Endless Possibilities

Photo from The United Reformed Church UK

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

The moment the obstetrician pronounced me mother-to-be my mind swirled with questions and endless possibilities. What will I have, a boy or a girl? Will he favor me? Will she wear her father's dimples? What will he become? Will she chase after God's heart?

Through both pregnancies, I realized I was only a vessel, carrying a child created in the image of my husband and myself, but ultimately formed for God's predestined purpose. They carried an individual purpose planted deep inside that held God's unique fingerprint. It wasn't always evident the first few years of life where innocence prevailed, but rather revealed itself through life's messiest experiences and spiritual battles.

As much as my mother's protective instinct kicked in during their messy brokenness, there were situations where I had no control.

(Fly over to the Christian Children's Authors blog for the rest of the story, won't you?)

 

Thankful Thursday: At the Edge of the World

Nubble Light House Point, York, Maine

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may...grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." 

Ephesians 3:17b-18 

He knows where my heart fills. Like many times before, we travel there.

Winding Down East on shoreline roads, the ocean's breadth awakens my soul. Witnessing God's majesty everywhere, he captures what words can't possibly express. He knows me so well - knows how to make my heart sing and where it must empty in order to fill.

I empty everything I am at the edge of the world - where land and water touch - along rocky ledges and sandy beaches.

Under cloudless winter-blue skies stretching out in one endless canopy over ocean depths God woos me. "How wide and long and high and deep is my love for you?" God asks. "Do you see? It's endless. Unfathomable. And I take great delight in you!"

My eyes sting joy but I hold it in and let him capture more images while I listen with my heart some more. And God and I have this secret conversation. "Yes, my creation is huge and you seem so small, don't you?"

"But here's what I need you to know: out of all creation, I love you most. I look at you and I don't see your smallness. I see My image in you and I love that. And if you could grasp just a tiny inkling of what that means, you'd know how wide and long and high and deep my love is for you."

And as his Living Water fills my heart, rough edges fall away like sand under ocean waves. This Living Water re-forms me, carves me hollow and fills me deep with more of Him.

We head for home, away from the edge of the world. My heart feels empty yet full, re-formed and carved, born anew in God's image.

I study His image- His majesty, His beauty, His sovereignty and His love - captured in these digital pixels. And, I begin to grasp how wide and long, how high and deep, is God's unfathomable love.

Is there a place you go to empty your heart of cares and fill with God's Living Water? Where is it you go to feel closest to God's presence? How do you capture your experiences? Photographs, journaling, blogging, song?