Deep unto deep

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

-Psalm 23:4

God is so cool. Day by day, He is healing me, teaching me, dancing with me, crying with me, LOVING me. And day by day, I am beginning to believe the Truth that He never leaves nor forsakes us.

Even when I am in the wilderness and I cannot FEEL Him, He is there. He is drawing me deeper into His heart....deeper into the reality of His love for me.

I think one of the most wonderful teachings I've heard is Graham Cooke's teaching on "Hiddenness and Manifestation". It's all about how we go through seasons of really feeling and experiencing the presence of God (manifestation)..and then we go through seasons of not feeling His presence at all (hiddenness). Ah, the WILDERNESS...so dry, so quiet.

Graham talks about how we don't need to be afraid when we are in a season of hiddenness. God is not angry or disappointed...He is actually PLEASED with us and desires for us to know Him in a deeper place/way.

Like I said..God is so cool.

Cook it up

"Julie and Julia" is an awesome movie. Just sayin'.

Also, cooking is awesome. I love it. It sparks so much creativity in me.

It's crazy to think how I would barely set foot in the kitchen a mere 2 years ago...and now I love it. It's such place of community and laughter. And realness.

Cooking with Shayne in that tiny kitchen in London did so much to bring forth that part of who I am. I'm not sure he realizes just how much his encouragement and presence affected my heart; it helped me to step out of my fear and into something wonderful.

God was definitely hard at work in that tiny kitchen...in more ways than one.

"..To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

-Isaiah 61:3

It's very hard to believe that out of the ashes comes beauty...

but it's the Truth.

It's really easy for me to be blinded to the goodness of God by my own shortcomings. The longer I walk this journey of life with Him, the more I can see my own weaknesses..my own wounds. And Religion and the pain of my own past tells me to fix my problems; to quickly cover the scars and the dirt so that I may present myself clean and covered before my King.

Because why would a King like Him want a bride like me?

What life has taught me about true Beauty has been a lie.

But the Truth is that He does want a bride like me. In fact, He tells me: "..turn your eyes away from Me, for you have overcome Me."

I overcome God?! Jesus, the Creator of all things and Love incarnate, is overcome by MY heart!?!

That's awesome.

And what's even more awesome is the Truth is the Truth. Nothing can change it. Not even my own disbelief can make the Truth less True! And I can't MAKE it True by the force of my own will...but I can uncover myself before my King and behold Him as He beholds me in my weakness.

That's where real change takes place, right? From glory to glory.

It is through gazing upon His face, discovering His beauty, that our beauty is revealed.