Just.
As.
We.
Are.
Would we stop running with our 'reckless abandon' in circles? Would we take our eyes off the Ten Commandments & meet the gaze of a loving Father? Would we stop looking so judgmentally on those around us & look through eyes that are free? Maybe we could be different. Maybe for the first time, we might shake hands with rest, & rest might introduce us to its dear friend happiness. & maybe, just maybe, we'll come to love & live out our God-intended, true selves.
You are already clean because of
the words I have spoken to you.
(JOHN 15:3)
I've heard of thin places.
These so called places here on earth we are granted to tread where heaven falls to our fingertips. Places where the winds from the perfect haven gust our way, & for a mere instant, we are basking in the warmth. Heaven on earth.
The drop of Irish that has survived, claiming it's bearings through my fair flesh is enough for the myths to take root in my bones. I hear of these thin places & passion rises, along with the God inside of me. Because I have felt that in the most unspectacular of days. When I am driving past that holy farm on the cloudiest of days, contrast of golden, corn hills & poisonous green razors. When the rain comes thudding on the roof over my head & I am sitting on that couch near the window, witnessing creation become baptized by the Father's love. When I walk out my door in the morning & the crisp, autumn breeze envelopes my lungs. I have connected I want to feel that often to I want to know you more. Those moments when we are met with heaven's sloppy, wet kiss. Those are the God moments, his aroma is our therapy.
& that's the beauty, ya know?
As I decide which salsa recipe to follow, I feel it. Joy. Peace. God's Holy presence. Myself. So I do what my indecisive mind decided to do yesterday, before the flip & the flop. As I drive to the store & open my mind to the Father, I think about all the things I love. All the things that seem silly. Things I love & my mother hates. Why do I love these petty things as I do? & I believe something, something that draws me to take my shoes off at the door in declaration. This is holy ground.
God is love & love is God. I say I love baking & creating, & my heart confirms with the deep leaps of my dancing soul. Some say we over use the term 'love'. Maybe. If that is at all possible, I definitely am worthy of accusation. But maybe those people who want to turn love into a law, maybe they are the fun suckers. Maybe when I say I love baking, maybe it's because I feel newness through it. I lose & find my bearings. I enter my thin place.
Won't you come in? Enter my thin place with me. Rest for a moment. Let me fill your cup with piping hot coffee as you catch the escaping steam from the brim of the mug. Marvel over these secrets I have, will you? I have this secret I want to give you. So take off your shoes, curl those feet up on the couch, & let me grab you a throw. Let's talk about something I have been wanting for you.
Do what you love.
Yes, that's it. I want to see your lips curve upward as you dance around the kitchen in your pajamas, I want to hear your heart escape those lips, as laughter fills the room louder than the movie. I want to watch your thoughtful mind penetrate your expression, solving the ends to your puzzle. Sing in the shower as the echo fills the house. Your imperfect voice is beautiful. Do what you love, & allow the joy to flow freely. Because maybe those things that make our soul well up like a little birthday girl aren't flukes in our human nature. Maybe God gave those loves to us so in those loves, we might feel His presence the strongest. Would you dare to believe that?
We become saved & become all too frightened. As if we have to transform into robots. As if we have to be like them. But, dear love, I am here to rescue your little self that is feeling left out & unloved. Your joys are heaven sent. You scrapbook because you love to scrapbook, I bake because I love to bake. & in these loves, we feel like heaven & earth have collapsed. We feel like God is so close, we might reach out & touch him. We enter our thin place.
His & hers.
I just celebrated my first month with a special, special man. It has been G R E A T let me tell you. But I tell you this to tell you about the text message conversation I shared with my sisterlove in Christ, Mary. I was on a family trip, & Keith & I had just started dating. Mary's engaged to Stephen, & they are both so deserving of each other, as both are two of the most wonderful beings. So we talked, & did that thing girls do. We talked relationships.
& one thing Mary said stuck, creeping into my mind in my most thought-filled moments. She said that the closer she grew to Stephen, the closer & deeper her intimacy with Christ became. & its strange to us. Our hearts grow towards something or someone, & we feel altogether closer to God. But it just makes sense. Because what is love apart from God's love. He invented it. He defines it. Love is God. God is love. Woven together in the same breath, the two cannot be separated.
We love because He first loved us.
(JOHN 4:19)
& God will meet you there. He created those thin places for you to find his secret place. Enter & be filled, let him be your portion. Be who he made you to be, don't concern yourself with what he made others to love. You are original- not a photocopy. You were given your own fingerprint for a personalized, hands on experience. Live your own life, be your own you. & never deny yourself a thin place. Feel God, feel joy, feel rest.
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