SuRpRiSe!!!

I really do have the best friends in the world.  Sorry everyone else.  But it’s true.

They threw a surprise party for me yesterday.  I thought you should see a few of the hundred photos that my roommate Sarah, graciously took…

So thus begins, my 26th year.  I am so excited and grateful for this year, and am believing that it will be the best yet.

The verse that kept running through my head all day is…

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:18

I trust that as I continue to pursue His glory, I will continue to see increase in His goodness in my life.

My life is so amazing, it’s hard to imagine it getting better.  But the Author of this life is the same One “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:20)

Thank you to everyone who made this birthday amazing!

real raw & reminded…

I believe in honesty.  You can’t get very deep without it.   So today I’ll be honest with you.

I can be forgetful.  I can make a way bigger deal out of me that I should.  I can get anxious.  I can loose perspective.  I can get weighed down.  I can be impatient with the unknowns.

The last couple of days have felt heavy to me.  That’s honest right?  Sometimes as an intercessor it’s hard to tell what’s me, and what are feelings are intercession.

In the midst, my Savior has been so gentle, so kind.  He has been reminding me what really matters.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.”

1. My job is to believe.

2. The rest is His job.

I so desire to please Him.

The hard part is believing when things seems gray, when promotions pass, when uncertainty seems to be the closest friend we have.  It is simple to believe Him when the sun is shining and all seems well.  But He is  the same in both seasons.  He doesn’t change.

Can we believe in His goodness in both seasons?

Look again at the end of the verse.  We often quote the 1st part, but neglect the last.  Do we believe that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him?

I encourage you and me both to declare the goodness of God over our lives today.  Make hopeful declarations over the gray and bleak areas.  Because…

“faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

I pray that you will be filled with faith and hope this Monday.  I pray that your heart will be made new in the light of His goodness.  I pray that you and me both will have the grace to laugh at the days to come. I speak to any heaviness and command it to leave, and release grace to come in like a flood.