pursuing LOVE...and JOY...and WHOLEHEARTEDNESS!

I’m sitting in the prayer room, singing along to the chorus, “Catch me up in your story, all my life for your glory.” At the same time, I’m reading today’s devotional from Jesus Calling and meditating on the Scripture at the bottom of the page: And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus…Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. –Philippians 4:19, 6-7 I’ve been asking God, since yesterday, to inspire me with some blog idea for my friendship with God theme. (I want to try to and write something about this every Thursday this year.) But, I haven’t gotten anything. And, what I am getting is that I should write about how I’m dating and what God has been doing. First, I want to explain why I haven’t written about this yet. It was a complete surp...

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:7-8 I have probably prayed about finding a husband and getting married thousands of times over the course of my life. I have dreamed about my wedding since I was a little girl. (Except for that one season where I was so offended at God's leadership that I thought I didn't want a wedding. Fortunately, He healed my heart and changed my mind.) I spent hours thinking about the season, the location, the dress, the flowers and more details than my usually detail-avoiding brain could handle. But, I haven't prayed about Jesus' wedding very often. I haven't spent much time and energy imagining how glorious the day of the gladness of His heart will be. I haven't asked Jesus what He's looking for...

We don't play a lot of Monopoly in my family. I think that this is due, in part, to the fact that it's my dad's least favorite game and we like to stick to things that everyone enjoys. Despite my lack of experience with this game, I do remember how precious those get-out-of-jail-free cards seemed. I felt immensely thankful any time I pulled one and I would set it ever so carefully at the center of my area. My anxiety about landing myself in jail was greatly reduced because of that little card and I enjoyed a chance to be anxiety free about anything, even Monopoly. Recently, I have been wanting out of the process that God has me in, to grow and to change me. I have been wishing for a get-out-of-the-process-free card that I can use in my life. This really isn't a new desire for me. I've been wanting out of the process for a long time in several areas of my life. When I was working at the lycée, I wanted to be in private practice counseling and at the House of Pra...

This is the time of year where people make resolutions and set goals for the New Year. I am not one who usually follows this trend. But, I was intrigued when I read that Ann Voskamp, one of my favorite bloggers, picks a word for each year to give it a theme and a focus. http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/01/what-the-new-year-needs-most/ I wanted to try it, but then started putting all kinds of pressure on myself to come up with just the right word for this year. And, I have no idea what this year will hold, so the task feels that much harder. I had almost abandoned the idea until I was talking with God while I was driving to work yesterday. I was reflecting on some of the things that had been stirred up in my heart by the OneThing 2012 conference. On two separate occasions, I recognized gaps in my friendship with God because I do not take time to really pray for those things that are on His heart. This caused me to start evaluating my friendship toward Him in general. ...