You Must Suffer

"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake."  - Philippians 1:29 ESV

Book Review: Be Still, My Soul by Nancy Guthrie

My wife & I recently had our first child about 8 weeks ago.  What an amazing experience it was!  Getting to see our little boy for the first time melted my heart, and I was instantly in love.  Soon after that moment, reality struck.  Misha was exhausted from the delivery, yet we had doctors flooding in and out of the hospital room.  Then, there was the realization that our boy has to eat every 2 to 2.5 hours, which correlates into little sleep for Mom and Dad.  On top of that, Misha had some complications after the delivery, which were pretty scary for us.  If you would have asked my wife & I what a trials or suffering would look like in our lives, we probably would have said the death of a loved one or something like that.  Never in a million years would we have thought that suffering could come through such a joyous occasion.  Needless to say, through the birth of our first son, Davin, we had come face-to-face with a trial.

Yet, by the kind providence of God, I had just received Be Still, My Soul by Nancy Guthrie from Crossway on trials & suffering not 3 days before Davin was born.  It has proved to be one of the many things that helped us fully put our trust in God through the entire trial, knowing that this small and momentary affliction was given to us for our good and His glory.

Be Still, My Soul is a unique book.  Through the deaths of two of her children, the author is deeply acquainted with suffering.  As a result, Mrs. Guthrie has taken 25 different excerpts from classic and contemporary works alike on suffering that have helped her trust God in the midst of her many trials and combined them together into this one book.  The lineup of authors is outstanding!!  John Piper, Charles Spurgeon, Tim Keller, Jonathan Edwards, D.A. Carson, Martin Luther, & Joni Eareckson Tada just to name a few.  This book is a gold mine of Christian wisdom & counseling for those who are suffering. 

I wish I had time to share with you all of the quotes that affected & helped my wife and I during our own trials, but if I did that, I might be sharing half the book!  Therefore, I'll leave you with five.

"When suffering sandblasts us to the core, the true stuff of which we are made is revealed.  Suffering lobs a hand grenade into our self-centeredness, blasting our soul bare, so we can be better bonded to the Savior.  Our afflictions help to make us holy."  - Joni Eareckson Tada

"God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves."  - Joni Eareckson Tada

"Is not some of the pain and sorrow in this life meant to make us homesick for heaven, to detach us from this world, to prepare us for heaven, to draw our attention to himself, and away from the world of merely physical things?"  - Don Carson

"We derive no profit at all from affliction - neither grace nor glory - until there is wrestling and exercise."  - Thomas Manton

"The deepest need that you and I have in weakness and adversity is not quick relief, but the well-grounded confidence that what is happening to us is part of the greatest purpose of God in the universe - the glorification of the grace and power of his Son - the grace and power that bore him to the cross and kept his there until the work of love was done."  - John Piper

If you are in the midst of much suffering, or are wanting to prepare for suffering, or are wondering what in the world God's purpose of such suffering could possibly be, or are trying to respond humbly in trials, this book is for you.  I cannot think of someone who should not read this book.

Buy it here.

Nancy Guthrie is also the author of Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, and Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow.  All well worth your time!

Mark Driscoll's Sermon on Haiti

Wrong Question: "Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?"

Ever ask the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Let me suggest that this is not the correct question to be asking. Why? The question is flawed. There are no good people in and of themselves.

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." - Romans 3:10-12

So, let's correct the question and restate it. "Why do bad things happen to bad people?" Nobody asks this question. Why? Because the answer is too evident... They deserve it. We all have sinned against a holy, righteous, & infinite God. Therefore, all we deserve is an immediate & brutal death.

Once we can grasp this truth, it's time to ask the hardest question of all. "Why do good things happen to anyone?" Good luck answering this one apart from Jesus Christ. I'll let Voddie Baucham Jr. take it from here.



Gotta give props to my wife. She first posted this video on her blog a few days ago, and I'm borrowing it. Thanks honey!

How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice

I really like to listen to sermons. Maybe I'm a sermon junkie. I opened up iTunes today and noticed that I have 513 sermons via podcast on my iPod... and that doesn't include a couple hundred others that are not counted as podcasts. Have I listened to all of them? No. Will I ever? Probably not. So why have all of them? My weary soul needs the Word of God preached to me all the time.

I do have my certain pastors/churches that I listen to consistent basis: John Piper, Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, Covenant Life Church, Paul Tripp, Mark Dever, Tim Keller, my old church from college (Clear River Church), and most importantly, my home church (Sovereign Grace Church). In addition, I'll even listen in on some seminary classes from Covenant Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary. All of them have been great resources to make my soul happy in God and to teach me doctrine.

However, once in a while, I will come across a sermon that I will listen to over and over and over again. For the past year, that sermon has been How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice by John Piper. It is a fervent reminder to consider the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the fleeting pleasures of sin (Heb 11:24-26). It is a call to live with a radical, risk-taking, sacrificial, Christian flavor.

If you want to listen to it, you can either listen to the audio or video via the web, or you can download the audio to your PC. Here's a short excerpt. I hope it serves you as much as it has me this past year. I think I'll be listening to this on the way to work tomorrow.

"When he bids us leave the securities and comforts of life and take up a radical, risk-taking, sacrificial way of love in his service, it is not a path that we take alone. In fact, Jesus is there outside the camp in a way that he is nowhere else. He is not just telling us to go out there. He is inviting us come out here. Here is where I am. Come to me outside the camp.

The supremacy of Christ is not just his perfect fitness to bear our sins, and not just the supremely valuable future Reward that frees us from fear and greed and worldliness, but in his supremacy he is also now our present, personal Treasure.

And there he is outside the camp bidding us come. The sweetest fellowship with Jesus you will ever know is the fellowship of his sufferings.

So I say it one more time: My desire and prayer to God for you is that your life and ministry have a radical, risk-taking, sacrificial flavor.

Let us go to him outside the camp. For here we have no lasting city. But we seek a city which is to come, whose builder is God and whose light is the Lamb."

Some of You Will Be Devoured by Lions

Matt Chandler preaches a sermon from Hebrews 11:29-40 at Southern Seminary's chapel. Take the time to watch it. I've heard it's outstanding.

The Existence of God, Suffering & Evil, and Hell

These are 3 excellent videos of D.A. Carson answering some of the most popular (and hard) questions of the Christian faith. Here are the 3 questions he answers:

1. How do I know God exists?
2. How can God allow suffering and evil in the world?
3. How can God be loving and yet send people to Hell?

How do I know God exists? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

How can God allow suffering and evil in the world? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

How can God be loving yet send people to hell? from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

Choosing Thomas

What would you do if you found out that your unborn baby born has a rare genetic disorder (Trisomy 13) that will only allow to live a few days after he is born, if he is even born alive? Think about it. Then, watch evangelical couple T.K. & Deidrea Laux live it.

Justin Taylor has two outstanding thoughts regarding this heart-wrenching story.

1. This would not have happened if sin had not entered the world.
2. They would not have responded this way if the grace of Christ had not entered their hearts.

FYI, I haven't cried this much while watching a video since I watched The Passion.

Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ by John Piper

William Tyndale's driving passion was to see the Bible translated into the English language so that any England might finally be able to read it themselves. He was betrayed by a friend, tortured, and burned for it. John G. Paton set his hopes of bringing the Gospel to a tribe of cannibals on the island of Tanna on November 5, 1858. Four months later, the fever claimed the lives of his wife and newborn son. Four years later, he was driven off the island with no Gospel fruit to show in the lives of the cannibals. Adoniram Judson set out to bring Christ to Burma no matter what it cost. It cost him the lives of two of his wives, seven children, and many colleagues. These men suffered greatly for the spread of the Gospel to the nations. And John Piper has given them a voice so that we might listen and follow suite.

There are few books that I cry through. The Bible is one. The Misery of Job & the Mercy of God is another. And this one. There is something about seeing the glory of Christ displayed through extreme suffering for the sake of his body that makes me sob like a dad on his daughter's wedding day. That is one of the purposes of this book. Not the crying, but the inspiration "to live radically for Christ" given through the lives of others who suffered well. And I have to say, for me, this purpose was met.

Dr. Piper has wisely split this book into three sections: Bible, biography, & exhortation. Before diving into the lives of Tyndale, Paton, and Judson, he first lays a theological groundwork from Colossians 1:24 that under-girds the lives of these three men.

"God intends for the afflictions of Christ to be presented to the world through the afflictions of his people. God really means for the body of Christ, the church, to experience some of the suffering he experienced so that when we proclaim the cross as the way to life, people will see the marks of the cross in us and feel the loves of the cross from us. Our calling is to make the afflictions of Christ real for people by the afflictions we experience by bringing them the message of salvation."

Once Piper has laid this foundation from the Bible, he shows what it looks like through the lives of Tyndale, Paton, and Judson. Take one example of extreme suffering for the cause of the Gospel from the life of Adoniram Judson. During his mission work in Burma, Judson "was dragged from his home... and put in prison. His feet were fettered [chained], and at night a long horizontal bamboo pole was lowered and passed between the fettered legs and hoisted up until only the shoulders and heads of the prisoners rested on the ground... Almost a year later, [he] was suddenly moved to a more distant village prison, gaunt, with hollow eyes, dressed in rags, crippled from the torture." Yet, through this extreme act of suffering, Judson was eventually released and continued in his mission to Burma for 25 more years. Stories such as this fill the pages of this book.

First Bible, then biography, and lastly... exhortation. You cannot read this book and not feel summoned to live in radical obedience to Christ. Piper calls us to "resolve to set our faces like flint on the path of obedience and never turn back. And with a full grasp of the possible cost before us, and with full courage because of Christ, let us walk softly to every unreached people that remains", including the people across your street.

Though I realize that the scope of Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ is limited and my praise of this book is a resounding "Yes!", I wish Pastor John would have expounded upon one point in the book. Reading through the book, it seems like Dr. Piper is saying that only suffering in missions to the foreign world counts as costly and radical. What does that say to the average Joe in Podunk, ND who is not called to the mission field in India? God has not called all to missions overseas. However, he has called all to missions wherever you might be, and he has called all to obedience. This is what Piper is getting at on page 107. "Your calling is radical obedience for the glory of Christ right where you are." Therefore, though Joe's suffering through obedience may seem less in magnitude than Judson's, it is no less glorifying to God. I am not saying Piper does not believe this. In fact, it was Piper who taught me that all suffering, no matter the venue, when done in obedience to Christ, is equally Christ-exalting. I just wanted to hear a little more of it.

Despite this minor criticism, I cannot recommend this book any higher. It is a wake-up call to any lukewarm Christian and a summons to those who are ready to go in the name of the Gospel.

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Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ is the fifth book in the Swans Are Not Silent series by John Piper. For those who are not familiar with this series, each book contains three biographies of a figure from church history and tells their story. Short but powerful, these books are a great way to learn from the lives of others who have gone before us in the name of Christ. Other books in this series (which I would highly recommend to you) are The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, The Hidden Smile of God, Contending for Our All, and The Roots of Endurance.

Resources on Suffering

Death Is Not Dying by Rachel Barkley: Rachel Barkley, at the young age of 37, has gone on to be with her Lord and Savior. This is her testimony of God's grace and goodness to her in the midst of life-ending cancer.

Theology of Suffering and Suffering for the Sake of... by Joni Eareckson Tada: Besides Jesus Christ, there is no other person I can think of who gives me hope in suffering like Mrs. Tada. Her unwavering testimony of God's goodness to her in the aftermath of a diving accident that left her a quadriplegic helps prepare me for my own suffering. These messages are of her testimony and her theology of suffering. If you know little of nothing of Joni, read her bio.

Making Sense of Suffering by D.A. Carson: For thorough, biblical, theological, and pastoral insights into suffering and how to make sense of it, these four messages (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4) are most highly recommended. There are few people who can carefully tread the murky waters of suffering. Don Carson is one of them.

An Interview with Terry Stauffer: Terry Stauffer pastors Edson Baptist church in Edson, Alberta. On September 28, 2008, his precious daughter was murdered soon after she left for a short walk. Tim Challies has taken the time to interview Pastor Stauffer about what has sustained him through his daughter's death.

Suffering with a Smile by Tullian Tchividjian: Seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Or just plain sadistic. But, "the Gospel makes it possible to suffer with a smile because in Christ, all that we need we have.

Theology of Suffering by Joni Eareckson Tada

If you have never heard of Joni Eareckson Tada, here is an introduction. Mrs. Tada is a quadriplegic who broke her neck diving into a lake at the age of 17. There is no other living example of how to respond in and think rightly about suffering and its relationship with God. So please meet Joni Eareckson Tada.

P.S. You might want to bring a box of Kleenex.

O Lord - How Long?

To steal the infamous line of D.A. Carson's excellent book on suffering, How Long, O Lord?, "All you have to do is live long enough, and you will suffer." How true that is. In this life, you will suffer. Therefore, the question is not if we will suffer, but when will we suffer. When your day or week or year or life of suffering comes, I pray you would take counsel from the sufferings of King David.

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath.
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord - how long?

Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?

I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with weeping.
My eye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

- Psalm 6

God hears your cries for help. He hears your pleas for mercy. Now hear this: He accepts your prayer. And because he accepted your prayer, your enemy of sin, Satan, cancer, Alzheimers, abuse, and death shall be ashamed and greatly troubled and shall turn back and be put to shame because Christ has overcome the world. Through His life, death, and resurrection, God's holy wrath is satisfied, and we will be taken to a place where "He will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore" (Rev 21:4).

So, when your day of suffering comes - if it is not already here - and you find yourself asking, "O Lord, how long?" I imagine Jesus might reply, "Surely, I am coming soon" (Rev 22:20).

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Texts on Suffering: 2 Chronicles 12 - 14

Three more instances of suffering, evil, and death to note as I make my way through the Chronicler.

2 Chronicles 12:5-12

Like so many other instances of suffering in this book, this one is no different. King Rehoboam abandoned the law of the Lord as well as all of Israel with him. Therefore, God abandons them and plans to destroy them. Yet, the instant the princes and the king humble themselves before the Lord, God shows mercy. Please note that while God did show mercy on his people by not destroying them, he still leaves some room for chastisement and discipline.

2 Chronicles 13:18

Pretty straight forward here. Israel was subdued because they didn't rely on the Lord, and Judah prevailed because they did rely on the Lord. More thoughts on this later.

2 Chronicles 14:9-13

This passage is a glimmer of light amidst a dark backdrop of evil and faithless men. Newly crowned King Asa has found himself against daunting and seemingly hopeless odds. His army of 580,000 men stands against a sea of a million Ethiopians and 300 chariots. Yet, against insurmountable odds, Asa's faith in the Sovereign Lord does not waver.

"O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you."

And so it was. Man did not prevail against God, for "the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah."

One other small note that I might write about later. When Asa calls upon the Lord for help, his reasoning and beckoning for the Lord to help his people lies in the last six words of verse 11 - Let not man prevail against you. He's presuming upon God's love and allegiance to His name! So it is my belief that, like so many other times throughout Scripture, God defeated the Ethiopians for His name's sake primarily. I say primarily because I think there are other good reasons why God defeated the Ethiopians, but this is the ultimate one.

Texts on Suffering: 2 Chronicles 4 - 11

Sorry for the long delay. I've been in Peoria, IL for training a couple days this last week, and Misha and I have just been busy. Let's go.

2 Chronicles 6 - 7

The most specific references to suffering occur in the following verses: 2 Chr 6:24-30, 2 Chr 6:36-39, and 2 Chr 7:12-22. These verses find themselves in the larger context of the completion of the temple and Solomon's prayer of dedication of the people of Israel and the temple. The prayer of dedication is beautifully constructed and follows the following pattern. If God's people find themselves in sin or suffering because of sin and his people repent of sin and plead with God for mercy, then God will hear their prayers and forgive their sin. Each situation follows the same pattern. However, it is interesting to note the different situations.

1. "If a man sins against his neighbor..." - Solomon calls for justice.
   
2. "If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you [God]..." - It is implied in this phrase that, in some instances, a person's defeat is due to his sin. Yet, if he were to repent and cry for forgiveness, God would hear his cry and grant forgiveness and mercy.
   
3. "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you [God]..." - It is also implied in this phrase that, in some instances, famines are sent over the land because of the sin of people. However, if they were to repent and plead for forgiveness, God would hear their cry and grant forgiveness and mercy, opening up the clouds again.
   
4. "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is..." - Again this instance is similar to the first three in pattern. However, I believe that Solomon means this instance to be all-encompassing of any suffering for any individual. Note in verse 30 how personally involved God is in each individual person, not just collective Israel. Again, Solomon cries for mercy, and God gives.
   
5. "If they sin against you - for there is no one who does not sin - and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy..." - Same pattern. One thing to note. It is God who gives over to the enemy.

In the next chapter, God appears to Solomon in the night, telling Solomon that he has heard his prayer. In God's response, he basically affirms Solomon's pleas. If God's people sin and suffering befalls them (because of sin or not) and they repent of their sin, God will hear their cries, forgive their sins, and heal their land.

The overwhelming themes of these verses is twofold.

1. Sin, Repentance, and Mercy
2. God Hears Prayers and Responds
   

Texts on Suffering: 1 Chronicles 18-21

Let's get to it...

1 Chronicles 19:13

This instance of evil, suffering, and death isn't necessarily explaining the reasons behind these atrocities. However, this instance does show a response to possible suffering and death. Brothers Joab and Abishai, both a part of the elite group of "mighty men" in David's army, are up against the Syrians and the Ammonites. Joab takes "some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians" and he put the rest of the Israelite men under the charge of Abishai who arrayed them against the Ammonites. Then, the brothers set a plan. If Abishai is having trouble with the Ammonites, Joab will come to his aid, and if Joab is having trouble with the Syrians, Abishai will come to his aid. And then Joab says this to his brother: "Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him." Whether that be victory or defeat, life or death, imprisonment or execution, Joab and Abishai trusted that God was working all things together for good. Where is that today?

1 Chronicles 21:1-27

You're going to have to read the whole thing here. It's a pretty long passage, and pretty confusing if you ask me. Here's what I can gather. The same story is told in 2 Samuel 24:1-25. Here's what's interesting about both accounts of the story. Samuel says, "Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go, number Israel and Judah.'" But the Chronicler begins by saying, "Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel." So, the question is raised, who incited David to number Israel? Was it God or Satan? For the purpose of this post, I will not dive into the depths of God's sovereignty over evil and the use of it to accomplish his purposes. I'm just going to skim the wake, leaving the deep diving for a later time. Skimming...

If I know one thing absolutely about God, it is that he never does evil. Never. However, God does use evil moral agents to accomplish his good purposes (see the story of Job or Joseph or Jesus). Therefore, in order to reconcile these two accounts, I think you could say that God used Satan to incite David to take a census. Samuel wants us to see that it is ultimately God who is causing this census to be taken (for purposes that are seen later on in this passage), and the Chronciler wants us to see that it is Satan who is actually carrying out the evil incitation. On top of that, both accounts want us to see that David gave in to the incitation and sinned by taking the census.

As confusing as that is, I think that the purpose of this story is for the reader to get a glimpse of the coming Christ. After taking the census, David realizes the evil he has done and repents. God sends a pestilence on Israel, killing nearly 70,000 men. And as the angel, whom God sent to destroy Jerusalem, was stretching out his drawn sword over all of Israel, God had mercy on them and told the angel to stay his hand. There would be a substitute in their place. God incited David to build an altar and sacrifice upon it. That's foreshadowing! A better substitute is coming, Israel!

Conclusions about evil, suffering, and death for today

1. May the Lord do what seems good to him
2. God is sovereign over evil and sometimes uses it to accomplish his good purposes.
3. Sin requires immediate death, but we have a merciful and gracious God.

Texts on Suffering: 1 Chronicles 1-17

Yes... I started to read through the bible in 4 months beginning in 1 Chronicles. Why? I just wanted to mix things up a little bit. I've started to read through the whole bible so many times that I usually end up stopping somewhere between 1 Samuel and 2 Kings. Therefore, in order to keep it interesting, I am starting in 1 Chronicles. Deal with it.

Now, in light of keeping things interesting, little did I know that the first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles are genealogies. That's okay. After trudging through those, the book begins to get a little more interesting. Here are the first 3 significant and relevant instances of evil, suffering, and death that I have come across so far.

1 Chronicles 10:13-14: As they continue their rampage of the Israelites, the Philistines overtake king Saul and his sons. The soldiers slay the sons of Saul, and the archers soon wound king Saul himself. Seeing that his impending death, Saul orders his armor-bearer to kill him with the sword before the Philistines come upon them. After the armor-bearer refused due to great fear, Saul fell on his own sword, thus killing himself. The Philistines eventually find the dead Saul, cut off his head, and fastened it in their temple. In light of his death, the author of Chronicles says that Saul died because "he broke faith with the Lord... and alos consulted a medium, seeking guidance" from him instead of God.

1 Chronicles 13:9-10, 1 Chronicles 15:13: Everytime I think of the holiness of God, this passage comes to mind. The new king David had assembled all Israel to bring the ark of God to the city of David. David and all of Israel are rejoicing before God with all their might as the ark is being brought to the city. As the ark is being brought to the city, the oxen stumble and Uzzah, a layman, not a Levite, takes hold of the ark to keep it from falling. For taking hold of the ark, God strikes down Uzzah. The first time I read this, I was struck with bewilderment and fear. However, the notes from my ESV Study bible (which I would highly recommend to anyone) have shown some light on the issue. Despite their zeal, David has failed to respect the sanctity of the ark, since the way he treats the ark is a reflection of how he is treating God. According to the law of Moses, the ark was to be carried on poles by the Levites only, not on a cart like the Philistines did. Therefore, when Uzzah takes hold of the ark, he is demonstrating a lack of reverance for the sacred object of God's presence and is transgressing its awesome holiness. Divine punishment is, therefore, just.

A Study on Evil, Suffering, and Death

After coming to a close on my first paper (Snatched: The Glory & Beauty of God in the Doctrine of Election), I am going to begin research for the next one. The paper is going to try to answer the following question:

How can a good and loving God allow so much evil and suffering in the world?

Out of all the questions that I have heard from Christians and non-Christians alike, this one seems to be the asked the most and sufficiently answered the least. God has put it on my heart to try to answer this question in a way that is biblically sound and pastorally comforting.

To begin my research, I am going to try to read through the whole bible in about 4 months, noting every significant and relevant instance of evil, suffering, and death. This blog will be used as a database where I can store all of these instances as well as share with others what I am learning as I go through the research process. Please feel free to question, comment, and encourage me along the way.