Have you ever reflected on how God
scripts details in our lives? Do you notice small things woven
together into an amazing wow that captures our attention better
because they happened simultaneously?
I've found the book I was reading
coming alive as a phone call about a possible assignment stirs the
dynamics inside of what the book was talking about. Will I keep
trying to impress, and not break the mold, or will I simply be real?
Thanks to the book I was just reading and processing, I'll make a
different choice then I would if the timing of this phone call would
have been a bit different.
I've seen God giving me an image that
comes back to mind later that day as I read another book, and clearly
understand what the meaning of the image is as I reflect on the words
of the story. Will I choose to keep my heart alive in the midst of
heart aches?
I've watched a love starved child run
wild after a tiny dab of love was given to them, and heard God
whisper, “That's you.”
I've had God cut my work hours in order
to have a solitude with Him that brought more healing to my heart
then the value of the money I would have made during the same amount
of time.
He is a God who invites ever so gently.
He never stops, but is constantly on the move to get our attention
and call us to more. The spot at the table is open 24/7 and it has
our name on it. I love how He catches us off guard and just kindly
helps us lower our protective exterior a bit more.
He is always showing us, but never
condemning. Full of grace and mercy, His way of confronting is
powerful. I want to come. I want to be more. I want to follow His
directive. I want to experience more of Him. And I want to become
more like Him in this. Inviting. Welcoming. Kindly speaking truth day
in and day out, without stopping.
There's plenty of conversations that I
didn't handle well. Words I'd take back. And sometimes the wish that
I'd have said more. There's been a lot of living, reflecting,
processing, and even some progressing in 2018. {Gotta love one-liner
epistles}
As we walk forward into 2019, I feel
this excitement and joy that invitations will come to turn from
looking at the past and learning, and instead focusing on the future
and growing. I pray that the internal shift that has been slowly
developing will softly harden into a good new normal in the next
year. That the things I've been invited away from will continue to
fall by the wayside, and that gradually I'll pull more towards the
things I've been invited to. This invitation to more has me enamored,
intrigued and delighted, and maybe just a bit nervous that I'll miss
the mark.
But let's get back to the Invitation.
God always leaves the door open, always invites, always welcomes, and
graciously keeps loving on us, regardless of our response. He has an
open space for us all the time. Let's linger at this image just a
bit. Let's get our fill so we can be like Him in this inviting thing.
It's not a Martha Stewart special with
the perfect napkins, extra frills and fancy saucers. It's being real,
instead of whatever super perfection expectation I feel like everyone
else holds me to. It's being alive when my world makes me want to die
inside, and it's living soaked up in love instead of grabbing a dab
here and there. But even more then all this, it's going the extra
mile and offering all this and a cherry on top to those who need it.
It's offering them a safe place to be real. It's inviting them to
life when the world is beating them down. It's offering them the
whole cake of love and letting them eat it, too.
Bring on another whole new steep
learning curve in 2019! An invitation to defiant joy sounds exciting
to me!
