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Hi Friends, We pretend to be experts, you and I. We pretend to be vinedressers. We offer to Him what we are sure is treasure, and we sweep what looks to be rubbish under the rug. We take up the pruning sheers. We are a mess, and we know it. So we cut and we slice and we prune till we can stand back and feel pride, as though we have established some sense of order. But maybe we have not established order. Maybe we have merely cut off all that was growing. There’s one vinedresser, and He’s our Father in Heaven. Sometimes what looks unkempt, wild, and unruly is just what He’s about to make into something unbelievably fruitful. Sometimes when we feel like “too much”, He is just getting started in His artistry. Sometimes what we see as unspiritual or unnecessary is the very place He has planned to encounter us in unexpected ways. Sometimes the mess that we sweep under the rug hides a treasure of precious worth. A jewel He is eager to chisel and clean and polish and enjoy. Let’s stop sorting through our lives on our own, hiding this and drawing attention to that. Let’s offer Him the whole of who we are. Mess and all. Because we can’t always tell what is dust and what is gold. God, You know me better than I know myself. I’m choosing to lean into You today, to trust You even with the areas of my life that look like a mess. I offer all I am to You. Have Your way in me. — Anna |
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Have you ever noticed how quickly we decide what matters? Who’s successful. Who’s influential. Whose life is “making an impact.” We see the titles, the platform… and without even realizing it, we start assigning value. But God does something completely different. He takes what seems valuable in the eyes of man and turns it on its head. His ways are so very different than ours. Turns out, He put the most valuable thing of all completely out of sight. It doesn’t matter if you are...
Hi Friends, Last night I stepped out onto the back deck. To be honest, I was escaping the thunderous noise (oh the noise!) of three boys who felt bedtime looming and were attempting to squeeze just a few more minutes of play out the day. I stepped out into what has been one of the first warm evenings of the year, heard the birds singing in the forest beyond our yard, and I had what felt like an involuntary reaction. It felt like when the doctor hits your knee just right and you get surprised...
Hi Friends, I’ll never forget it. I showed up for class in college, slid into my seat, and noticed the girl on my left had a large smudge on her forehead. She was an acquaintance, and in my earnestness to be a “real friend”, I pointed it out. “You have something on your forehead”, I said, gesturing to her as if wiping at my face. “It’s Ash Wednesday,” she said, turning in her seat. Whoops! Neither my husband nor I grew up in churches that followed the church calendar or included liturgy. So...