Soaking it up...

Sometimes I feel so aware of God's presence in my every moment, like even though I can't see Him outright, I can feel His breath washing over me rhythmically in my day to day.

That's not been the season I've been in lately.

I think with all the moving about and making plans and settling in and settling out again, I've just kinda been keeping up with things.

But on Saturday my Mom and I flew down to Arizona for a little mother/daughter trip to use some of her timeshare points up before the end of the year (what a chore!). And the "vacation feeling" just quiets the clamours in my soul enough to tune in and hear that breath of God again.

And it's like coming home, only to more of a home than home...

Again and again and again, it is His beauty that calls me to Him, that draws my heart up close to Him. Again and again and again, I am floored when I catch sight of His glory in whatever form-- the grandeur of the Grand Canyon Mom and I just spent a day visiting, the luxury of the condo we're blessed to stay at this week in Sedona, the laughter of the little children in my life reflecting His heart of joy, the intimacy of sharing deep talks with the woman who gave birth to me and then lovingly raised me. It all just points me to His kindness.

And then the darker seasons I've walked through, the struggles of the soul I've fought with strength nearly spent, the hurt and ache the world constantly throws at us, it instantly fades in the light of realizing afresh what it means to be loved by the King of the world.

I cannot help but be reminded again of the endless hope there is in belonging to Him. At the end of this blink of an eye existence is a whole new reality we only look toward expectantly now, glimmers of it shining through in the experiences of beauty and wonder we can glimpse here and now.

This week is a chance to revel in those glimmers of the hope of eternity, to consume His presence in all the joy and delight and beauty and hope I can catch and hold close to my heart.

And all I can do is bow that heart in awe, and soak it all up in gratitude.

Thank You, my kind and endlessly hopeful King.
May the world know that You are all that You say you are, and may they never go hungry for Your presence again.

My beautiful Mom and I soaking up the majesty of the Grand Canyon

The surreal glory of the Grand Canyon

Soaking up His glory in the sunset over the Grand Canyon

And soaking up His kindness in the luxury of the timeshare in Sedona where we're staying!

May you pause today, and stop long enough to settle your busy mind and heart, and draw up close enough to this gracious God to hear His presence breathing over you. He loves you, He loves you, He loves you. And He always will.

"Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk,
now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness."
-- 1 Peter 2:2-3

An Excerpt by Oswald Chambers

I have a soft spot for Oswald Chambers (Or am I just a sucker for a good ol' godly British man when I see one!?). Anything I have ever picked up by him has pierced right to the heart of whatever season I've been tramping through at the time... While home, I often root through my mom's book shelves and this time I fell upon a little gem by Chambers called, quite simply, "The Love of God". Using Jude 1:21, Chambers expounds on my God's love in a way that challenges me to be "driven further and further out into the ocean fullness of the love of God", and I can't help but share it with you!

"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
--Jude 1:21

"We know how to keep ourselves in health. how to keep ourselves in knowledge, and so on; but to keep ourselves in the love of God is a big order, and our minds are exercised to know what Jude means by this exhortation. Does relaxing all stringency and carefulness mean that we slip out into a broad, humanitarian spirit that says, 'God is love,' and 'God's in His heaven; all's right with the world'? No, it cannot mean anything so natural as that, otherwise we had no need of an inspired writer to tell us to do it, and besides, Jude strikes terrible notes of warning (see vv.17-19). 'Keep yourselves in the love of God' refers very clearly to something distinct and special, something revealed in the direct will of God; a spiritual endeavor that we must consider and consider carefully with the Holy Spirit's help.

'Keep' means work. It is not a lazy floating, it is work. Work, or you will depart from the love of God [I need to stress here that he is not taking about earning God's love here, but about the work it takes to keep ourselves aware of it, to remind ourselves, and to choose to live in the knowledge of it!]. Begin to trace the finger of God and the love of God in the great calamities of earth, and in the calamities that have befallen you. In sweat of brain and spirit, work, agonizing at times, to keep yourself in the love of God. It is our wisdom, our happiness, our security to keep ourselves in the love of God. How do I keep myself in any sphere but by using every means to abide in it? If I wish to keep in the spiritual sphere of the love of God I must use the great organ of the spiritual realm, faith. 'God loves me'. Say it over and over and over, heedless of your feelings that come and go. Do not live at a distance from God, live near Him, delighting yourself in Him. Remove all barriers of selfishness and fear and plunge into the fathomless love of God.

'Keep yourselves in the love of God,' not 'keep on loving God.' None can do that. When once you have understood the truth about your own heart's sinfulness, think not again of it, but look at the great, vast, illimitable magnificence of the love of God. Oh, may we be driven-- driven further and further out into the ocean fullness of the love of God, taking care that nothing entices us out of that fullness again.

'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' (Romans 8:35). Oh, the fullness of peace and joy and gladness when we are persuaded that nothing 'shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

I want to be driven further and further out into the ocean fullness of the love of God. I want to take care that nothing entices me out of that fullness again. I want to trust that every single day-- even if those days include horrid and hard goodbyes with dear ones I love, and long journeys back to lonely and discouraging places-- He is inviting me to know more of His love. And from that place of receiving it, to every day give and reflect more and more of it. To watch Him transform this world with my own little piece of the mirror reflecting the truth of His love and mercy.

Let's keep ourselves in this love til our every decision, every action, every word, even every hope reflects it out to a dying world...

Thanks again, dear Oswald :)