What Rob Bell has taught me

Most of you know who Rob Bell is. And I'm sure most of you have seen one of his fifteen Nooma videos. I have seen about six of them, and learn a lot every time. Recently, I have seen two that have absolutely blown my mind.

First was "Breath". He talks about how the name of God, LORD, is YHWH. These letter all sound like breath in the original Hebrew language. So, could God's name be the breath we breath? It is the first thing we need when we lose it, we die. YHWH's breath is in everyone, whether you believe it or not. I'm not quite sure what to do with all this yet, how to apply it. But I am meditating on it for now.

The second is "Name". I have seen this one three times now, and have loved it more and more with every viewing. Rob talks about Jacob and his wrestling with a divine being. He wrestles with this "man" all night, until Jacob must break the "man's" hip and demand that he blesses him. Before the "man" does, he asks Jacob "What is your name?".

Names in that time, meant more than they do today. Names told of your character, your personality. Jacob's name was not a name he liked. It showed his shady past and failures.

Here is the kicker. Jacob must accept that name, accept exactly who he is, to gain a blessing. This blessing that he receives is a new name, Israel. To quote Rob "It's like God is saying 'Are you ready to be you? Because we have a lot of work to do.'" It makes me think every time, am I being who I need to be? Am I being the person that God needs me to be so he can work through me? Can I even accomplish such a thing?

Rob Bell. He blows my mind every single time.

Everything's Coming Together

Well, wedding plans are coming together quite nicely. Food, cake, pictures, dresses...it's all getting worked out, and we've only been engaged two weeks! It's funny how it's been two weeks since I have seen Todd, but I miss him more than when we went two months without seeing each other! What's that about?!


Here is us right after Todd proposed. Be on the look out for invitations in April and maybe a save the date in October.