This...Today

Don't roll your eyes and say, "join the crowd", but..
 I'm overwhelmed.

Not the way I've been overwhelmed before...
   like in an, "Oh my good-grief..I'm done..I'm not doing this anymore" kind of way.

No.

But in a, "Oh my GOD, You are so amazing and I praise You for the space You've given us" kind of way.

I got an email today from a friend that I treasure.  A friend that I met in this place, actually.
This place that has been hard to live in a lot of days.
This place that is cramped sometimes.
This place that has been a platform for us to grow with over 800 people.
This place that I both love and loathe for all of the above reasons and more.

"I brought you into a spacious place; I rescued you because I delighted in you. No matter what your circumstances, if you belong to Me, you are in a spacious place of salvation. You may be feeling cramped in your current situation, but your salvation is an ever expanding gift. My Spirit lives inside you, and He is always working to sanctify you--making you more like Me. This is an inner expansion, and it will continue till I call you home to Glory. Heaven is a wondrously spacious place; you will never feel cramped or frustrated there." Jesus Today, Sarah Young

2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me b/c he delighted in me. 

Read this today and thought of you. 

Praying over your ministry today. 

Praying you feel purpose in the midst of chaos. 

Praying you feel God's love poured on you as you try and try again to serve and love as Christ. 

Praying you see fruit of your labor, just enough that encourages your heart to "press on". 

love you lady and all your crew"

So, yeh... today I'm overwhelmed.

"HE brought me OUT 

into a spacious place; 

HE rescued me 

because HE DELIGHTED in me."

       I am overwhelmed that He loves me so much!
So much that He brought me to this space, our current space.

A year ago I cried more days than not because we lost "space".

Over the last 12 months I've cried because I craved "space".  

And today I'm overcome, too..
   with gratitude.
Because He physically loves us through those He's led into our lives in this place!

*Thank you, Jesus, and thank you sweet friend!*

"God won't meet tomorrow's needs until tomorrow comes."

...leaving the tomorrows to Him cause He knows what He's doing today.

March 'madness' (1)

Words that left a mark when I read them months ago....

Below is a bit of the refreshment God surprised us with this month!  

Maybe you saw the photos and heard the news that my Mom came to visit...

 I'm not sure who was more thrilled.... me or the kiddos!

Oh, how we love this woman!!!

AND guess what?!?  While she was here, she took over childcare duties for a few days and John and I left (by OURSELVES!!!) to enjoy a get-away gift!

I've been praying that God would pave the way for the 2 of us to get away for our upcoming anniversary in August but we got news at the end of February that our friends, Pete and Teresa, made arrangements for us to get away sooner than August!

I was scared to get too excited before we actually got there because, well, it's been a long time since things have actually gone the way we've hoped....

And then we arrived and it was REAL!  

(This is us in Punta Cana without kids and without guests.........

we WERE the guests at this all-inclusive resort!)

We were greeted with mimosas in the lobby...

...someone took our luggage and we---were---free!  

Y'all, we had our own room (like normal people) and our own bathroom--complete with HOT water for some incredibly long, steamy showers!

We had room service which really meant we could eat breakfast and have hot coffee in our pajamas without having to greet people first...

  ...and look what God sent us one morning!

Isn't He amazing?!?  His love for us is with us no matter where we go!

We enjoyed 'dressy' dinners without interruption (except for the fabulously attentive wait-staff) at beautiful tables like this one: 

 We ate lunch in spots like this:

 And then we ate up every single minute of this:

Our starved souls relished in our time together and we loved that we didn't have to share each other with anyone else for a few days!!!

It was exactly what we needed!  

Oh, and look what sweet treat we found while waiting on a taxi before heading back to Haiti... 

"How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, 

which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you." 

Psalm 31:19

Thank you, Wilkinson family, for blessing us with such an incredible get-away!

Thank you, Mama, for coming and covering all parental duties while we were away!

Thank you, Daddy, for covering all the bases at home while Mama was here! (We missed you so much but we appreciate you sending Mama.)

Thank you, Cheyenne and Heartline peeps who pitched in to help cover guesthouse duties!

And thank you, friends, who prayed over every detail!

More March 'madness' updates to come...

That ''w" word...

Lately, Kylie has been super interested in going to the roof to watch the sun go down each day.  I'm not sure if it's for the 'rooftop adventure', the little break away from the crazy, or if she really does enjoy watching the sun go down but one day last week she asked me if we could get up early to watch the sun... ummm... rise.  

I rarely ever get up before an alarm goes off and more often than not, I snooze well after the alarm has alarmed.  

I'm a night owl.  

Not an early-morning-chipper-sunrise-watcher type person.

But the moments I have with our Kylie, just the 2 of us, are few and far between so I said if she actually got up (cause she has been known to be the latest riser of our 4 littles) then I would get up and go with her.  

Don't judge me but I totally banked on the fact that when she was nudged in the dark that she would roll over and grunt at me and drift back into slumber, allowing me to do the same.  

Yeh, so when I got up and nudged her on the bunk above me, telling her it was almost 6 a.m., she bounced up like a real live Tigger.

I grabbed my camera because, well, there would be a sunrise and I should capture that and off we went.

But I was captured instead.

Watching her wait for the sun to rise was as much a delight to me as actually seeing the anticipated sun rise.

And it hit me... 

    as I watched my daughter,  I saw myself.

       Waiting...not just for a sunrise but for so much more.

The past year has been hard...

And many times I've been ready to gear up and go, 

but God has said 'wait'.  

SO MANY stinkin' times He has said 'wait'!!

The fog was so thick and seemed to be holding back that thing that we had gotten up so early to see and I began to think that the morning we chose to get up might have been a 'dud'.  

And then there in the middle of my doubts, it was happening... 

The sun was in fact rising...and our waiting was not in vain.  

I've never known waiting to be easy at any stage in life but I have found that waiting is the best place to be when that's what we hear from the One who makes the sun rise.

And also this...

    there is so much beauty in the waiting...

        if we will trust Him.

Whatever you are waiting for... take note of the things around you that beckon thanks and rest in knowing that He has NOT EVER ONCE  forgotten you in the 'wait'. 

Like a wide-winged eagle waiting for a thermal current to carry it heavenward, you must stay in God's presence with your heart attuned to Him.  Do you have duties and demands?  Yes, but none as important as this.  Why?  Because you understand that if you don't get into God's presence and stay there until He refreshes and restores you, you won't make it. ~Word For You Today

"Those who wait upon God get fresh strength." 

Isaiah 40:31