I can joyfully choose to trust Him and all that He is while my world is shaking with unwanted and unexpected quaking.

I am head over heels in love with Christmas.

I love the season. I love the wonder and the meaning.

I love the miracle that Christmas has ushered in to the darkness and confusion of planet earth.

I love the joy that only happens at Christmas.

“In the central place of very heart, there is a recording chamber; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage, you are young.” - Ullman

I determine to spend my days encouraging people and writing thank you notes.

I determine to invest the rest of my days believing for the best and not giving in to disillusionment or despair. A very wise man once told me, “It’s more fun to believe!”

I determine to lavish in the laughter of children, to wade in the gift of extraordinary friends and to drown in the beauty of creation.

Every difficult person that you encounter is an opportunity for you to reveal the character of Christ in your less-than-perfect body.

Don’t allow discouragement to paralyze your soul! Don’t give discouragement the pleasure of pressing “pause” on your ability to minister or on your deep desire to encourage others.

The glory of prayer is found in those words “I don’t. I can’t. I’m not”

Because He is!

I pray that this year… as August gives way to autumn… that you will choose to celebrate the
lavish goodness of our God.

God never asked Moses to be enough. He simply asked Moses to believe Him.

Now more than ever we as the children of God need to stick out like a sore thumb as we display the hope of our salvation.

One thing that I know for sure is that God doesn’t want me to camp out in either

extreme.

We might honestly have a day or two here or there … or a week from time to time …

when we are met with an extreme … but you just can’t live there!

Esther. Young. Lovely. Jewish. Forced to marry an older man who had absolutely no value for human life. Absurd! Ridiculous! Inconceivable!

God!! Where are you?! Do you even care?!

God does indeed, care.

I often feel that I live my life in layers … do you feel that same way?

Perhaps it is not that I actually live my life in layers … but there are definitely layers that co-exist inside of me.

The layers lay on top of each other and often hide the deepest, holiest parts of that which makes up the whole of me.

America means many things to those who live upon its soil.

It means the Freedom of Religion … the Freedom of Speech … and the pursuit of happiness.

America is the majestic Grand Canyon … the utter dependency of Old Faithful … and it is the sun-drenched Gulf Coast.

America is the lazy Mississippi River … the towering Redwood Forest … and sunflowers splashed across the Great Plains.

America. The Land of the Free. The Home of the Brave.

There will come a day when our reality changes once again … when we transfer not from childhood to adulthood but from time into eternity.

From humanity into heaven’s splendor. From temporary into everlasting. From flesh and blood into the spirit.

When we look back at this life from heaven’s perspective… I wonder if we will look at all this current life offers as an adult views childish toys.