Donald L. Hicks's 'When You See God In Small Things'

When People are Big and God is Small is written by Edward T. Welch. Welch is a professor of Practical Theology at Westminister Theological Seminary. In addition to being a professor he also serves as a counselor, a faculty member, and the director of counseling and academic dean at Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. Welch has added his expertise to the field of counseling and theology by contributing to multiple books. Welch’s contributions do not end with books but expands to writing more than ten articles for the Journal of Biblical Counseling and other periodicals. Welch earned a M.Div degree from Biblical Theological Seminary and a PhD in Counseling Psychology (Neuropsychology) from the University of Utah. Drawing from his education and experiences, Welch possesses plenty of reputable credentials to warrant attention and discussion to his book, When People are Big and God is Small.

When People are Big and God is Small is written by Edward T. Welch. Welch is a professor of Practical Theology at Westminister Theological Seminary. In addition to being a professor, he also serves as a counselor, a faculty member, and the director of counseling and academic dean at Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. He has added his expertise to the field of counseling and theology by contributing to multiple books and writing more than ten articles for the Journal of Biblical Counseling and other periodicals. Welch earned an M.Div. degree from Biblical Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology (Neuropsychology) from the University of Utah. Drawing from his education and experiences, Welch possesses plenty of reputable credentials to warrant attention and discussion in his book, When People are Big and God is Small.

In the book called Miracle at Camp Friendship, by Sarah Hopewell, the theme of the book was about friendship and children getting along with others. The author described this friendship through Pudge, Racer, Booker, Miriam, Susie and Ronny during a weekend retreat, where the real challenge was said to be a test of the heart. An interesting statement the author made, referenced how God could do unexpected things in our lives, which could bring out special miracles. The next couple of paragraphs will show how God did unexpected things and that through these events produced miracles that bonded them together as life long friends. The unexpected thing that occurred with Pudge was when Ronny chose him to be his buddy at camp.

In the book Alive, by Piers Paul Read, God is ever present in the survival of the faithful band of followers. These survivors face many hardships that not only test their will to survive, but their belief in God and his plan. However, they slowly see that God is always by their side, comforting them through the challenges, giving them food when they are starving, listening to their prayers when they need to be answered, and with them at times of death. The survivors finally realize what God is, not the old man with rays of sunlight around them, but a presence with them at all times, loving and comforting them.

The human experience is what connects people to one another. What we experience defines who we are and who we become. It also defines how we interact with others. The amazing thing is that not only do the events that bring joy, peace and happiness connect us but also those that bring anxiety, fear and despair. This brings to light the fact that God somehow in his sovereignty uses all things for the good of those who love Him. These ideas are brought to light in Jerry Sittser’s book, A Grace Disguised which is his personal journey of loss and the insight and experience that was gained in the face of great tragedy. In his book, Sittser discusses various insights he has gained, such as how Christian’s view sorrow, how families recover when

Most often, students ask me how I cope with such variety of situations especially with dying patients, or telling a family member that there is nothing more to do. I immediately tell them that I fully rely on God for my strength and compassion. I cannot image a day without constant access to God for strength and comfort by simply praying silently throughout the day. Sharing situations that I have witnessed opens the door to plant a simple seed of faith and that there is always hope even in times of pain, suffering and sorrow. “Hope is essential to life.” (Townes 2007) With repeated exposure to tragic events often resulting in death, it is easy to question God’s

A man is riding an elephant down a road, the elephant will lean a direction and the rider tends to steer him there. Sometimes when the elephant doesn’t know where to go the man will choose the way, and sometimes when the rider won’t or can’t steer the elephant will choose the path. But at some point there comes a fork in the road, and the elephant refuses to go down either, having to choose, the rider analyzes his choices. Down one path is a brood of vipers, which could kill the elephant, but the man would live, and down the other is a pride of lions, which could kill the man, but not the elephant. The man has two bad choices to make, he needs the elephant to get him where he is going, but to spare the elephant he would end up dead. I used a metaphor penned by Jonathan Haidt in his book, “The Righteous Mind” as a basis for my own metaphor of a moral conundrum. He uses an elephant to describe our intuition and the rider to represent our reasoning. What to do with the chronic homeless is a question with no truly moral answer, people won’t agree

and knew what to say to help in difficulty. He was the biggest cheerleader of my siblings and I,

Even when things are going badly in my life, my constant drive pushes me towards God, questioning why things are happening and looking to God to show me the way, granting me patience and guidance through an incredibly hard time. Thus, even in times of darkness, my relationship with God is strengthened. Furthermore, the mystery of faith excites me and I can use this to strengthen my spirituality with God by thinking about him.

A relationship with God with close interaction is what life is all about. Hearing God's voice and knowing His presence daily can take your Christian experience to the highest level. The Bible reveals to us the way for us to hear God's voice and to know Him better. Through prayer and intimate knowledge of God all Christians can know God better when they know how to listen to God with their spirits. The art of hearing God does not have to escape the believer. God is always near open your spiritual eyes. Find out more about hearing God's voice for

The Child of God describes the life of a social outcast and his violence. The character is known as Lester Ballard. The story starts with an auction being held for Ballard’s family’s property. The auctioneer attempts to sell the land which was taken from the bank. However, Ballard began to act out. He threatens the auctioneer with a rifle. However, Ballard, is taken away and the auction continues. This is the beginning of his violent outburst.

In the assigned writing, Stan Coppinger attempts to enlighten the reader about God’s character, based on his own personal experiences. I found it intriguing that Coppinger, who has been diagnosed with incurable cancer, claims his faith in God has grown following his diagnosis; in general, people tend to lose their faith when confronted with life altering obstacles. Although Coppinger’s story is inspiring, I am skeptical about the validity of his claim when it is expanded to incorporate the general population because much of his supporting evidence relies on his faith, which is entirely objective.

God is not only there-an actually existent being; he is personal and we can relate to him in a personal way” (Alin, 2015).

Finding God in everything is at the core of Ignatian Spirituality and is the foundation in our growing awareness that God can found in every one, in every place and in everything. When we as individuals learn to be more attentive to God, we become more thankful for what we have and reverent, and through this we become more devoted to God, or in other words more deeply in love with our Creator. Everyone that God has created is unique in their own ways, so all people see god in different ways. Me myself see god in the sports I play, the people I meet, nature, my family, and most importantly my faith. As I get better at the sports I love, God gets closer to me. A sport I see this in is basketball because my shot improves more and more as I play,

Everybody has a different escape that reveals God. For me, this would be nature because when I’m in nature I feel closer to God. A verse that helps show this is Romans 1:20, “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities...have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse”. This verse relates to the poems “God’s Grandeur” and “The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins and “Omnipresence” by Luci Shaw because they all discuss how we see God in nature. Because God has revealed Himself in nature, men have no excuse not to put their faith in Him. For the poets and for me, nature enhances faith because it’s beauty reveals God and His creative work and moves the receptive heart to worship.