Good morning, DearOne.

Counting blessings this morn. It keeps me from wallowing in the struggles. This is moving day for my youngest. He will return. Many times. But, from my experience with his brothers, I know all too well that this is a new place … an end to life as I’ve known it. My nature is to get stuck on the loss, and dismiss the joys that are coming. So, a focused, conscious effort has been in full force during the wee hours.

Choosing to turn the challenges of my life over to my Maker. Feeling the grace.

Feeling His presence.

Feeling His grace emerge from the shadows. Transforming. Kneading this heart. Grace is a power that transforms the moment. It comes to us in direct responswhen we call to Christ in prayer. It works on us at a deeper, individual level … so we see beyond the surface – what a situation seems to be, to a place where growth sprouts. Every place of growth then becomes another tool … a blessing from which we can help others heal. God’s grace is the most powerful pearl on the planet.

Always present.

Always available to penetrate into every situation.

Never-ending.

It doesn’t make the hurt go away, but it releases new understanding on a spiritual level. It heightens us. You know, if grace was a color and we could physically see it on our life and on our circumstances, we could not bear the weight of it.

‘Father, allow me to know Your grace so fully today that those souls with whom I brush by become filled with the blessing and experience the gift – the weight of Your grace.’

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16 ESV

Wake up.

Notice grace.

From His fullness – notice grace upon grace in your moments.

Go.

Good morning, DearHeart,

Cute little fella, isn’t he.

Maybe he’s in prayer with his Maker.

I’m sitting with my Savior a while this morn. Beautiful morning.

You know, carving out time alone with your Father God sets in motion mind-blowing changes. It changes you. It changes your reality…your perspective.

Beloved, you have a daily Divine appointment. He will use it to unlock the straitjacket on your self-limiting thoughts. He will use it to take you to places in Him that you don’t even know you want to go!

He will grow your compassion, your insight toward others, so when their insults fire in your direction, they will be disabled by the hedge of compassion the Almighty has placed around you like a buffering fog.

Time with Him gives His fingers room to work, molding you into His image, the image of God Most High.

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” (Matthew 5:8 MSG)

Wake up.

Be moved by time with God.

Go.

‘Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Ephesians 4:1 NLT

DearHeart, Good Morning.

Last weekend, I got called to play in the dirt. It was divine! When I was little, dirt and mud pies were one of my favorite things, so I began preparing for this day about 50 years ago. At the time, I didn’t know it would someday be part of my calling in life. There are people who need what you have to give– today. You have been called. While you’re busy praying for answers, you are an answer to someone’s prayer. The gifts in you are gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Think on that a moment.

Dwell right there.

Your gifts are not for you. They’re for the people you are meant to serve. Your gifts are so natural to you that you do not recognize their distinction and value.

You did not know that what feels like breathing to you, could save someone else’s life … that’s why you must offer your gifts to the people who do see their value, and who will help you see it too. Even if it is a simple gift, like playing in the dirt. ❤️

Wake up.

Share away.

Go.

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12 NIV

Good morning, Beloved.

At times I suffer from a secret guilt. I didn’t do enough. I should be doing more. I stand with a shovel in my hand, a mound of dirt I’ve dug, and still there is this nagging feeling it is just not enough: Ang,—you should be about the business of doing more.

Often, I can’t get away from this voice. It is a drug. It is a madwoman within me. And she has the megaphone. You too?

So, we make a promise to run faster to get lots more done. To stack up plastic prizes on our game board. Or, wait. . . wasn’t there another promise made? One from way back?

Yes. Indeed.

There is another voice within me that I don’t always fully embrace during the running of the day. The God Who Loves you and me speaks truth:

“You are free indeed”,

“I will be kind to you”,

“I will walk with you”,

“I will watch out for you with intentional eyes”,

“I will encourage you through it all”.

“I am here”, He says.

Allow yourself to simply be God’s child. Let your life feel sacred, because when it does not, it is not life, and you get tired of having it. Let go of the doubt that squeezes the life out of you like a python.

Beloved, let the truth of your life feel sacred.

“Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’” John 8:31-32

Wake up.

Rest between the shoulders of your Creator.

Go.

“Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting You. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You.” Psalms 143:8 NLT

Mornin’, BoldOne.

Have you ever had a big decision to make? For the sake of others, you need to speak up, step in, shine a light on a wounded place? But, the result of doing so could be misunderstood. It could bring calamity. Sometimes things really do fall apart.

Prayer is the most powerful tool on the planet. As life moves in and out of our hours, we often choose to believe we are mere observers. We choose to stand back as events unfold.

That is where calamity happens.

That choice to sit on our hands is the decision point of pain or victory. Christ didn’t sit on his hands, DearOne. And, it has never been the intention of our Maker for you, His masterpiece, to sit on yours either. You have been called to live out your unique calling,

in your unique place,

with your unique people,

serving with your unique skills,

speaking prayer from your lips over your unique walk.

There is POWER when you need to get bold and take the reigns – and that POWER releases when you begin speaking His promises.

What are some of your go-to verses when you need God’s guidance?

Wake up.

Speak bold prayer.

Believe bolder.

Go.

“You will show me the way of life.”

Psalms 16:11 NLT

Good morning, God’s Child.

I’ve been at the heart hospital with dad the past couple of days. Hospitals are thinking places. At least for me. You know, over and over we get broken by the daily events of life. And, over and over we get opened up -not so much by the predictable … but usually I’m surprised by the nuances that break me open. There seems to be an unwritten code that is sent with each life: ‘you will get broken and opened in ways that will surprise you.’ It can be a weary journey. Others have gone before us. They’ve set examples of crumbling into a puddle and giving up under the weight, or opening up to be shown the way through the journey with their faith and vision. Dad’s a faith and vision guy. His heart beat is in afib at the moment and his heart history and his body chemistry makes him a “difficult case”. His norm is to go full throttle into getting things done, but his heart team is working slower and more cautiously than he would like. It gets frustrating. Yet, even here, as our visiting loves come in and out, carrying their life-stuff, just like dad being guided through in this hurry-up-and-wait time, we are being shown the hand of God guiding each other. His vibrant voice calling each one in every beat, His hand gently guiding, “this is the way, my child, walk with Me here”. We keep being reminded that it is in being broken open that faith and vision open the doors that open our hearts, expands our understanding, and leads us into strong places with our Creator.

Wake up.

Break open to be shown life.

Go.

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 HCSB)

Be still, DearOne.

Go to the Healer.

Give your heart permission to calm and back away from the fear of “what-if”.

Seek out the Calming Force himself. Take Him to meet the restless spirits face-to-face.

Have you noticed that calming, like healing, is a quest? It is an ongoing practice, not a single event. Every person’s healing is different, unfolding at slower layers of time. Every raw and messy complication has it’s own crackling personality to be dealt with. Each complication, full of unique energy that can change our perspective … throw us into darkness, then push our heart to the surface and help us see new streams of light, a way we’ve not seen before. Or, if we choose to ignore the Master in the trial, the event can burn ulcers – black holes through every delicate layer of your being.

Complications can be painful. Pain has it’s purpose like every other emotion.

It rises,

rages,

burns,

falls,

dies.

Yet, when handed to God Most High, it has the power to transform us.

Choose your yoke carefully. Especially the ones that change everything.

Wake up.

Limp on.

Healing is working.

Go.

November 21, 2014 tamed power

‘The gentle are blessed, for they will inherit the earth.’ (Matthew 5:5 HCSB)

Good Morning, DearOne!

It is common to think of one who is meek as one who is weak. But, it seems to me that is a mistake. Those of us who choose to submit to the the authority of Christ are far from weak. Rather, the power is under radical control.

Tamed power.

One of the most powerful things you and I can do in these days, our stormy hours, is stand up in peaceful resilience and let the Christ-filled soul be seen. And, to respect His Spirit in others … sense His light in others guiding you toward them. For all we know, that wandering, Spirit-driven, goat-collecting, eccentric that lives at the end of a dirt road at the edge of town may know more about the workings of the world than any professor, or poet, or president.

Spread your respect.

Wake up.

Let Light be your guide.

Go.