Some words that are resounding in my heart today...

Imagine
Worship
Delight
Explore
Expectation
Hope
Shine
Fulfillment

Walking with our Creator is always a mystery. Filled with unexpected turns and uneasy terrain, learning how to trust in those moments that are so uncomfortably accompanied by ambiguity seem to challenge even the most experienced. Lately, I've been pondering the overlap of realities: the overt and not-so-overt ways in which heaven and earth collide. Each day we wake up and we tend to the needs of that day. Eating, cleaning, working, doing...oh and of course, some more doing! We become masters of the doing. It's easier to lose perspective in all this involvement. But throughout it all, it never ceases to amaze me that there's a simultaneous, parallel space that we exist in.

Intimacy is the inroad to this sacred place. It's a space were the cares of this world can rest and the hope of a child returns to our weather-worn souls. "Rest my beloved" is its banner, hanging high and spread out across the sky as a marker for all to see. Even the demons know and shutter. Living in this place brings us above, it opens up our heart's vision and invites us into a the realm of possibility. From this place, as we are seated on our Papa's lap, we are able to become and believe. It is here that our deepest longings are met and unexpected treasures arise. A special union. For what God has united, let man not separate.

Let me return to one of my words of the day: fulfillment. Why such a difficult gift...or curse we might ask? If we're made to live in a world without sin, without lack, then where does this come from? How does this play out into our lives and most importantly, how is this one word affect our choices? We all have needs. We've all heard the 3-point sermons preaching their proven behavioral management systems and read the latest bestselling self-help books, but alas to what change. We as humans need purpose, we all question identity, we all desire to "arrive". We push, climb, bulldoze, bend, stretch, destroy our ways to a place of "fulfillment". All the while, our Jesus is standing right next to us. He's holding our hands, living in us and through us...our friend, savior and lover. Jesus whispers to us calmly, reminding us of how we're made for greater things, greater than we could even imagine. He calls to the deepest anxiety dark spots inside of us, the place where all the yuck resides and he loves it. He loves it clean. His love is our fulfillment. What we desire most is already here! What we need is already found. Our eternal perspective is here! He whispers to our hearts the "more" we're looking for and (the best part of course!) he's awaiting in joyful anticipation to just give it away! Take it, take it, take it. More, more, more. There's always enough here.

So remembering is the key. Remembering that whatever this present reality holds, there's a greater one. A reality exists that's more real, more beautiful, more determinant of our future and who we are, one that fulfills and where we are the beloved, the precious, the taken care of one. So come and be taken care of today and let our hearts be filled with awe at the mystery of heaven.