The Strand
Marriage asks us to loosen our grip on the narrative and root ourselves together in God. What if the divide isn’t possible because the third strand is not easily broken?
The Strand
Where are you rooted?
A house divided will not stand (Matthew 12:25, NIV). And a family with no vision dies (Proverbs 29:18, NIV).
Since I’ve met my husband, I’ve seen the blessing written over him—the scroll. I have yet to see the family crest. It’s something I’ve been working on since we were married. November 8 will be our two-year anniversary, and it has been absolutely wild.
Jesus has walked every step with us, and the Holy Spirit has pushed us in every direction we didn’t want to go. But God the Father has been so sovereign, so good to us, and so faithful. Because He loved us first, we love Christ. Christ is really allowed to live in our home. The Holy Spirit really dwells in all of us, in my home. We have peace and understanding. Our home is a dwelling place of the Lord.
He promises rain on the land when we love and serve Him wholeheartedly (Deuteronomy 11:13–14, NIV). And when His people humble themselves, pray, seek Him, and turn from their wicked ways, He promises to heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:13–14, NIV). Keep your heart pure before the Lord. My friend told me this, and I’m growing in understanding of what it means—what it really means to have no malice in my heart, and what it really means to be rid of all false idols.
But I cannot rid myself of some addictions. Then I realize the real addiction I cannot control: controlling the narrative, controlling the image, controlling the words, and controlling the people around me.
We often think that if the world is going our way, we’re in control, and that’s where we’re happy. But we’re only happy if our journey stops. We are so built to be predestined, to be headstrong and first into the land. We land, and we hit the ground. We have a plan. We have a way. But in a marriage, if you aren’t both firmly rooted in His way, you will be deceived and divided.
Divide, then conquer.
What if the divide isn’t possible because “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12, NIV)?
The Devil Stands Condemned
You see, the devil’s not hiding anymore because he stands condemned (John 16:11, NIV)
The Devil Stands Condemned An October reflection on second sight, spiritual darkness, and remembering who is King.
October has always been my very favorite month! The change of seasons, all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey. The feeling in the air that the veil is thinner. It seems as though, during the month of October. The soup harvest the rest of the world can see a glimpse of what I am blessed to see. I’ve been given a second sight. Some people call it “the shine.”
You see, the devil’s not hiding anymore because he stands condemned (John 16:11, NIV). There are a lot of things you don’t hear about in a Sunday church service. The verse where Jesus says “the prince of this world is coming” (John 14:30, NIV), or the verse about “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2, NIV).
You know who the prince of darkness is, right? Scripture speaks of the powers of this dark world (Ephesians 6:12, NIV). You understand that these are three descriptions of one: the prince of darkness, the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2, NIV), and the prince of this world (John 14:30; John 16:11, NIV).
Just don’t forget who your King is.
CB
The Cup
Every day.
I see how I have to die to my idea of what my life looks like, or my idea of what growth or a lesson looks like.
Completely surrendering myself, my pride, my body, my soul, my entire life to Jesus Christ has shown me more and more every day how I am not the world’s concept of me.
My identity is firmly rooted in the Gospel.
My Cup
The Chest | October 31, 2026
Marriage is hard. But you know what’s harder? Living every day with pride running the show.
Marriage, and the covenant of marriage, is our example of Christlike love. How Jesus was faithful to His Father, faithful to His church, and faithful to His children, to the point of death.
Because there is no greater love than giving up one’s life for another. Jesus said that. But Jesus meant that. (John 15:13)
And I realize every day, when I try to force my own path or take everyone the way I want to go, by controlling or manipulating or even just dreaming too intensely out loud, how much I have to die to myself.
Every day.
I see how I have to die to my idea of what my life looks like, or my idea of what growth or a lesson looks like.
Completely surrendering myself, my pride, my body, my soul, my entire life to Jesus Christ has shown me more and more every day how I am not the world’s concept of me.
My identity is firmly rooted in the Gospel.
And in all of these things, I lift up my cup of salvation.
“I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” — Psalm 116:13 (NIV)
It’s one of my favorite songs, and I always feel like it’s in the darkest part of my life when I can so clearly visualize a Renaissance-period painting.
It’s a room full of sweaty, gross, drunken, bearded, smelly warriors. Everyone thinks the battle is done because everyone in that darkness, in that room full of iniquity, there is a remnant. There is a person who preserves the blood line. That is the fertile soil.
Unless a single kernel falls to the ground it’s no good unless it dies. You cannot produce fruit if you don’t kill the seed. Creation is brutal.
And the Grim Reaper shows up at the door. The Harvest is dark.
And a single hand shoots up with a gold goblet. A cup of salvation. The Chalas.
Because daily I try to remember that it doesn’t matter how dark it is.
I am saved.
I am chosen.
And my destination has already been determined.
How I get there? That’s up to me.
Will I get there? That’s up to God.
I just try to minimize the damage, move forward, forgive, and love as much as possible.
Make good choices.
The thing is, Eve saw that the fruit was good for eating.
Now, if God is good, and the fruit was good…
Maybe another time.
Scripture woven through this entry
John 15:13 (NIV) — “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Luke 9:23 (NIV) — Jesus calls His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him.
Psalm 116:13 (NIV) — “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”
Matthew 25:40 (NIV) — Jesus speaks of “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine.”
Genesis 3:6 (NIV) — “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food…”
The Floor
I have spent my entire walk with Christ trying not to fear man, trying not to stranglehold grace, trying not to predict mercy, trying not to look too far into the future.
Trying, trying, trying.
How many times has the Lord told me to cease striving?
THE FLOOR
The Chest | October 30, 2026
Dedicated to Kitty Kat, with love, from the floor.
How many times has the Lord told me to cease striving? How many times has the Lord used me to tell other people to cease striving? And yet, here I am, still striving for these filthy rags.
The more time I spend in the Word of God, the more I understand that it is a manual for how to live. Old Testament. New Testament.
Jesus is the thread that runs through from beginning to end.
There was always a plan. There was always a way.
You can’t read Moses’s song and not see that God knew from the beginning how it was all gonna go down.
Jesus’ grace and mercy are the thread that leads us in this life. He’s before us and behind us. It’s an inside job.
Sometimes it’s messy.
A man after God’s own heart is a man who continues to try, because the righteous will fall down seven times and get up 400 billion times.
Remaining is the new beginning.
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you.”
John 15:4 (NIV)
Jesus promises to stay with His family and never leave or forsake us.
Forgiveness from Him will wash over you, and you will be able to forgive yourself.
You are living in an economy of plenty. This is the Lord’s time, and He has plenty.
DO NOT FEAR. CEASE STRIVING, BUT DON’T STOP GETTING UP.
Psalm 46:10 • Isaiah 64:6 • Deuteronomy 31:16–22 • Proverbs 24:16 • John 15:4 • Hebrews 13:5
Scripture references: NIV
For Kitty Kat.
With love, from the floor.
CB CURATED
Art • Objects • Books
From The Chest
Welcome post for The Chest
The Lord is gonna lead me to the promised land
(fully healed and restored)
through the valley of promises from 2023.
The promise isn’t a man.
The Promise is a God.
Now, there are many ways to read a prophecy.
The one who returns to the ancient paths will find the way.
Jesus is always at the crossroads.
So yes, we can go too far spiritually, too far religiously, too far into teaching.
Mercy is the ropes on our hands.
Peace is the removal of physical pain.
Love is the stamp on the sealed document.
God’s promises are always God. It’s that simple, and the only way to get to Him is one day at a time. And that’s why.
I’m starting The Chest.
It’s a live journal of my daily walk with Christ. I’m exposing to the world the work of Jesus Christ through me. Not that you may follow me…but that you might follow Christ.
He’s in the crossroads.
I’ll help with the roads, but when we get to the cross, follow Him.
— CB
From The Chest
He knows how to bear the burden, the pain, the trials, the tribulations, and He knows when to take His cross off and give it to another member of the body.
