I’ve just been a flood of creativity lately.
I've spent so much of my energy absorbed in trying to make ends meet. Since the car situation has become easier... I am able to think about other things.
I’ve been walking in such a place of quiet inspiration. It’s almost impossible to articulate.
It feels like major transformation is taking place… like the work that goes on inside a cocoon, imperceptible to the eye.
I was resting in my nest, thinking that my life had become terribly unproductive.
Where I have felt so unplugged and self-absorbed… big things have been going on behind the scenes.
And I realize that I can make a difference, right from my nest.
I don't have to give a million dollars or travel to deepest darkest Africa.
I can impact others right where I am.
God whispered into my heart, “this is it. This is your ministry. Do this. More of this. This is what you were created to do.”
I had been really convicted that I was only creating relationships that were – as Beth Moore says – ten miles wide and a half inch deep.
And then I realized that all those surface relationships each held potential.
They didn’t have to be shallow.
A pivotal moment came when I saw someone who I only know through online gaming reach out to my friend Natalie through her Facebook group.
I didn’t have what this person needed but I knew someone who did.
And that made me feel so purposeful.
And then another friend asked that I ask the same people who pray for me to pray for her.
Wow.
To know that the power that has manifested itself in my life through the faithful prayers of a faithful body of believers has garnered enough attention that someone else would desire it for themselves.
That’s awesome to me.
To realize that my failures and weaknesses and feeble attempts and … well, even the time that I waste… in the hands of a mighty God can be turned into something worthwhile.
Just because I talk a lot.
I realize that I would make a horrible secret agent. That I could never be a lawyer and say only what has to be said. “No comment” is never going to be my comment.
So many people are just looking for someone who understands what they're going thru.
Pick a crisis... I've probably been through it.
I’m realizing that sometimes all people need is to know someone cares.
A smile.
A text.
An email.
A card.
A prayer.
Just whatever little bit I have to share.
I colored a picture for a friend this week and mailed it to her, just to let her know I was thinking about her.
It was a very simple thing. 44 cents and a few marker stains on my fingers.
Sometimes it’s just hearing the words, “I’m proud of you” or “keep breathing” or “you aren’t alone”.
Sometimes it’s just one word. Hope.
I wear a ring that says, “hope”.
I wear it where my wedding rings used to be… (on the birdie finger… because I was never allowed to get my rings sized to fit.)
My rings… that I thought were the most expensive and beautiful things I had ever owned… that made me believe I was loved when I wasn’t, that gave me a false sense of security…
And turned out to be complete fakes. (that’s why I was never allowed to get them sized, I would have discovered the truth.)
Where falsehood once lived… hope moved in.
And the great thing about hope is that if you have it… you can share it and share it and share it and it never runs out!
It’s like an uncapped oil well, spouting into the deep, in volumes that are too large to calculate.
That’s my gift! Hope! That’s what I have to give!
I just have to keep talking, unashamed, transparent, honest, open, vulnerable...

I'm spending today with Sarabeth and Jamie. Angie's grandmother passed away and her funeral is today. Jim is preaching. The girls have dance pictures this morning... I'm super thrilled to be needed. I'd be glad to help wherever I'm needed but being needed for dance pictures is the best! My camera is charging right now... I'm sure I'll take a couple hundred pictures.
Life is good.
Have a great Saturday, y'all!