grace.

The morning routine I established over the summer included having breakfast and spending time with Jesus on our screened-in back porch. I found that being outside helps me to quiet my heart and my mind and start the day off just enjoying God's presence and his word. It helps to be away from the distractions of everything else I could be doing inside, away from my noisy family (whom I love!), and where I can enjoy the trees and the sky and the fresh air.

Needless to say, it's getting colder. Now I sit outside on our screened-in back porch with hot tea, a down comforter, and a space heater. I will not quickly surrender my spot!

Today during my showdown with the morning chill, God gave me these words: My grace is for today. 

Simple, but significant. 

I am finding that my faith in Jesus, though founded on a past commitment, is not solely informed by the past. It is alive and real in the present! It's not that every day is an easy, happy, walk in the park. But each day is swollen with the presence of my Lord, with his joy, with his goodness towards and love for me. This is a reality that was once a blurry, distant speck in my vision, but is now bursting with clarity and vibrance...and living in this reality changes everything.

And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep. 

--Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

firstly.

I almost decided to name this blog something using the word 'verbiage' (def: overabundance or superfluity of words). Mostly because I am completely aware that there is nothing new under the sun--everything worth saying has pretty much been said already, many times over. 

Instead, I went with the abundantly wordy (ha--I do not apologize for this, it says everything that I want it to say!) title of 'these encounters with god are defining who i am.' 

The last four months or so have brought a depth of experience to my relationship with Jesus I have never known before. The Lord has shown me more of Himself, of His love for me, of His passion and His purpose, than I could possibly explain to someone who has not experienced firsthand the presence of His Spirit. He has poured out his joy on me and met me in times of prayer and worship. He is teaching me, gently but brilliantly, that He is the only thing worth pursuing! Everything else pales in comparison to the light of his face...God in His grace is revealing this to me, stirring up my heart to desire Him more, inviting me to respond to His pursuit by never settling for less than all of Him.

God showed me this verse from Ezekiel 40:4 a few days ago:

"Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel."

This grabbed me because it is so pertinent for me right now: God is teaching me to see Him, to hear Him, to set my heart upon Him. He infuses into my soul the truth that every circumstance is for the purpose of knowing Him better. And the command that follows is to declare what I see, what I hear, what I discover as my heart becomes more fascinated by Jesus! 

So...here goes.