But instead of focusing on the performance I found myself telling each of them how proud I was that they show up at class each week and learned about dance and work hard at practicing what they are taught.

So even though in person I could go on about how proud I was of their performance on stage … what I really wanted to reinforce through the words they would hopefully read a few more times after the performance was how proud their Grandfather and I were they were faithful in the showing up week after week.

As I picked up my journal to begin writing at some point one day it felt as if I could literally feel the breath coming back in my body as the words flooded the page with recognizing my dependence in getting still in God’s presence and allowing his spirit to strengthen all that I am.

My being still …reminding every part of me that he is God…

Over everything.

Every thought racing through my mind…

Pulling my thoughts out of the past and the future 

At the very moment, I am in 

Right here 

Right now

That’s where he is …

And where his peace and presence 

Surrounds and strengthens me.

It’s the Monday after Easter weekend and I wasn’t planning on recording a podcast today but I shared something with my family yesterday when we gathered to celebrate Resurrection Sunday together and woke up this morning feeling like I wanted to pass it on…

Maybe because it’s the day after…

You know the feeling I”m talking about…like the day after Christmas or any big event when you wake up after days or weeks of preparation and anticipation. And I always experience a little of that after Easter except it’s like a holy hangover.

And I always have the thought after any focused celebration that this should be our normal. This is why I talk about living intentionally all the time because it can be… we just have to be intentional about living the life we are called to live and not the one that is fighting for our attention.

So back to the conversation, I was having with my husband, Ron… I shared the experience again and he looked at me and said “Wow, that word feels like it’s even more for today.  And I wholeheartedly agreed… 

It’s probably not accurate to say it’s more powerful or accurate for today but rather our perspective had more clarity to see and truly understand felt more powerful.

These past few weeks have had me welcoming Spring…

I’ve been reminded these past few weeks while spending time in the She Is Awakening Journal of why this practice has always been so meaningful to me.

I often say God longs to speak to us so are we creating the space and intentionally listening for his voice?

And what’s interesting to me is it doesn’t always happen in the moments we’ve gotten still and are reading and writing and praying and listening…it’s as if oftentimes those moments are posturing our hearts and our lives to be awake to see and hear God in our lives.

That question can actually go a couple of ways…

One way, meaning, there are things that have died that God wants to awaken within you.

And the second way is asking what is dying to be expressed and released through you.

The anxiety and tension we can experience in our life so many times come from us living out of alignment with who we were designed to be.

We are living our life according to what everyone around us is doing instead of being led to live by the still small voice within us …the voice that knows us better than we know ourselves.

Many of us have experiences of past relationships that ended and we find ourselves remembering only the things we miss about the relationship. 

I remember doing this so many times after breaking up with someone because for whatever reason knew the relationship didn’t need to go any further and felt good about the decision and yet days and weeks later I found myself romanticizing what was and only remembering the things I enjoyed or what worked in the relationship and ignoring all of the reasons I ended things in the first place.

Now I’m not wanting to imply that everything in the past that has ended needs to be framed as it’s over and gone and wasn’t a great experience in your life. I’m just wanting us to be honest when looking back that even though you are grieving a loss there were most likely parts that you knew weren’t part of your future and didn’t love then but now that it’s gone you aren’t remembering that.

But first, can we just talk about the weather? Are we moving into Summer already?!? I’m kidding but I’m not kidding that it seems we just put up Christmas things and it’s going to be March this week!

And in just a few weeks we will officially be welcoming Spring!

This goes along with what I want to share with you today!

As human beings love is most often equated to feelings and actions that make one deserving of love 

When those ideas couldn’t be further from the truth...

You are loved simply because…

You are loved because you are you

Because your life was God’s idea.

There’s nothing you can do to earn it…

The unbelievable, unconditional, never-ending love that he has for you.

All you can do is receive it…

And experience it.

For sure I can see where I would have preferred making other choices but I can also see that without those choices and outcomes, I wouldn’t have chosen for myself…

I wouldn’t be who I am in this very moment.

Who I am today

How my relationships are today

How I think and process life today

All the layers of life I have lived through have made me exactly who I am today.

What you see in me today is

56 years of layers woven together.

Hey you!  How are you??  To be honest, these first few weeks of the new year have felt long and hard. Some good news in December became heavy news in January.

Part of me wants to show up here and share something light and encouraging and yet when I talk to some of you I hear the heaviness too. We are all walking through some kind of winter. 

I guess what I’m leaning into… it’s a deeper reliance and relationship with God and confidence and faith and trusts in him than any understanding I might have. And realizing whatever understanding I have is still lacking…

And at the same time standing in the truth that in God there is no lack.

And that’s exactly what happened at the end of last year. The last day of 2021 came and there was no desire in me to put things away as I normally did. I just kept thinking that I wanted to stay in the celebration of all that we had been anticipating for weeks. 

So the lights stayed up and on and I’ll get back to that in a bit…

I’m saying yes to fully stepping into all that he has for me even if I don’t have all the answers.

I’m saying yes to intentionally creating the space these next several weeks to hear his voice and feel his presence strengthening me for the next season.

So I guess what I’m wanting to say is …

Listen out for the invitation

So again the length of your prayer or how many words are offered up isn’t the point… but rather the act of transferring the weight of worry or whatever you are carrying into the hands of God.

When you find yourself in moments this week where you feel frustration or negative thoughts or emotions rising up. Right there in that moment set your heart and mind on the presence of God and thank him for who he is and see where that goes.

So what if we have the password to peace and aren’t using it?

What if we “entered” every day with gratefulness?

*life doesn't have to be perfect to have peace

It’s about knowing the prince of peace

So that’s our focus for this week.

Being intentional about setting our hearts and minds on being thankful as we enter every day, every moment of our lives.

Recognizing that God’s peace and presence are already there for us to receive.

We are wired and created for connection.

We come into this world belonging

Because we were formed by our creator and belonged before we were ever seen by human eyes.

Sometimes the eyes that are on us or the eyes we long to see on us, cause us to struggle with connection and belonging.

But even in the midst of any struggle I believe in community and connection and think it is so very important for each of us.

And The most foundational and needed connection is with the one that created us.

And It’s in those sacred moments of connection with my creator that I remember who I am…

So this conversation I want us to have around community and connection in this episode is really more a question that I want us to think about…

We are yours.

Remind us we are more than any role of wife, mother, customer service rep, teacher…any role or title we might have

No matter how valuable any of those roles are we are first and foremost yours.

Help us to look for and see where you are leading us this week.

We are so grateful that you go before us. Give us eyes to see the way.

Thank you for your faithfulness to us even when we have questions.

Your presence and strength uphold us. So we choose to stay in the posture of receiving and standing in all that you long to be in our lives.

We are yours.

I recently had a conversation recently this same friend. I reminded her of what she had said to me years ago and how that had stayed in my mind. She kind of got a funny look hoping she hadn’t offended me and I had been thinking about it all this time haha. I assured her that wasn’t the case. But what she had said to me that day did hit me in a way that made me think and that thinking continued through the years.

So 20 years later I brought back up that question and said that day you asked me about worship and said you couldn’t imagine singing and leading worship not being a big part of my life. And here’s what I’ve realized I am as passionate about worship as I ever was it’s just with my whole life now.