Sarah Dixon Young's Blog: Love Much

When Jesus sent His disciples out two by two, they cast out unclean spirits, and they called for people to repent of their sins. 

They were excited when they returned to Him with the world’s first Christian missionary stories. 

Missionary stories aren’t in vogue any more. My favorite one, written by Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India at the beginning of the twentieth century, attempts to tell Things As They Are. 

She says that writing about sharing the Gospel with Hindus in India is...

I prayed for my pastor today.

He had crawled up into the church’s playground equipment and was scrubbing graffitied profanity with a magic eraser. 

As I watched him scrub, I thought of the many times people brought him their sins, cloaked as problems to be solved. Instead of offering magic erasers, my pastor gave the Gospel Truth that Jesus is the only One who can forgive sins, and repentance is all that is needed.

I prayed for my pastor today.

He was cooking the potluck meal in the...

This article first appeared in the Devils Lake Journal Sept. 25, 2025.

liturgy: (n) a form or formulary according to which public religious worship is conducted; from the Greek “leitourgia,” meaning public service

The mass might have been in Latin for all my classmates knew.

I peeked to the right and to the left. It was Wednesday. Our whole row appeared monotonous, wearing one school uniform, having the same ponytail hairstyle, and chanting the same words.

The liturgy seemed to be t...

Charlie Kirk didn’t begin his political activism from a Christian point of view.

He, like many others, thought that religion could be held separate from the political sphere, a self-imposed separation of church and state. 

But, the more he became involved in conservative politics and policies, the more he changed his views on the role of Christianity in every sphere of life. 

“Everything I do incorporates Jesus Christ,” he said. “The mechanisms of a religious society are good for every...

On the reservation where I live, there is a little town called Tokio.

It is funny when visitors ask, “Tokyo? Isn’t that in Japan?”

Well, yes, and no.

Tribal historian Louis Garcia once told me how Tokio got its name. The railroad was going to be coming through that area, but it was sparsely populated. The Dakota people would travel nearby and ask the railroad workers, “Tokhiyothan?” which meant, “Where is it?” or “In what direction is it?”

The workers thought that the Dakota were telling them what...

This article first appeared in the September 4, 2025 edition of the Devils Lake Journal.

In 1798, President John Adams issued a proclamation that May 9th be “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer” due to the danger the United States was facing.

France threatened. Commerce halted. The fledgling nation had barely enough to subsist, much less wage war. Adams knew the need was dire. (You can read his whole proclamation HERE.)

He called all citizens to “acknowledge before God th...

This article first appeared in the Devils Lake Journal August 28, 2025.

In a conversation with my favorite three-year-old, I said, “I will come pick you up at five o’clock.”

She promptly reversed the camera on the phone she was holding so that I could see the digital clock in her mom’s car.

“Look Grandma,” she said, “it IS five o’clock!”

It was 1:30, but I didn’t argue. Everything is present tense to a toddler. 

When the Lord met Moses at the burning bush, Moses was focused on th...

“Hello? This is Dakota Baptist Church.”

“Sarahcanyoubringmeapop??”

One of my responsibilities the summer I was seventeen was to answer the church phone. The caller was a twelve year old girl. She spoke so quickly that all her words ran together, and we had the same conversation everyday.

“Well, where are you?”

“Atmyhouse.”

“Where’s your house?”

“Nexttomygrandmother’s!”

Needless to say, it took me a long time to figure out where the girl lived, but when I did, I brought a ch...

Makoshika State Park and Glacier National Park have some things in common.

They are both in Montana. They both offer spectacular views of the natural world. And I hiked in both of them last week.

The trails could not have been more different.

Makoshika is arid and rocky, sporting cacti and rattlesnakes. 

Glacier is vibrant and lush, full of waterfalls and wildflowers.

I di...

“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead,” my husband was preaching from James.

I happened to turn and glance over my shoulder at the kitchen where two ladies were making a potluck meal.

A third lady stood toward the back of the entryway waving frantically.

I wondered if she might be gesturing to her children, but when I blinked a second time, she raised both hands, doubling her insistence. I could tell she had an urgent need.

I stood and walked to the back. Before I got...