Sarah Dixon Young's Blog: Love Much, page 7

How to Vote

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I’ve been contemplating who to vote for.

I’ve been praying about it. I’ve been reading (a little) about it. I’m kind of sick of hearing about it.

Two elections ago, I wrote in a name. Last election, I almost didn’t vote, but then, I remembered my grandfather’s Purple Heart and voted how I thought he might. I don’t take the freedom to vote lightly, even if I do feel that the process is corrupted.

I know this isn’t popular, but I have become a one issue voter. If a candida...

Horrible Made Good

I don’t go to Sunday School intending to break up fist fights, but it’s happened a time or two. 

After the most recent altercation, one of the offending parties flung himself down on his face in the grass and sobbed, “My life is so horrible!”

He detailed the reasons why, and I couldn’t disagree. This wasn’t just a case of angsty teen. This boy had genuine reasons for despair. 

However, we had just been studying Genesis 1. I had just taught him that God made him for a purpose. God invit...

Rusty Repentance

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Snirt is an old plow truck.

My husband bought it, and my children named it after the substance that results from the mixing of snow and dirt. Neither the truck nor the mixture is very pretty.

Snirt is a 1984 Ford 350, and I don’t know what color it used to be, but now, its color is rust.

I am not exaggerating when I say that you can see the road whizzing by beneath you when you plow.

I know because last winter, while my husband was out of town, I had to learn to drive...

Food for Thought

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My children started school this week. 

One thing I love about homeschooling is reading alongside my kids and setting aside time for reading myself. 

I’ve read some excellent books this year, and I am sharing them with you today in the hopes that it will spur us both on to God-exalting mindfulness and also that you will share your recent booklist with me! Feel free to email me or comment below with your book recommendations.

As far as devotional reading goes, I am usually...

Belonging

A friend of mine recently shared about attending a large cultural event in our community.

She’d been many times before. She knew most of the people participating. But this year, it was different.

As soon as she arrived, she thought, “I don’t belong here.”

As a Christian, my friend recognized that a large part of this cultural event involved calling on spirits who are not God’s Holy Spirit.

She left.

Not long after, I took my children to attend a showing of the musical Oklahoma in...

The Value of One

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I have spent most of the summers of my adult life teaching the good news of Jesus to hundreds of children.

I usually take huge crates of snacks, chalk, bubbles, and crafts to neighborhoods nearby, and the children gather when they see me coming.

This summer was different.

This summer, I focused on one tiny two-year-old.

Instead of an hour-long Bible story time, I had to give a twenty-four hour-a-day rendition of living a Christ-filled life. (I failed at that, if you ...

A Butterfly’s Path

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Why don’t butterflies fly in a straight path?

Today, I watched a yellow swallowtail butterfly dodge and flutter around the birds gathered at my birdfeeder.

None were able to catch it, and it occurred to me that its haphazard flight path saves it from harm.

As I watched, my teenage daughter was telling me about her summer as a camp counselor. She enjoyed helping children know Jesus and grow closer to Him, but she said, “It seemed like everything I prayed for happened in a...

Grass and Flowers

The wildflowers have overtaken both shoulders of the dirt road where I live. When I walk there, I watch bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds thriving on the pollen.

It is a blessing to step out the front door into so much fragrant beauty. Whether the sun is shining on them or hail and wind batter them, the flowers show all the glory of God’s care and provision.

They’re a picture of humanity. All our glory is as the flowers of grass, but winter will come. The grass withers and the flower ...

For Dust You Are

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“For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”

I’m sitting here at my writing desk, looking at the shelf I dusted yesterday. I had really let it accumulate, and all my knick-knacks are looking brand new without their layered coats of gray dust.

Dust is insignificant unless it settles on furniture and possessions. Then, it becomes a significant nuisance. 

Because of this, I always cringe a little when the Bible calls me dust. It’s true, but my own insignificance...

Golden Shields

Like every other angsty Christian teenager in the 90’s, I wanted faith strong enough to stand undaunted before a firing squad.

We were listening to “Jesus Freak” and “Consuming Fire,” inviting our friends to “see you at the pole,” and our budding faith was ready to stand, to go, and to fight- for Jesus.

My Jesus has stayed the same, but now, I wonder if I have faith strong enough to trust Him for patience when I’m mad or endurance when I’m tired of diapers, laundry, and dishes.

I had t...