so let’s embrace, even cubicle space. after all, life is now; this is it! there is no rehearsal, we are here, performance fit! let’s embark on a quest for the good. find the joy in all things and you will never be without in the drought. enjoy Yeshua.
& never underestimate the power of the small—pollen, seeds, a yes.
& may that seed given to you from heaven find a yes in your heart, like how fuzzy yellow pollen dot, carried by a busy bumble bee travels to populate earth with beauty. or a teeny vesselseed of new life finds its way underground, nestled in soil particles, ready to sprout and birth a habitat, an oxygen fountain, a branch dance in wind.
& that ache resonating in your veins, echoing on the stars, testifying: there is More!
there’s a reason the money’s a void, the coins never change enough.
there’s a reason earth searches for her husband.
we’re not meant to be alone.
so when your heart throbs, let the longing draw you up, out, to the arms of Father.
He is the More our hearts long for. there is a Love drawing us all.
so belong to God in Christ. rest in His arms.
He’s already holding you. Already Loves you completely.
Love says yes to you today. Love Himself invites you to dance, to be married, to sing a duet. give up your walls and your defenses. Love says yes to you!
& even in the junk there’s joy. we can laugh and dance! in the midst of mud puddles, Splash. in the midst of depression, Sing! because the God of Grace Loves: you.
today we can look at the One who is looking at us. we can be seen & understood.
today is a day of rest.
you may be shuffling deadlines or chauffeuring kids, but there is still rest.
you may be hustling or homemaking, but there is still rest.
you may be flying airplanes, running with dogs, typing homework, changing dirty diapers. you may be commuting, headbanging, baking, mowing.
wherever, whatever the day brings, there is rest.
deep in our hearts, we can have peace with God in Yeshua.
remember what He did—the work done. so we can rest, in Him 💙
You’re not like the others. You’re not like the sand, shifting and eroding, ebbing and flowing as tide comes and leaves. or star—born, sparkle, implode. breath, comes, goes. there’s grace laced throughout Your royal robes and burning eyes, leaving no trace of former scars or lies. You love to forgive, You love to forget. You don’t count my mistakes. or look at my forsaken state of mind. but call me beloved, found, Yours… all along. this false reality—me me me—ice melting beneath, nowhere to go but sink, is taken in a blink. when You look at me.
and taken, I am. Your gaze undoing every corner and crevice of things I thought I knew. unraveled, a puddle of yarn and knelt knees. I can barely stand that You would look at me. this love, so intense. I feel like rowing away. yet I’m drawn ever sweetly, stayed. can’t make sense of this, don’t even wanna. this beckoning fits my longing like a gloved hand. here we are, together. I never knew I missed You till we met. this Sun never stops shining. this Guide never stops giving. this God never stops pursuing. i can’t get away from You, why, why would i want to? nowhere else to go. even if I leave, You love.
You don’t leave. day 693, still. the same. unchanged. unmoved. like gazing at fire licking air on crisp night, I stare, at You. You don’t get old and You’re never boring. like Christmas morning or my wedding day, how can this elation stay? yet You elaborate, showing me more, then more, somehow more love. right here, so present. how do You be this way? so unlike all the other lovers, who left, never stayed. who left me hungry, wanting. chip bags full of empty, air. staring into vacant stands. reaching for green paper to buy another new, same disappointment. an island of misery. why did no one ever tell me I could be free, for free? given everything—You.
*this is an excerpt from my book, Microwave the Moon. i hope it blesses you! Available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/040vdod
everyone is invited to The Party. & once there, everyone has presents waiting to be opened.
sadly, many choose to not accept their invitation. they don’t believe the good news of acceptance so they ignore their invitation in disbelief. of those who accept their invitation, many never open the presents given to them. some open a few presents while still leaving a pile of presents untouched. while the fewest group of all, are those who receive from the goodness of the Giver. they are of humble childlike meekness &, with simplicity, they accept the invitation to life & then go & open each gift given to them from Him.
which partygoer (or ignorer) are you?
have you accepted your party invitation or carelessly tossed it in the garbage can? to accept the free invitation to be a part of Gods family is good news! we are all invited! God says yes to us in Jesus! will we say yes to Him? He’s proposed. it’s now up to us to respond—in faith with simple agreement, or in rejection of free gift of eternal life.
if you do accept, GREAT! but it’s not a one time acceptance! there’s more He wants to give. He is the more; the more we know Him, the more beauty, more love, more everything good—More HIM—is received in us. but it is possible to receive once, twice, several more times…then stop. check your heart. how are you receiving from God *today*. not yesterday or tomorrow—today. today is the day of salvation! live one day at a time as each day has enough troubles of its own. each day is fresh mercy is fresh reception, fresh gifts given from above to be received from God to each one of us!
the gift given is not just for you.
to truly open a gift & to relish it, is to expand it—when you’re excited about something, you want to share it with others! the joy and the peace & the laughing all transfer.
likewise to ignore that present given to you, hurts those around you. if you’re grumpy, anxious, irritable, rude, it definitely drags those with you to those low levels as well.
receive well. because God Giver—the Party Himself— is worthy of praise.
God is the gift. will you receive Him today?
“Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“But don’t forget this one thing, loved ones, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some consider slowness. Rather, He is being patient toward you—not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9
“For we know that if the tent, our earthly home, is torn down, we have a building from God—a home not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Corinthians 5:1
you know— we cannot trust our feelings, because even though a bungee jumper feels the free fall, they are always held and connected. so let’s live connected to Father. even when we feel the gravity, there is a Love who keeps us safe. we can feel like we’re falling, but the Lord. but the Lord is our saving line of hope.
He keeps us, leads us with cords of love
“I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. to them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.” Hosea 11:4
life can be like a bungee cord.
sometimes we stumble, but He pulls us back up. snap back! “for the one who delights in God, though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”(Psalms 37:24)
life can be like a bungee cord.
when we trust His way is best, we jump into faith & are found. obedience to God is all! so today take a leap faith, let it go, release. trust God to catch you as you step out on His Word! be. rest. the peace is found in waiting. & know—you are kept by cords of love.
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
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.