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The Thin Place

Thin.

I am a thin person. Not literally of course. The temptation of bread and tortilla chips overcomes me too often for me to be truly thin. This is a very figurative thin.

I love my life but often it stretches me to the end of myself, to a place where I’m not quite sure how I’m even being held together. But I am held.

The Celtic tradition had saying to describe a place where heaven and earth meet. These are the place where the greatness of the beyond so impact the ordinary that you can just start to taste it. The veil between heaven and earth is stretched thin. We are lucky to find these places.

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If there was a place where heaven met earth, it would be the islands of Hawaii.  On one side, I have the majestic mountains with all the lush life they have to offer. Yet, I can open my window and hear the crashing of the waves as it break on the shore. A short walk and I am there, watching the waves crash against the rocks and pull the ocean back to itself. This is my place.

Despite the closeness of my sacred space, this life, this place, has stretched me thin. I used to see my beach as the thin place but I’m beginning to think my life is thin. The veil has been lifted from my eyes and in the depth of sorrow, I see that it is meaningful. I am stretch to there end of myself and it is here that I am held together by  God’s hands in such a way that when I close my eyes, I can almost feel them cradling me.

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This is a place for thin people, people who are stretched to the end of themselves and have only to offer up their brokenness. This is a place to taste the goodness of God.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12
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Hello, I’m Bailey
about me

Hello, I’m Bailey

The Thin Place was born out of a season of struggle. A season where I felt stretched thin and desperately longed to see the goodness of God in the land of the living. The goodness of God showed up in unexpected ways. During that season, the spiritual disciplines laid out in Scripture, the traditions of the Church, and the reminders of His faithfulness seen in liturgial living and the feasts and seasons of the Church calendar all opened my eyes to the hope we have in Christ.

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The Book of Wisdom full of poetic principles and outlines how to live life well. Written around the time of the Maccabean revolt, it is written in the style of Solomon (and is sometimes referred to as “The Wisdom of Solomon”) but was written by later authors.
While this book was not accepted in the Jewish cannon, it is in every copy of the Greek Septuagint but it was quote by St Augustine over 800 times and, most importantly, was declared Scripture at the Councils of Hippo and Carthage. 
It focuses on Wisdom guiding the lives of the faithful, the follies of the wicked, and focuses heavily on our future home with God and the life to come. 
For those of you familiar with the Nicene Creed, the Book of Wisdom is one of the sources of inspiration of our description of Jesus Christ. The reference to Christ being “Light from Light” is taken from Wisdom 7:26 which refers to Wisdom as being a “reflection of eternal light.” 
There are also several passages in Wisdom which foretell the death of Christ. One of my favorite passages is Wisdom 14:7, “Blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes,” which reminds me how truly blessed is the cross which held the Savior of the world, our perfect Sacrifice. 
Wisdom is very similar to the book of Proverbs in length and style. It points constantly to the Lord who, as James tells us, is ready to give wisdom to those who ask. 
#bibletime #biblereading #readyourbible #proverbs31woman #proverbs31 #womenintheword #savedbygrace #virtuouswoman #godlywoman #godsgirl #christianliving #butgod #givemejesus #trustgod #daughteroftheking #walkbyfaith #beautyfromashes #graceupongrace #dailydevotional #faithjourney #jesuslover #faithblogger #godisgood #graceoverperfection #michiganblogger #biblescripture #catholicbible
thethinplace
thethinplace
•
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The Book of Wisdom full of poetic principles and outlines how to live life well. Written around the time of the Maccabean revolt, it is written in the style of Solomon (and is sometimes referred to as “The Wisdom of Solomon”) but was written by later authors. While this book was not accepted in the Jewish cannon, it is in every copy of the Greek Septuagint but it was quote by St Augustine over 800 times and, most importantly, was declared Scripture at the Councils of Hippo and Carthage. It focuses on Wisdom guiding the lives of the faithful, the follies of the wicked, and focuses heavily on our future home with God and the life to come. For those of you familiar with the Nicene Creed, the Book of Wisdom is one of the sources of inspiration of our description of Jesus Christ. The reference to Christ being “Light from Light” is taken from Wisdom 7:26 which refers to Wisdom as being a “reflection of eternal light.” There are also several passages in Wisdom which foretell the death of Christ. One of my favorite passages is Wisdom 14:7, “Blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes,” which reminds me how truly blessed is the cross which held the Savior of the world, our perfect Sacrifice. Wisdom is very similar to the book of Proverbs in length and style. It points constantly to the Lord who, as James tells us, is ready to give wisdom to those who ask. #bibletime #biblereading #readyourbible #proverbs31woman #proverbs31 #womenintheword #savedbygrace #virtuouswoman #godlywoman #godsgirl #christianliving #butgod #givemejesus #trustgod #daughteroftheking #walkbyfaith #beautyfromashes #graceupongrace #dailydevotional #faithjourney #jesuslover #faithblogger #godisgood #graceoverperfection #michiganblogger #biblescripture #catholicbible
21 hours ago
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1/5
Until I read the entire Bible last year for the Bible in Lent challenge, I had never read most of the Deuterocanonical / Apocryphal books of the Bible. When I did this, I realized that, aside from a vague notion of Maccabees from Hanukkah books, I had absolutely no idea what the rest of the books contained.
For the next few days, we're going to do a little overview of each of these books in the Bible.
But first, why aren't these books in the Protestant Bible?
Like most of the divides in the Catholic and Protestant conversation, there is a lot of nuances. Luther’s own translation of the Bible included these books although he moved them to a separate section. They were also included in the King James Bible of 1611 and the Geneva Bible even though they were viewed as apocryphal or “outside of Scripture.” It was not standard even in Protestantism to exclude these books from the Bible printing until 1825. 
Essentially, there is a lot of historical evidence that the church throughout history considered these books a part of the Bible. But earlier in the Church, we see evidence of Church leaders such as St. Polycarp, St. Clement of Rome, Origen, St. Athanasius, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine,  affirming some or all of these books as Scripture.
It's clear that historically, believers have seen these books as beneficial so I hope you'll join me in looking at them this week!
#godsword #jesusislife #dailydevotion #shedelights #graceupongrace #godisfaithful #lordjesus #blessedisshe #biblestudy #trustinhim #catholicism #bible #jesuslove #christianposts #readyourbible #bibledaily #intheword #wordbeforeworld #bibleversedaily #gracemakers #christianwomenleaders #bibletruth #jesusisthereasonfortheseason #godlovesyou #prayerchangesthings #dailybibleverse #seekhim
thethinplace
thethinplace
•
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Until I read the entire Bible last year for the Bible in Lent challenge, I had never read most of the Deuterocanonical / Apocryphal books of the Bible. When I did this, I realized that, aside from a vague notion of Maccabees from Hanukkah books, I had absolutely no idea what the rest of the books contained. For the next few days, we're going to do a little overview of each of these books in the Bible. But first, why aren't these books in the Protestant Bible? Like most of the divides in the Catholic and Protestant conversation, there is a lot of nuances. Luther’s own translation of the Bible included these books although he moved them to a separate section. They were also included in the King James Bible of 1611 and the Geneva Bible even though they were viewed as apocryphal or “outside of Scripture.” It was not standard even in Protestantism to exclude these books from the Bible printing until 1825. Essentially, there is a lot of historical evidence that the church throughout history considered these books a part of the Bible. But earlier in the Church, we see evidence of Church leaders such as St. Polycarp, St. Clement of Rome, Origen, St. Athanasius, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine, affirming some or all of these books as Scripture. It's clear that historically, believers have seen these books as beneficial so I hope you'll join me in looking at them this week! #godsword #jesusislife #dailydevotion #shedelights #graceupongrace #godisfaithful #lordjesus #blessedisshe #biblestudy #trustinhim #catholicism #bible #jesuslove #christianposts #readyourbible #bibledaily #intheword #wordbeforeworld #bibleversedaily #gracemakers #christianwomenleaders #bibletruth #jesusisthereasonfortheseason #godlovesyou #prayerchangesthings #dailybibleverse #seekhim
2 days ago
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2/5
I used to think that one day, the glory of the Lord, our relationship with Him in Heaven, would be so great that we wouldn’t care about the wretched pain that sin brought into our earthly lives. But that answer never quite satisfied. 
I realize now that God is not in the business of sweeping things under the rug. There isn’t going to be some cosmic brainwashing where we all wake up one day pretending the pain was never there. Redemption, transformation, and revival is what our God is about.
Christ’s dead body lying in the grave and being raised to life, still bearing the wounds of His crucifixion, that is our hope. Not that the bad things will be ignored, but that even the most egregious acts we can commit, crucifying our God, can be turned into the means of our redemption. All that was meant for evil will be purposed to the good of the Lord, not ignored by Him.
There is not going to be a cosmic gaslighting, the wounds that Thomas felt testify to this. There will be a cosmic resurrection where things that felt too awful to even think about will be redeemed and transformed by the glorious love and majesty of our Lord.
And one day we will look and say, He has done great things. And will know in our bones that it is truly true.
#godsword #jesusislife #dailydevotion #shedelights #graceupongrace #godisfaithful #lordjesus #blessedisshe #biblestudy #trustinhim #catholicism #bible #jesuslove #christianposts #readyourbible #bibledaily #intheword #wordbeforeworld #bibleversedaily #gracemakers #christianwomenleaders #bibletruth #jesusisthereasonfortheseason #godlovesyou #prayerchangesthings #dailybibleverse #seekhim
I used to think that one day, the glory of the Lord, our relationship with Him in Heaven, would be so great that we wouldn’t care about the wretched pain that sin brought into our earthly lives. But that answer never quite satisfied. 
I realize now that God is not in the business of sweeping things under the rug. There isn’t going to be some cosmic brainwashing where we all wake up one day pretending the pain was never there. Redemption, transformation, and revival is what our God is about.
Christ’s dead body lying in the grave and being raised to life, still bearing the wounds of His crucifixion, that is our hope. Not that the bad things will be ignored, but that even the most egregious acts we can commit, crucifying our God, can be turned into the means of our redemption. All that was meant for evil will be purposed to the good of the Lord, not ignored by Him.
There is not going to be a cosmic gaslighting, the wounds that Thomas felt testify to this. There will be a cosmic resurrection where things that felt too awful to even think about will be redeemed and transformed by the glorious love and majesty of our Lord.
And one day we will look and say, He has done great things. And will know in our bones that it is truly true.
#godsword #jesusislife #dailydevotion #shedelights #graceupongrace #godisfaithful #lordjesus #blessedisshe #biblestudy #trustinhim #catholicism #bible #jesuslove #christianposts #readyourbible #bibledaily #intheword #wordbeforeworld #bibleversedaily #gracemakers #christianwomenleaders #bibletruth #jesusisthereasonfortheseason #godlovesyou #prayerchangesthings #dailybibleverse #seekhim
I used to think that one day, the glory of the Lord, our relationship with Him in Heaven, would be so great that we wouldn’t care about the wretched pain that sin brought into our earthly lives. But that answer never quite satisfied. 
I realize now that God is not in the business of sweeping things under the rug. There isn’t going to be some cosmic brainwashing where we all wake up one day pretending the pain was never there. Redemption, transformation, and revival is what our God is about.
Christ’s dead body lying in the grave and being raised to life, still bearing the wounds of His crucifixion, that is our hope. Not that the bad things will be ignored, but that even the most egregious acts we can commit, crucifying our God, can be turned into the means of our redemption. All that was meant for evil will be purposed to the good of the Lord, not ignored by Him.
There is not going to be a cosmic gaslighting, the wounds that Thomas felt testify to this. There will be a cosmic resurrection where things that felt too awful to even think about will be redeemed and transformed by the glorious love and majesty of our Lord.
And one day we will look and say, He has done great things. And will know in our bones that it is truly true.
#godsword #jesusislife #dailydevotion #shedelights #graceupongrace #godisfaithful #lordjesus #blessedisshe #biblestudy #trustinhim #catholicism #bible #jesuslove #christianposts #readyourbible #bibledaily #intheword #wordbeforeworld #bibleversedaily #gracemakers #christianwomenleaders #bibletruth #jesusisthereasonfortheseason #godlovesyou #prayerchangesthings #dailybibleverse #seekhim
thethinplace
thethinplace
•
Follow
I used to think that one day, the glory of the Lord, our relationship with Him in Heaven, would be so great that we wouldn’t care about the wretched pain that sin brought into our earthly lives. But that answer never quite satisfied. I realize now that God is not in the business of sweeping things under the rug. There isn’t going to be some cosmic brainwashing where we all wake up one day pretending the pain was never there. Redemption, transformation, and revival is what our God is about. Christ’s dead body lying in the grave and being raised to life, still bearing the wounds of His crucifixion, that is our hope. Not that the bad things will be ignored, but that even the most egregious acts we can commit, crucifying our God, can be turned into the means of our redemption. All that was meant for evil will be purposed to the good of the Lord, not ignored by Him. There is not going to be a cosmic gaslighting, the wounds that Thomas felt testify to this. There will be a cosmic resurrection where things that felt too awful to even think about will be redeemed and transformed by the glorious love and majesty of our Lord. And one day we will look and say, He has done great things. And will know in our bones that it is truly true. #godsword #jesusislife #dailydevotion #shedelights #graceupongrace #godisfaithful #lordjesus #blessedisshe #biblestudy #trustinhim #catholicism #bible #jesuslove #christianposts #readyourbible #bibledaily #intheword #wordbeforeworld #bibleversedaily #gracemakers #christianwomenleaders #bibletruth #jesusisthereasonfortheseason #godlovesyou #prayerchangesthings #dailybibleverse #seekhim
2 weeks ago
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3/5
I've been thinking a lot these last few months about the Prodigal Son, the in-between parts of the story that don't make the highlight reel.
Did he slip out wordlessly or was there fanfare as his leaving? Did his father cry or was he numb to the pain? 
We know the ending, we know the joyous celebration upon the son’s return, but how many moments in the in-between are we missing. The celebrations with one less seat at the table. Nights spend wondering if and where and how he was surviving.
There’s so much to unpack that we just tie up neatly with the “and he came home and all was well” bow at the end of the story. The end of the story is what endures, but the rest of the story is not insignificant. Without it, the end it confusing at best and meaningless at worst.
I used to think that one day, the glory of the Lord, our relationship with Him in Heaven, would be so great that we wouldn’t care about the wretched pain that sin brought into our earthly lives. 
But that answer never quite satisfied. 
I realize now that God is not in the business of sweeping things under the rug. There isn’t going to be some cosmic brainwashing where we all wake up one day pretending the pain was never there. Redemption, transformation, and revival is what our God is about.
Christ’s dead body lying in the grave and being raised to life, still bearing the wounds of His crucifixion, that is our hope. Not that the bad things will be ignored, but that even the most egregious acts we can commit, crucifying our God, can be turned into the means of our redemption. All that was meant for evil will be purposed to the good of the Lord, not ignored by Him.
There is not going to be a cosmic gaslighting, the wounds that Thomas felt testify to this. There will be a cosmic resurrection where things that felt too awful to even think about will be redeemed and transformed by the glorious love and majesty of our Lord.
And one day we will look and say, He has done great things. And will know in our bones that it is truly true.
#christianwoman  #jesusgirl #inspiredfaith #Catholicconvert #chasingsacred #bibleverse #biblestudy  #christianblogger #faithinhim #proverbs31woman #prodigalson
thethinplace
thethinplace
•
Follow
I've been thinking a lot these last few months about the Prodigal Son, the in-between parts of the story that don't make the highlight reel. Did he slip out wordlessly or was there fanfare as his leaving? Did his father cry or was he numb to the pain? We know the ending, we know the joyous celebration upon the son’s return, but how many moments in the in-between are we missing. The celebrations with one less seat at the table. Nights spend wondering if and where and how he was surviving. There’s so much to unpack that we just tie up neatly with the “and he came home and all was well” bow at the end of the story. The end of the story is what endures, but the rest of the story is not insignificant. Without it, the end it confusing at best and meaningless at worst. I used to think that one day, the glory of the Lord, our relationship with Him in Heaven, would be so great that we wouldn’t care about the wretched pain that sin brought into our earthly lives. But that answer never quite satisfied. I realize now that God is not in the business of sweeping things under the rug. There isn’t going to be some cosmic brainwashing where we all wake up one day pretending the pain was never there. Redemption, transformation, and revival is what our God is about. Christ’s dead body lying in the grave and being raised to life, still bearing the wounds of His crucifixion, that is our hope. Not that the bad things will be ignored, but that even the most egregious acts we can commit, crucifying our God, can be turned into the means of our redemption. All that was meant for evil will be purposed to the good of the Lord, not ignored by Him. There is not going to be a cosmic gaslighting, the wounds that Thomas felt testify to this. There will be a cosmic resurrection where things that felt too awful to even think about will be redeemed and transformed by the glorious love and majesty of our Lord. And one day we will look and say, He has done great things. And will know in our bones that it is truly true. #christianwoman #jesusgirl #inspiredfaith #Catholicconvert #chasingsacred #bibleverse #biblestudy #christianblogger #faithinhim #proverbs31woman #prodigalson
2 weeks ago
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4/5
This is a gut-check. A major gut-check. 
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." - James 1:27
Is that how I live my faith?
No. I can say without any hesitation, that I am not known for widow or orphan care. Even when I advocate for the vulnerable and marginalized, it is in a vague, general way. 
Not in a specific way. For specific people. Like the God who loves specifically me and not just a vague idea of a person. 
Lord, have mercy. Convict us and move us to action. Make us more like You.
#christianwoman #graceupongrace #jesusgirl #inspiredfaith #womenlivingwell #jesuscalling #faithfilledcaptions #catholicblogger #Catholicconvert #CatholicWoman #chasingsacred #christianwomenleaders #bibleverse #biblestudy  #christianblogger #faithinhim #proverbs31woman #faithful #Godisgood #encouragementgallery #godslove #christianposts #christianquote #prayer #prayertime #miblogger #michiganblogger
thethinplace
thethinplace
•
Follow
This is a gut-check. A major gut-check. "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." - James 1:27 Is that how I live my faith? No. I can say without any hesitation, that I am not known for widow or orphan care. Even when I advocate for the vulnerable and marginalized, it is in a vague, general way. Not in a specific way. For specific people. Like the God who loves specifically me and not just a vague idea of a person. Lord, have mercy. Convict us and move us to action. Make us more like You. #christianwoman #graceupongrace #jesusgirl #inspiredfaith #womenlivingwell #jesuscalling #faithfilledcaptions #catholicblogger #Catholicconvert #CatholicWoman #chasingsacred #christianwomenleaders #bibleverse #biblestudy #christianblogger #faithinhim #proverbs31woman #faithful #Godisgood #encouragementgallery #godslove #christianposts #christianquote #prayer #prayertime #miblogger #michiganblogger
4 weeks ago
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5/5
@thethinplace
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