Recently, I wrapped up a four week study of the Book of Ruth with Dive Collective and my heart is expanded. I’m going to share some of that freshness here. These are the juicy fruits I plucked from this book, startled silly by their potency and relevance to my own life. Here’s hoping there may be something here for you too.

I started college as a political science major eager to make an impact on the world through politics or law. However, that quickly changed during my first literature course thanks to a passionate professor who taught me that books are more than simply words on a page. Great literature does not merely entertain, it can change hearts, develop imaginative empathy in readers, and give a much needed voice to the marginalized and oppressed. After the heartbreaking events of the past two weeks, I struggle to find the correct way to create and hold space for hurting black communities across our nation. This is not my story to narrate and control, yet how do I show love and support and DO BETTER? The following books have helped to better educate both my mind and my heart and inform my subsequent actions.

In light of what’s been happening around our country in the past days and weeks, we felt the need to spend time in prayer and ask God to work in specific ways. As a Collective, we focused each day last week praying for our hearts and for people. We wanted to compile these passages and prayers into one space and invite you to continue with us in prayer—God’s Word is packed full of both examples of how to pray and testimonies of God’s faithfulness to answer the requests of His people, over and over again. And so, we’re choosing to end this series focused on that faithfulness:

“For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is trustworthy. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the Lord’s unfailing love. We wait for the Lord; He is our help and shield. For our hearts rejoice in Him because we trust in His holy name. May Your faithful love rest on us, Lord, for we put our hope in You.” Psalms 33:4-5, 20-22

Father, we rest in You. We praise You for Your unfailing love. Thank you that You are trustworthy. Our hearts rejoice in You; our hope is in You and only You.