And will stroke the first letter of another.

Continuing the growing story of a good work in progress.

May this be a year where you become convinced of God’s love, His faithfulness, and His sincerity for your good.

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For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive [our sins, sending them away, completely letting them go forever and ever]; And abundant in lovingkindness and overflowing in mercy to all those who call upon You.

-Psalm 86:5

That’s how I felt the day after my fiancé proposed.

My feet didn’t touch the ground.

They levitated.

My heart didn’t beat.

It vibrated and fluttered.

My blood was gone.

Replaced with what felt like warm honey.

My heart pumped sweetness throughout my body.

Until all of my internal organs were coated in love.

I was floating sunshine.

And this floating sunshine began to move significantly.

When God moves us from one season of life to another, the transition is always compelling.

Like autumn trees discard their leaves before the ice of winter, in His omniscience, God prepares us for what’s ahead.

Growth happens in places that were thought to be matured.

Blind spots are given sight.

Love and effort become two sides of the same coin.

And discovery is inevitable and constant.

As Jesus draws the line between the former and the next, we experience the swings and pivots that come with His action.

It’s His grooming so that we can flourish and serve Him greater in our next position

Learning to let God train me for new territory

I will be a wife

A fact that is nothing short of amazing

My romance is a ballad composed by Jesus

Written in His perfect will

Arranged in His perfect timing

And oh, how I love to sing along to it

It is the theme song to the start of my day

The background music to my thoughts

And it is the soundtrack for my new journey

Surely, the Giver of life is the Giver of good gifts

I can attest as a grateful recipient

________________________________________________

“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’

‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,and the two will become one flesh.’ 

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 

Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

-Mark 10:6-9

I’ve been absent.

A beautiful unknown is coming into view.

And handling the shadows that want to tag along has been tough.

But silhouettes always melt away in the Light

Welcoming this next level

Where trust and faith work best unboxed

Without perimeters

Without limits

Without borders

Adapting, 

Folding my life into neater sections.

Amending, 

Transforming block lettered hope into calligraphic reality.

Adjusting, 

Retiring from the snug warmth of what was

To reside in the tingly shiver of what may be…

…and what will be…

…and what is.

The final quarter of 2014 was a dramatic experience. 

A reminder of a few things.

Of God’s love.

His provision.

Most especially, His faithfulness. 

A season is changing.

Preparing for 2015. 

“Look, the winter is past,
    and the rains are over and gone.
The flowers are springing up,
    the season of singing birds has come,
    and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.
The fig trees are forming young fruit,
    and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.”

-Song of Solomon 2:11-13

Her usually cherubic face contorted into a grimace.

Her eyes became chocolate tongues of fire as she watched me collect the remaining cards.

In a crystalline 4-year-old aria, she sang,

“I don’t want to play any more.”

Now, the game was her idea.

She had bounced with excitement as I set up the board, arranged the cards, and gave her a game piece.

But Sarah stomped her Stride Rite sneakered feet in displeasure when she began to lose some of her gold tokens.

Something shifted when she realized that losing was a possibility.

I don’t want to play any more.

We can feel the same way at times in life.

We are granted moments that make us float with thrill and encounters that simmer into syrupy joy.

It is when these occasions threaten to persist

When they hint at continuance

That give us pause.

Because we know that floating too high can make you fall

And simmering can ease into a slow burn

And injury to our person

Our heart

Is imaginable.

The risk gets real.

And we don’t want to play any more.

But stopping the game means cutting a journey short.

Ending the happy

And closing the door to a win.

Yeah, painful defeat is conceivable.

So is exhilarating triumph.

Let’s see what’s next.

Stay in the game.  

And keep playing.

Growing up, there was nothing more magical to me than a department store.

As soon as my mother’s glossy mauve fingertips loosened on my wrist, I was off to explore this grand kingdom.

The circular clothing racks would transform into miniature weeping willows.

I’d part them to carefully settle into a hidden cave, a cozy and dark hideway specially carved for me.

My fantastical trek was always cut short when my mother’s voice reached through the colorful trees and beckoned me to the register.

Or as I’d call it, “The Wall.”

To a short 6 year old, the register counter was a particularly annoying presence.

Sullenly teasing me with its height, shrouding what was behind it in wallpapered mystery.

Balancing on the tips of my Keds with ballerina concentration offered no real revelation.

Just slivers of possibles.

Flashes of dollar bills in metal drawers.

Peeks of logoed paper bags.

Views of glass merchandise on clear shelves.

I’d catch only drops of what was there before I crashed back on my heels.

Back into frustrating cluelessness.

We always wonder

Always ponder

What is next.

What awaits us in the next chapters of our lives. 

But all remains hidden by the wall of time and our limited understanding. 

We can breathe easy in knowing that our Heavenly Father is far bigger than we are.

He sees and controls what lies behind

and beyond

the wall.

Jesus stands beside us at the counter

Smiling reassuredly as we see saw between our toes and heels

He sees what we don’t. 

And we can trust Him.

I trusted in, relied on, and was confident in You, O Lord;

I said, You are my God. My times are in Your hands…

–Psalm 31:14-15a (AMP) 

A short sharp chirp.

Like the grooved segment of a jigsaw part finding its compatible segment.

Or ragged zipper teeth sliding into their spaces in line.

Or the etched bars in a metal key that scrape the ridges inside of a lock.

The click.

Two pieces.

That can exist alone.

But united become a haven.

An instrument.

A masterpiece.

Designed to be better together than apart.

Crestfallen when it is elusive but elated when it is certain,

in relationships, we search for a click.

The click.

But it cannot be manufactured or manipulated.

A click, the click happens when it is meant to

Naturally.

Things like aging cedar stairs

Rusted metal barstools

Flimsy Styrofoam plates.

Certain relationships

They cry out under weight it can’t carry.

They wail from pressure it wasn’t designed to handle.

They whimper because decay has obliterated its strength

Weak things creak.

It’s the first clue of damage.

A sign that something needs inspection.

Weak things creak.

Things like aging cedar stairs

Rusted metal barstools

Flimsy Styrofoam plates.

Certain relationships.

Failure to examine such things can cause collapse.

And the frail notes of strain can become the beginning of an end.