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At Christianity Today, we’re constantly tracking important developments in the church and the world. Often we use our network of reporters around the world (and for that, visit our main site). But we also monitor other news outlets, bloggers, newsmakers’ social media feeds, and countless other information streams. Gleanings compiles the most urgent and interesting items we’ve found, explains why you need to know about them, and gives you the background you need to understand them. It’s our snapshot of what God is doing in the world, hour by hour.

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May 29, 2007

Another Redemption Story: Ho-hum and Hurray!

The Daily Herald, a paper of the western suburbs of Chicago, features this story about a young woman:

Kristen Anderson’s world was shattered after the deaths of four friends and her grandmother. As she was grieving those losses, she was raped. Feeling she had no way to cope, she tried to kill herself. She survived, and now shares her story with others, to reach out to those who feel hopeless.

Just another story of God's inscrutably redeeming ways. Both predictable (for we've seen him do this time and again) and wonderful (miracles, no matter how generic, are amazing to behold).

Then again, no miracle is generic, and the problem here is likely a problem of journalism: this is narrative arc that makes sense to a typical 21st century journalist. I'm guessing a deeper look at Kristen's life would suggest something both miraculous and utterly unique.