For someone with ADHD having to conform to what works for the average neurotypical brain can feel frustrating and excruciating. When my body is still, my mind tends to wander aimlessly. If I am asked to sit quietly in church, be still, and simply listen, I often struggle to focus— My leg starts going, I … Continue reading The Mind Wanders | Kim Blenkhorn
What should have been a day of celebration turns into tragedy—the ark is returned to Israel but God strikes down fifty thousand of His own people at Beth Shemesh. Israel now seems caught on both sides: enemies on one side, God’s judgment on the other. Why would God strike His own people? And why are … Continue reading Return | 1 Samuel 6–7
Israel goes into battle against the Philistines—and they are defeated. Their first fatal flaw is revealed in a single question:“Why has the Lord defeated us today?” Within that question is a overwhelming truth—Israel sees God as an enemy fighting against them, rather than a Savior who loves them. It echoes the accusations of the Hebrews … Continue reading 1 Samuel 4 | The Battle Is the Lord’s
I think the hardest paths in life are meant to be walked alone—like Jesus in Gethsemane or the road that led to the cross. These roads are traveled in silence—journeys of solitude where growth happens and change is accepted. When you walk alone, there are no distractions, no outside conversations to sway you, no well-meaning … Continue reading traveling alone | on solitude as a necessary path in life
What is the church? What does it look like? Feel like? Sound like? I grew up in church. My mother was a Christian before I was born—the serious kind, not a pew-warmer, not a seasonal Christian, but Christs blood ran deep in our family roots. I was not a first-generation believer but a fourth-generation Evangelical. … Continue reading The Church | A House of Prayer
Eli was the high priest in the temple of God. To understand the weight of his role, it helps to consider what the priesthood represented. The priests were set apart from the other tribes of Israel to serve and minister before the Lord in the tabernacle. They wore special garments, carried unique privileges, and were … Continue reading Spiritual Leaders | I Samuel 3
How fragile is my relationship with God or rather my faith? Today I was reading about plants. I asked Google, “What happens to a 40-year-old plant?” I thought that if I could understand how plants grow, maybe I could understand something about my own spiritual state of existence. The article said ‘plants at forty years … Continue reading Deep Roots | Kim Blenkhorn
“The sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord.” The purpose of the semicolon here is to hold together both the cause and the judgment.The cause: they did not know God.The judgment: they were worthless men. These two ideas are closely linked. Our relationship with the Lord determines much about who … Continue reading Appetite and Allegiance | I Samuel 2:12-36
So much is happening in Hannah’s song. It is more than simple gratitude for God giving her a child. In fact, we see no direct mention of, “the child.” Instead, we see the language consistent with victory—victory over her enemy, over her hardship. Peninnah’s name is often understood to relate to “face” or “pearl,” and … Continue reading Actions Are Weighed | 1 Samuel 2:1–11
My Faith Place 