Glory and Wonder

Currently Listening To: Glory and Wonder--Live (Mosaic MSC)

There are songs of anointing--songs that you hear and your soul feels as if its heard the melody before.  Songs that bring you back to a familiar place that resonates to every part of your being.

Songs of anointing are melodies used by God to speak promises over us.  They sound so familiar because His words are always truth--they never change, they are the words He has spoken over us from a very early age.

Our ear may have not been trained to hear or listen or to understand what it is He is speaking to us, but our Soul has saved every word, it has transposed every melody into the very stitching of our being.

And so you walk, you listen, you hear a song and it sounds familiar and suddenly you are overcome with Gods empowering words washing over you.  The melody may be new but His love for you has never changed and the soul awakens to its deep and pleading need to encounter the presence and overwhelming sense of being simply His.

Heaven meets Earth in a few simple notes and we get to see the rays of His Glory stretch out across the sky.  He sings melodies over you...words so powerful that a song can't contain them--the sky explodes in glory and wonder.

The Wilderness Within

I crave this wilderness that you have called me to.

I crave this deep dependence to only You.

I do not fear the cries at night or the howls of the dark

because it is only your whispers that I seek out.

You overwhelm me with your presence and 

wash over me with your promise--I am Yours.

My soul longs for this place of stillness, where battles

are being won and bondages are undone.

You have called me to this land of barrenness, 

You have emptied me of all I know,

Filling me with your wonder.

Take me deeper into this wilderness,

call me your child of promise,

lead me out of distraction, 

'till I search for only You.

You are my Promise

Eyes of Strength...

I was looking through my Instagram feed and am always overwhelmed by the number of "motivational fitness" posts that show ladies taking pictures of their biceps, or showing their toned bellies.  Am I the only one that has noticed the irony of the motivational posts always leading to comparison and discouragement?  I've never been one to be motivated through shame (I hear it works for dogs though).

I was running at the gym and when the sun sets the windows become giant mirrors.  (Okay..so where you are supposed to look when you are running right in front of them?  You feel vain if you look at yourself, you feel like a creeper if you watch everyone else...) I couldn't help but notice my reflection in the window and my first instinct was to compare myself to the pictures online and to beat myself up over not being strong enough, toned enough, fast enough...the list goes on and on.

I heard God's voice say "stop." I forced myself to look at myself differently. I took my focus off of my inadequacies and instead looked at my eyes. In those eyes I saw someone that was strong, I saw someone that was determined,  I saw someone that was pushing through the hard times, I saw someone who was rising above and for the first time in a long time....I was proud of that person.

Are we allowed to be proud of ourselves?  I've always been one to push myself to do more, to expect more, to want more.  I have always lived in fear that if I allowed myself to be proud (or heaven forbid even like myself), that somehow I would become lazy, or prideful.  

As women we have this tendency to find our worth or our strength in our accomplishments and our to-do lists.  We measure the quality of our day by the number of check marks and we place our worth on whether or not our lists measures up to everyone else's.  The lists never end and someone always seems to accomplish something new or something more (thank you Pinterest)...the cycle always continues. 

I was standing on that treadmill and I just decided that I was tired of living defeated,

I was tired of constant comparison and the overwhelming fear of not being enough. 

I was weary of beating myself up and forcing myself to do more.

I simply wanted to take a deep breath, smile and feel like I was enough at that very moment.

When you are looking in the mirror---begin to look at yourself differently.  Your strength does not come in toned biceps or a defined belly---your strength comes from the sparkle in your eye that says I am Enough, I can do this, I can conquer this, I will not give up.

You have worked really hard to get where you are today.  Many prayers, sweat, and tears have gone into getting you to where you stand right at this moment, and while it doesn't mean that your journey is done or that you don't have room to grow, it does mean that its okay to be proud of the eyes that look back at you in the mirror.

You are stronger than you think.

So in this new year of goals and lists...make sure to put at the top of your list to be true to YOU.

Find the right motivation and pay more attention to the sparkle in your eyes then your shape or size.

You are Enough...

Isaiah 40:31

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.