’t worry, if you're sitting there with both hands and a foot in the air, I’m right there with you. And so was David. David felt forgotten by God. He felt like God had completely withdrawn from him; like no matter how long or loud he cried out for the Lord to hear him, he was still met with dead silence. David had been without God’s counsel for so long that he felt like he had to start turning to himself for answers, which only resulted in more sorrow in his heart.

I’m hoping all of you got the chance to read Cortney’s devotion on Tuesday, and if you didn’t, please read it first and come back to this after. One of the things I love about this platform God has given us to minister to others is that God speaks to me so much through it and through Cortney as my Soul Deep partner. The past few days I have been facing a lot at once. I was truly so overwhelmed and my trust in God was really being put to the test. Honestly, the past couple days have been the hardest that I think I’ve ever faced. I felt like I had to make every big life decision in one day, and if you’ve ever been there, you’ll know that that will make you question your trust in what God’s doing in your life.