Reflections and Responses

I have felt joy surging through my veins over the last two weeks. At times, I have experienced literal excited flutters in my stomach, accompanied by excessive smiling and happy thoughts. I have felt super, uber, jump-up-and-down-while-squealing excited. And no, it's not because we bought a house or because it's springtime or for any circumstantial reason. It's because God is showing me how much He loves me - in tangible and intangible ways. You might say that the fact that God loves us is a basic truth I should have grasped as soon as I could speak (hint: "Jesus loves me, this I know..."). But He is showing me the breadth and depth of it right now, and I cannot get over it! It's like how you know your parents love you, but it's not until adulthood that you look back and truly understand the measure of their love. Once you begin to understand all of the sacrifices they made on your behalf and the weight behind their actions and words, you begin to fathom t...

Things I want to do this season... 1. Go to Braves games 2. Make our new yard pretty (you can see from the photo that it needs work for sure) 3. Become more handy around the house (trial by fire) 4. Have friends over, grill out, and hang out on our back patio for hours 5. Run outside more 6. Visit my grandparents more 7. Enjoy being still while also inviting God to work in & through me 8. Cook more (yes, this is still on the list)

Sometimes it's hard to hear God. Other times, He practically shouts by continually putting the same message or idea in front of us over and over and over. Something He has pressed upon my heart very loudly lately is the idea of death and also eternity. Sadly, in the last couple of weeks I have encountered multiple friends who have either lost a loved one or are caring for a loved one who is close to death. I have been fascinated by their very personal, intimate blog posts and the conversations I have had with them. I am struck by their situations and can't seem to move past them. I've found myself unable to place myself in their shoes, but I feel like God is definitely trying to show me something. I'm just not sure what it is yet. As these people and their circumstances roll through my mind, a verse keeps coming with them: "...He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11. I gues...