the fact that I can change; my past is not my future because the cross is real
blood
God’s word
my ability to go out and purchase groceries
each friend
each toe
(especially the pinkie one without which I would be terribly off balance!)
roots
JESUS
opposable thumbs
that I’ve made it this far
my skin holding everything in
every morning God painting a new picture in the sky
indoor plumbing and socks
babies
the Spirit of God choosing to make me His home
dew
day and night
rocks
my neighbors
eyes remembering to blink
ecosystems’ designs
the fact that there’s still light at night (thank You for stars&moon)
pollen
medicine
the computers in our skulls
the relief from a burp
gravity preventing me from floating into oblivion
the atmosphere being the perfect way for humans
the cut on my knee daily looking less like a cut
seasons
a closet full of clothes
cells and all of science, stars and stick bugs and even the dustmites underbed
the mystery laced in all creation that draws us to our knees in wonder
healing from my soul’s once brokenness and fleshwounds
various spices
athletes, artists, musicians, teachers, mechanics, pilots, engineers, mothers, and plumbers—the diversity in gifts and the beauty of different
sunshine, warm and light, coaxing me to higher ways
today
cucumbers
truth
vision
rain
hugs
God loving to forgive
bread
life itself
God, open our eyes to see You in everything! for truly YOU ARE. a million eternal three thousand nine infinity miracles in every moment. if we only look.
how many jellyfish jig dance recitals has God choreographed, for an audience of One? how many waterfalls gush in secret, cascading down cliffside or mountain crag, hidden and glorious? how many stars He named, for none but Himself! how many ant parades He’s led, how many birds’ songs He’s composed, how many baby birds He’s coaxed out of their nest for their first time to fly, or sunrises He’s painted, storms He’s sketched. & all for Himself! we really are ignorant of all these grandiose and important daily miracles! yet God conducts it all, from His beauty for His glory. how many times has He vacuumed earth dew back up to Heaven, only for it to fall again when clouds unglue? how do lightning bugs lead dragonflies at night? how to be whale’s doula, or the tulip’s joy. daily these hidden mysteries, of wonder and awe, are created and cared for by God—from whom and for whom all things live and move and have their being. & daily these hidden mysteries escape us. yet He still does them, all for Himself.
of all God’s endless secret beauty on earth, the most amazing to me is that the evolving hairs on your head are all numbered. the tears you’ve wept, kept in His bottle. the details of you, fully known and fully loved. so let the God of detail and universe, ocean and atom, come after you. let Him hug you to life. because He lives and loves and longs for you to love Him, too.💙
Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food? Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does? Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young? Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? Job 38
The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in Heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. Colossians 1:15-20
God perfectly knows Himself and, being the source and author of all things, it follows that He knows all that can be known. And this He knows instantly and with a fullness of perfection that includes every possible item of knowledge concerning everything that exists or could have existed anywhere in the universe at any time in the past or that may exist in the centuries or ages yet unborn.
AW Tozer
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.” Psalm 139:1-18 ESV
the Greenblue Marble Speaker spoke & stonecold death broke
flesh tent coursing, can’t contain, shaking
from fullness gonna overflow everywhere i go
my feet tap to His happy clap, their soles painted glee leave prints in minds & sidewalk squares. a simple song—Be Free
now a wave, now another, gush, asking to have me
yes! i say
thank you for proposing
my rainbow white gown drenched in joy watercolor tears. have me, ocean of bottomless sideless topless endless love
consume & partake
salsa bachata waltz twirl, love at first brush stroke You spoke & i am
You are holy, divine, outside of time. all of life a mysterious romance—Your Kingly Self pursues clay us, poised to pounce the moment a flutter of one toe momentum moves toward Maker
waterfalls who no one sees
still relentlessly pour, in wood crevices and mountain treasure chests
come rest in the Garden of Design
lay down your time
surrender all bruises
put down those fists
you’ve been running but there’s a dance floor you’ve been boxing but He’s not keeping score
of your punches (that’s already paid for) so lay down and let the flower’s dew change you
quiet still water like an uninterrupted sky, sits. the pond speaks in silence.
suddenly a green bump from a lily circle leaps—her great finesse, flying through the air, flinging her whole self forward with one grand leap. a royal proclamation of God’s creativity, wisdom, and beauty. no one jumps like the frog!
zoom in on these propelling frog legs, made with denser muscle fibers and other special factors that make a frog capable of leaping like no other creature on earth. frog, known for her strange leg strength, sings or rather croaks a frequency of God’s glory that no other animal created can.
the frog’s ability to jump unique & unusual is given from above just like from above an unusual & unique way is given each & every one of us.
everyone has some sort of special strength!
maybe great ideas come easily to you, or you’re able to fix anything. maybe you can pick up other languages without trouble, or you’re really good with numbers. maybe you can paint murals or run marathons. maybe you can make anyone feel at home by being friendly or you can improvise music. we all have a frog leg.
if you’re not sure what your unique capability is, ask those in your life. they’ll know.
whatever your frog leg is—that attribute custom cut to you—use it well for the glory of God. can you whip up a mean pie? then bake your heart out. can you crack home runs? then win the derby. can you sing like an angel? belt it out.
whatever your gift, use it.
don’t neglect it.
use it.
and remember, whatever your file cabinet of excuses could be (no time, i’m a mom, not good enough, inexperienced, no money,etc,..) God’s Grace is on you to leap!
imagine a frog who never jumped. now that would just be wrong. God didn’t give the frog hind legs for nothing!
so jump!
give God your all with what He’s given you. steward that special something to be what He gave it into the earth to be. don’t quench the image of God in you but let what He deposited into the earth through you be sown.
twist, turn, splish, kerplosh, fall—into arms open wide!
grace is a lot like a water slide. God carries us to Himself. we breathe, hop in, and trust—going with the flow of the Spirit as He carries us where we’re meant to be, in Father’s arms.
we obey though we don’t always see, following the laid out path to Father God, the end of it all a rapturous joy full of laughter, light and glee!
will you go with Holy Spirit flow, submitting and surrenderingafresh each dawn, knowing Father God is worthy of our trust?
many children hesitate at the top of an enclosed water slide, afraid to glide. it’s dark. it’s down. they can’t see their Dad waiting to hold them on the other side; all they see is unknown and what if and scared.
but when that child finally goes, he finds his toes in water, whooshing splashing spurring him onward, forward, carrying him to his forever Father hug and the delight, the love, the affection of Him.
the ripple effect of discovering the goodness of God is increased joy, increased strength, increased willingness to obey—even when it doesn’t make sense. we must strengthen our choosing muscle by delighting ourselves in Him!
we discover, after going down waterslide once, that it’s fun! we want to climb the ladder and go again! submitting to God in faith and going on the ride daily is worth the seeming risk.
so next time you’re confronted by the unknown, just know: God is waiting for you on the other side of your yes.
“Again we must reverse the familiar flow of our thoughts and try to understand that which is unique….”
AW Tozer
For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.
Isaiah 30:12
The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.