You're Not Chained To The Bench

One of the most courageous things we can do is look our bad patterns, our past regrets, and our demons in the face and decide if we really want them to have the last word.  

Carrying Heaven

I want to be a simple container, a size and shape that can be used as He wills.  (I’ve noticed that simple containers seem to be the most versatile and elaborate ones tend to sit aside to just be looked at and admired.)  I have been pressed, but it has proven to have been within the design of His hands though sometimes I doubted it along the way.  I have been in the fire, but it is those times, trusting that He was sovereign and wise, that have proven to have brought strength to a once weak and fear-filled girl.  Without the fire I would still be clay, crumbling or shaped by every flood that washed in. 

As vessels we can be used for bringing cool water to the thirsty, nourishing soup to the hungry, words of hope to the weary and discouraged, and His Spirit of life to those who are dead (in any way) and dying right before our eyes.  Our message is life.  Let’s not squander the opportunity of our days here.

But to take heaven’s best, we have to first get something in us.  Today, take time to receive.  Pause to ask Him what He would give you today to give away. 

It is an awesome thing to be a vessel that can give heaven away all day long, no matter what our job is, no matter where we are.  We can do it more beautifully when we get our anger, envy, and resentment out of us.  You may not know how to get there, but be willing to ask Him for help.  Humility is an essential part of giving something that gives life and heals.   Be willing to unclutch your white-knuckled hands and let go of it.

I am quite sure that not everything I’ve experienced was by God’s plan.  There is a lot of crap in the world and an enemy whose goal is to kill, steal, and destroy.  But like Joseph discovered in his life of many delays and setbacks, I have learned that all that is offered to God can be turned upside down.  Truly, what was intended to harm us can become glorious assets. 

Gosh, I love that He can do stunning things with an old pot that desires to be His.  

The Answer, My Friend...

I got to watch another miracle yesterday.  I can’t share most of the details, but suffice it to say that a little girl had been praying for her momma.  And God most definitely heard her.   A couple of weeks ago He began a beautiful weaving of events and words, and yesterday—I have no idea how He arranged it—the momma showed up exactly at the place and time that became a miracle moment. 

The follow-up conversation of what had built to those few minutes revealed that God had already spoken.  He had told one of those in this story two weeks ago that He most certainly had the situation in hand.  Worry wasn’t necessary, because this battle was truly already won.  How often do I really believe that for the situations that weigh on my heart and mind?  I wonder if more often I say that I think He has done it, won the battle, but pound heaven’s door, afraid that He might not answer if I don’t draw His attention to the need that is in my focus.  Yesterday was a good lesson to me.  “Rest, child,” are words we can trust. 

Sometimes we are called to be in the trenches, to persevere, but there are seasons of rest as well.  It all, again, comes down to responding to the Spirit as He moves, gently as a soft breeze, or boldly as a storm of love that will forever change some part of the landscape.  We can do either or anything in between He calls us to in peace when we know His heart, trust His character, and love His perfect timing.  In that place, we will experience the beauty as He paints it and hear the nuances of the symphony He creates as words we thought we’d never hear begin to be spoken out loud.  We can live in the mystery.   We can toss the wet clothes of our concerns into the dryer, set the temperature and timer on the machine we’ve purchased, or put them out on the line of faith, and let the fresh air of all He purchased infuse them.  There is nothing like sleeping between sheets that have been hung in the summer air.  Yesterday was like that.  The fragrance of it will linger with me for a long time.  It was the aroma of heaven.

Finding the Strong Arms

The believing life is one where we are continually called to walk on water, to step out onto the yet unseen, trusting that He meant what He said and He is who He claims to be.  We will not find the joy of His promises unless we put our weight on them.  We have to go farther than the place we can catch ourselves.

He Who Has Ears

Too often I come to You with a list already filling my thoughts of what I want You to address, and I control the agenda of our time without even realizing it.  But maybe there are other things that You would like to bring up, Lord, something to address or call my attention to.  Reading Your word does that if I will open my bible.  But pausing does also.  What’s on Your mind and in Your heart this morning?  What’s it time for from Your point of view?   If I trust You and want Your will most, I will quiet myself and listen.

Coming Along

He came to keep company with us, to sit at our tables, join in our conversations, walk with us wherever we go as a friend who will point out all the good stuff along the way so we don’t miss it.

Graduation Day

Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking to the clients in our agency during our first graduation ceremony in our chemical dependency program.  I thought I'd share it in the hopes that it might encourage others in the midst of the struggle in this life-long race.  Here it is:

Well we are really happy today to celebrate your progress and the victory you have tasted.  We are proud of you for the steps you have taken and for the courage and determination you have put forth toward your own recovery.  Well done.

We know that for all WE can try to offer you here at Healing Hearts…support, programs, accountability, instruction, and care, there are two significant things that must be present for you to truly have your freedom.

The first is the precious gift of choice that you have.  It is the amazing power given to every human being to choose how they will live in the face of needs, hurts, daily hardships, temptations, fears, and everything that comes against us.  We’ve been given this thing called free will, which is mankind’s most astonishing opportunity and has caused its deep brokenness.  We have ALL failed in using it well, made excuses, and blamed others.  But what a precious gift it is!

The second thing is the truth that you are dearly loved, endlessly treasured, and created for the utter joy of a God who is crazy about you.  We can provide classes and tools, but the very best thing we can offer you, make no mistake about it, is the truth about who God is in all His goodness, to remind you that you were designed by Him with GREAT things in mind, and to walk with you as you take hold more and more of the freedom and peace and provision He longs for you to have and died and rose to give you.  He came to earth that long ago Christmas morning so there would always be enough.

This God, who thought of sunsets and mountains and wildflowers and giraffes, and spoke them into being, thought of each of us, envisioned who we could be, and smiled, then gave us life and spoke our names. 

We’ve all screwed up His great plan, but even in all the things we’ve done to take our lives to the brink of destruction, we are here, each of us in this room and together today.  Coincidence?   I don’t think so. 

Ten years ago this spring, I was in the midst of planning a several room art installation and meditation space for Easter.   One of the rooms was to be set up as a beautiful wedding banquet symbolizing the feast ahead in heaven.  DeWayne’s wife Maja and I had been friends for a year or two at that point and when she heard the plan for the event, she offered to arrange for us to borrow some wonderful dishes and glassware.  We carried crate after crate from the home of the lovely lady who was loaning them to us, packed them into the car, drove to the event location, hauled them up the steps, and carefully got all the fragile pieces unpacked and in place.  I was thinking about that this week.  How we had together prepared a place where truth was displayed through beauty and words.  Not so unlike here, and this past year of watching the growth of Healing Hearts from a two-room agency with no office phone to the multiple location, many phone facility we are today and are still becoming.   Both the Easter Vigil and Healing Hearts, at the core, were established to offer tastes of God’s goodness to those who come our way.  But neither have been done without great effort, a lot of hours of planning, excitement, frustration, and on-going prayer. 

The same is true for our stories.  Great things don’t happen unless we take hold of our life and decide we want it to count.  You have been made wonderfully, been gifted with abilities and talents, set loose in the world to make a difference and to participate in good.  This community needs you and will benefit by what you, uniquely, have been designed to offer it.  But it takes persistence.

Forty-two years ago, as I was just leaving high school, I began an experiment…to see if this God I’d been introduced to really meant what He said, really was who He claimed to be.  The way I figured it…

If God could take a thought and turn it into a star-filled galaxy,

If He could take a widow with nothing and give her a houseful of containers filled with enough oil to take care of the needs of herself and her son,

If He could really touch blind eyes and restore their sight, lame legs and make them walk again, hard hearts and show them how to love,

If He could turn a bloody and hate-filled crucifixion Friday into an empty tomb and very much alive Sunday morning,

If He could take a bunch of confused disciples and transform them into wise, courageous, and caring men and women,

How could I not be curious about what He would do with my life if I gave Him room and time to work.

This is what I’ve learned…

He is the most coolest person who has every lived. (Come on…He walked on water and fed thousands with one kid’s lunch!)

He has the very best ideas.

He has the power to unfold them, in the most unexpected ways.  (He never once has written the script the way I would have.)

He has all the resources to make His dreams for us come true.

He IS peace.

He has the best sense of humor, but never at our expense.

He is endlessly faithful.  He keeps all of His promises.

And it isn’t easy to learn to trust Him, for we’ve been disappointed so often and let down by those who were supposed to care, and sometimes horrendous things have been done in His name.

But when given a chance,

He heals us.

He alone gives us real freedom and strength.

And…He generously lets us in on that kind of work.  Here is what He invites each of us into:  In His own story He tells us…

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted.  He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind.  (On a side note…I have a friend who was recently on a trip overseas, prayed for a man and watched his eye, having had no cornea, re-form in the 20 minutes he was praying for him..  He showed me the pictures—AWESOME!)  He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies.  To all who mourn he will give:  beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness.  For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.  And THEY shall rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed, reviving them though they have lain there many generations.”  Isaiah 61:1-4

We have every reason to hope because He is not done!

We are not alone.  We are never without His help.  And it’s not too late for God to do brilliant things in all of us.  He desires for us to have an amazing story and to know the One who writes magnificent adventures and miraculous endings in our book. 

It’s a stunning invitation we are given to receive all that He has and to share in all that He is and does. 

We each have a life and breath today.  There are more pages in our story to be written.  Try handing God the pen and go follow Him and see what surprisingly good pages He will write in your book.

Take that free will that you possess and go get the treasure that’s waiting for you.  It’s going to be awesome.  And you better always come back and tell us your stories so we can keep celebrating with you.

Good Companions

Take courage and humility with you wherever you go and you can be pretty sure you will be ready as life comes your way.  In the finest moments they are both fully present.

The Discoveries Are Waiting For You

“The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.”  Howard Macey

“Blessed are those whose strength is the Lord, who set their hearts on pilgrimage.  When they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.  They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”  Ps. 84

We have a promise.  We know not exactly what this path on earth will hold, but we are assured that if we keep listening and walking with Jesus along the way, our presence, with those we share this journey with, will bring the precious and powerful things of heaven to earth.  Life and Love will arrive to do His transforming work, to make us all who we were made to be.  

Which Way?

We have trouble grasping God because He works in ways we do not expect and cannot understand.  In Egypt, Pharoah’s way was to use the blood, sweat, and tears of other human beings to build gigantic structures that were brazen monuments to himself.  God’s way was to part the Red Sea, leading a people to freedom, then letting the waters flow right back to their previous spot, the only evidence left being written on the hearts of those who had been released into a new land with a heck of a story to tell.

We will be forever changed when we stop to ponder who this surprising God is who pursues us with His endless love and fights relentlessly for our good.  None of us would have ever come up with the way He has gone about it.  It’s breathtakingly beautiful, pure love in motion. 

Living It

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. “  Luke 4:18-19

This was the daily joy of Jesus, the One whose steps we follow in for the continual unfolding of His plan.   This is the song to be consistently sung from our lives.  We have an astonishing message that He has come and is coming still.  His restoration is not yet done.  There are still miracles to be seen, power to be released, freedom to be had as we dare to walk believing His heart, trusting His word, standing and dancing and marching and resting on and in it.  Let the joy sink in, then flow out from our lives.

What's Your Position?

There is a world of difference in the experience of those who fill the stadiums of faith as fans and those who step onto the field, contend for the prize, come away with bruises in the battle and stories they were actually a part of winning.  If we are going to invest in belief it is a far better thing to not kid ourselves that we were there by showing up on game day, but staying in a safe seat in the stands and simply cheering for the team.

Who Knew?

One of the most powerful things I have ever learned was birthed during a night of terror.  I had been struggling through some deep fear for months and wasn’t sure I was going to make it.  The darkness was heavy and I couldn’t detect its boundaries.  I did the only thing I knew how to do in that frightening place…cry out to God for help.  I told Him I couldn’t go on this way.  And then a word came into that hellish night.  An unexpected and unclear one, but I knew I hadn’t manufactured it somewhere in the recesses of my own mind.  “It will be like a circumcision, personal, but painful.”  Somehow comfort was also there when I recognized that my words had been heard even if I didn’t understand the reply and had no idea what it would mean. 

Days and months and years passed as I experienced God’s gradual intervention in my life, His encouragement, His provision, His strength, His work, His desire for me and His call to come closer, to trust, to believe Him, not just in theory, but in the daily events of my life.  Somewhere along the way I began to understand that now-distant reply about circumcision.  He was cutting me away from myself.  I needed to learn the precious lesson of trusting Him when it seemed on the surface like I was losing something in the process, when I could see the blood of my own life dripping out.  He wanted me to find the intimacy and kindness of His goodness instead of settling for what I could devise for my life as I sought the things I thought were most important.  He wanted to give me secrets and treasure of what is truly most valuable, but I couldn’t do that if I was stacking my own treasure up somewhere, or hiding in my insulated securities instead of receiving His.

I count it as one of the greatest blessings of my life that He would take the time to work with me, to let some kind of evidence of Himself be shaped into my life.  Yes, many days have been painful and I have learned that His timetable certainly doesn’t match the one I would prefer.  I find I am now ar less concerned about the wait than I used to be, or what others understand of why I do life the way I do.  There is a deep place of peace in knowing, in experiencing His faithfulness and wisdom that provides a stable yet fruitful place to live.  He is good.  I now believe that every lesson is about trust.  Will we truly trust Him?  Our days are filled with that question in a million variations because knowing we can is the greatest prize we could ever be offered.  He gives us every opportunity to find out.

The Subtraction That Adds

Let’s not be of the mindset to immediately decide we are under Satan’s attack when a concern or criticism is brought our way.  It may be that someone saw or experienced something that we need to recognize.  Just because something is painful to hear and uncomfortable to admit doesn’t mean that it is not a gift that has come our way for our further growth and maturity.  He does not intend to shame us, but He invites us to be continually willing to bring ourselves before Him, humbly and honestly, for further transformation. Growth in plants comes by watering and sunshine, but also by pruning and grafting.  His work in us is not so different. 

The Way to Peace

When we feel fear or frustration or tugs that make us want to protect ourselves or hide or seek immediate comfort, we have gotten to a crucial moment.  What will we do?   These are the birthing times that can lead us to better places and deeper truths if we choose well in them.  We can pull back and stay in our same self-centered core, or choose to step into God’s promises of provision and care and strength.  The road may not let us see the answer until we get around a few more of its bends, but something in our spirit should resonate that we are on the right path as we walk and wait for the unveiling.  The truth is that He is immensely good, and only those who are willing to walk in the waiting will experience that truth, branding them with peace.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TkUMJtK5k

"I'm So Glad You're Here"

Martha welcomed Jesus into her home.  Mary sat at His feet.  Each part is crucial, but after we invite Him in, do we stop to listen to what He has to say or quickly go on to our next "household" task?  He has something to tell us, to share with us, secrets and dreams to spill out, perspective to give, and joy to unpin.

If our prayer time is scant or all our own voice talking, if our knowledge of Him is formed between our ears and neatly filed but doesn’t reach our heart, if we see others having a vibrant life with God that we don’t quite understand and aren’t sure we even want, we can ask Him to help us.  He is really good at stirring coals when the flames have faltered into lumps that don’t offer light or heat.  But we also need to position ourselves to receive what we’ve asked for. 

If you’d like to be hungrier for God, ask Him to begin to reveal the wonder and greatness of who He is and how He works, then watch and listen and read His story…the one in the book and the one being written in lives currently walking the planet.  God is on the move.  We can let Him make His home inside our lives, so that we will be a walking piece of evidence with a bouquet of our own stories of how He has lived with and led, and where every daisy will have an odd-number of petals.  He most definitely loves us.

That Word

Faith.  We sometimes resist the word because it asks something of us.  To wear it requires us to trust something outside of ourselves.  We aren’t great at it, but if we will practice putting ourselves on the line that He might do what He says and start to expect Him to come through for our well-being, belief will become a new garment we can wear with ease, because we have met Him in person.  It will not be restrictive because we can move in it.

Who is Your Company in the Fire?

Our fiery furnace moments are opportunities to grab hold of His promises to be always with us and working for our good, for us to discard fear, and to expect God to meet us in the flames that can only threaten to undo us if we think they have that much power.  It is in those moments, when we stand on what we believe, fire or not, that those who have not yet seen will observe Him with us in the heat of our circumstances. 

But like David, we will fare much better if we’ve practiced trusting Him in our lion and bear opportunities before we have to face a Goliath.  

You Can't Win If...

It borders on unbelievable when you win the lottery!  It’s true what they say, “You can’t win if you don’t play.”  The amount is huge and there is plenty to share.  You might want to strongly consider playing too.

I finally decided I wanted in if there was a chance it could be had.  There would be big dividends after all, and I was intrigued enough to decide that if I could have the treasure it would be worth the cost of time and energy and focus to go after it. 

If there was wisdom to be gained and used, purpose to be led continually into, forgiveness to be received and given, provision to be had and shared, power to defeat the one whose goal is to steal, kill, and destroy humanity (including targets on those I love most) why in the world wouldn’t I want to get smack in the middle of it, and participate in the work of plans for others to discover it and experience it too.

And so I started a life experiment when I was eighteen years old to see who this God is and what He is about.  It began with baby steps of an introduction and glimpse at a group of people who had met Him.  At first the relationship blush was wrapped and pretty, and love kept me going.  But there were messy things that surfaced and I had to learn how to hear in the noise.   I got tired over time and needed to ask Him to stir a thirst for the Word when I was finding it dry and dusty. He helped me; what I wasn’t able to do for myself again, He did.

I had bad habits that needed to be sifted out (they weren’t helping me live life well) and I asked Him to show me what needed to go or come in instead.  I had warped thinking about who He is that He has spent years lavishing love to help me see the real God.  I needed to know how He saw things, how He saw me.  He has loved me thoroughly, addressed those areas tenderly, and joyfully taken those broken and weak and limiting things and given me healing and strength and freedom instead.  And I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface.  There is so much to find.  He has reminded me in a frequent rhythm that back in August of 1974 I truly became a new creation and can live in that truth.  I am still discovering what it means.  It makes a huge difference to believe that I am who God says I am—dearly loved and part of His family with all the benefits of having a loving and wise king for a dad. 

I have had some financial challenges and plenty of mistakes, yet He provides for me.  As I’ve trusted His word and put my money on His Malachi promises, He has gone before me and given over and over and over what I have needed.  There have also been many unexpected gifts along the way that have revealed that He knows my heart and enjoys delight. 

I wanted to know Him better, to have insight, and wonder in relating to a very real God, and glimpses of His brilliance.  Of course I needed to turn my attention and time His way, but He has drawn my eye and mind and heart to beautiful truths and given me days chock full of ways to share them.

I discovered that humiliation and humility are not the same thing.  He won’t scold or shame me, but invites me into His endless treasure if I want it.  It requires something of me to discover the infinite layers of Him. 

Seriously, I am utterly stunned throughout most days to recognize what I have been given—the care and attention of the One who owns everything, whose previous ideas have led to a sky full of galaxies, glistening black stallions thundering over the plains, rain forests shimmering with life, and human hearts that can contain a God willing to live there.  He has snapped out a picnic blanket of possibilities and handed out a miracle feast of bread and fish and never even raised an eyebrow when many fed only on what would satisfy their tummies and ignored what would feed their souls forever.  He keeps pouring it out and invites us to help distribute the meal. 

Honestly, what meager thing that I could do alone would come anywhere close to this?

And now He is challenging me to just try to bankrupt Him.  He laughs at the thought and is asking how much of His goodness I can give away…in truth, in love, in hope, in encouragement, in patience, in gratitude, in stuff.  His generosity is endless and He is looking for those who would like to help give it out.   There is so much in His storehouses!

Lottery winnings typically have a bottom line amount and a heavy tax portion.  Check out the stories of many winners who ended up broke.  But this God never runs out.  Pretty amazing.  The only thing that will limit it is my lack of fire and courage to keep pursuing His depths and the resources He allows us to steward.  There are vast resources of many kinds to take hold of and to share.  It is far better than any check that could come to you.  The treasury of God even comes with its own financial advisor, its own shepherd guide, its own Spirit leading to show you exactly where and on whom to deposit it.  He has come.  It’s Christmas every day.  It is GREAT news.

I drafted most of this yesterday morning, not sure I would post it.  Then John came home last night and told me some folks at his workplace were getting some group tickets for the lottery drawing tonight.  I guess the powerball jackpot is up to $450 million.  So maybe this is a timely post after all.   In whatever you do to win in life, don’t forget the greatest treasure of all. 

Leave the Fence

Be courageous today, wherever you are.  Keep your eyes open.  Keep your focus set.  Listen for the Spirit wind of direction.  Then use those wings you’ve been given and soar.  He has made you for the day you are in and has prepared the day for what He has given you can give it.  

Saddle Up

“Warriors do not react to their circumstances, they respond to God.  They see everything as an opportunity to learn, grow, advance, and increase faith.  They do not avoid tough situations, they’re not looking for rescue.  They are developing a revelation of God so profound it governs every facet of their life.  Warriors know that Jesus reigns and therefore everything leads to majesty.  There is a place in the Spirit set aside for us where we make the enemy confused.  We weary him by our rest.  We discourage him by our faith.  We demoralize him with our joy.  We depress him by our endurance.  He is dispirited by our favor and defeated by our grace.  Warriors win by staying fresher longer.”  Graham Cooke from “Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior”

Living Well

The beginning of the year is the time of resolutions.  We know there are things that ought to change.  So what does living well mean? One clue is right in the wording:

Go to the well. 

We are invited to stay close and drink deeply.  Like the woman who first discovered that answer (the account can be read in John 4), listen closely to what He says even if He isn’t answering the question you asked.  You might think He isn’t interested in what you’d like to talk about, but trust Him to bring the most important things to the table and stay with Him as He speaks.  He sees you most clearly and easily gets to the heart of the matter, not in a scolding way, but to offer you something better.   It is we who want to dodge the truth and end up parched when the deep and refreshing waters are within reach. 

We first must understand that as a human we can converse with the God of creation who is wildly interested in engaging with us.  There are numerous reasons why many shun the possibility.  Apparently we have a damaged hardwire that tells us yet today that “a Samaritan” and “a Jew” would never interact.   And yet here we are, invited into that lavish reality.   We don’t have to continually ask God to come close.  Christmas was the clear message that He is.  He wasn’t put off by our straw-and-dung situations, He came right into them.  Still does.  Pentecost put the seal any question of His willingness to be continually with us..  He’s done His part to be here.  Now it’s our time to run the race, to pick up the baton and to actually spend time with Him, learning, listening, loving, lingering.  We are afraid of the marathon, but we will be amazed at the ground we will cover, the journey we will live when we look back later, having gone just one good step at a time, willing to follow.

As with the woman He was speaking with that distant day, the conversation will take twists and turns for us.  How could it be otherwise?  Do we think we won’t be intimidated sometimes in the presence of the One who spoke stars into being when He sits down in our rooms and speaks something to us?  But we don’t be afraid of His motives.  No one has ever been more for our well-being.  Come.  Be well.  The waters to be discovered are the cool ones for your weariness, the bubbling springs of unseen provision, the babbling ones that delight you in restful places, the ocean wide ones that will take you on adventures beyond your wildest dreams.  But it all starts at the well, where you and truth meet.

The Great Discovery Awaits

The awareness of blessings came today as dawn broke.   I honestly don’t know how He has done it.  I have made terrible mistakes of many kinds, been shortsighted often, missed moments for kindness that He placed right in my path, not behaved well in a repeated rhythm.   The only thing I have done of any merit is to trust Him. 

While doing that He has taken wonderful care of me.  Over coffee each morning, as we have started the day, He has shared His heart and helped me to know Him.  He has poured out help and guidance through circumstances of many kinds and provided in endless and unexpected ways.  He has gotten me to today.

On the advent of this new year, I come with a suitcase of amazing memories of His goodness, His power, His grace, and His kindness.  He hasn’t stopped challenges from coming my way because He isn’t interested in me living an insulated life.  He wants me to know—without a doubt—that He is able to get me through ANY challenge and will transform and stretch my heart and understanding as I keep receiving His presence and following His voice.  The scope of who He is widens, proving to me that He is who He says and does what He promises.  The mystery of it also grows.

He is crazy about all the things He wants to accomplish and all the good He wants to bring.  I get to participate in little pieces of it.  Part of the secret is to not get distracted by circumstances, but to keep eyes expectantly fixed on One.  I still struggle with it when life presses in, but He is remarkably patient with me.  Good.  Kind.  Powerful. 

I am looking forward to 2016 and what amazing things He will unfold as I watch for what He is doing each day, knowng He is alive and well and continuing on in all things good.

Happy New Year!  I wish you a heart that will trust as you walk through it, watching for His movement, listening for His whisper, discovering more and more the blessings He has in store for you to receive and deliver.

When we get to the end of the year that is just taking its first breath, I hope you and I will both know in deeper places of our hearts that He has been more than enough.