The Uncaged Journey

It was just over twenty years ago that I heard Fuschia Pickett say something that changed my life. She said, "You can have as much of God as you want." I'm sure I'd heard that said before, but that day it came with the breath of God upon it. That was the day I made the decision to wake-up early in the morning to start seek His presence before anything else. I had one small child and a baby at the time and sleep was a rare commodity. For the first couple of weeks, I remember thinking, "I'm too tired to pray, read my Bible, or even hear God!" He didn't rush in and start speaking right away, but I persisted. Not long after, my relationship with the Lord exploded with dynamic encounters of His presence. To this day, set-apart time with Him is my life-force and joy. How much of God do you want? Isn't it interesting that the Creator of all things allows us to decide how close we want to come? He gently draws us to Himself, but it takes an act

Imagine if today were the day you received that breakthrough you've been praying for.   Go ahead—imagine.   Close your eyes and picture what it would be like. How would you react? Would you celebrate? Would you cry in relief? What would it feel like to finally have the answer to that prayer for: finances, health, family, ministry ...? The list is endless, but deeply personal to the one who's been believing God for a resolution.  Did you allow your imagination to take you to that moment, or did you scoff? So many of us have been believing God for things that feel as though they are never going to happen. Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't happen. I understand what it's like to be afraid of stirring your hope; to believe again. But giving up is definitely not the answer! As my pastor, Bill Johnson, says, "Your greatest breakthrough is on the other side of adversity." The greater the opposition to the breakthrough, the sw

Today's post is a short prophetic encouragement.  "Courage, dear heart." That phrase from C.S. Lewis resounded loudly in my spirit two days ago and this morning I still hear it. A shift has taken place in the spirit. For some, dreams that long seemed dead are coming alive again. For others, something new is being awakened by the breath of God.   There is one main thing you need: courage to believe again.  The Lord showed me an aerial view of a beautiful river, flowing and clean. There were many paths in the adjacent woods, which led to it. Some paths were worn and easy to see. Other paths were still covered with twigs—seldom used. Then I heard the Lord say, "Courage dear heart, I'm leading you down a different path. Don't expect to see the same things on this path as you've seen before. Release all of the disappointments of the past to Me, and shake off everything that has held you back. Stay close to Me and you will begin to see from My perspec

Have you ever thought about how often you pick up your smart phone for no significant reason? Checking Facebook, your email, Googling, watching a video... you know as well as I do that the list goes on and on. It didn't hit me how frequently I take a quick peek at something until I went 48 hours without it. I'm embarrassed to say that the first 24 were hard. But it got me thinking. Where I live, society encourages us to be raw and authentic. There's an emphasis on individuality, acceptance, and "Human-Kindness." Most of us agree with these things, yet we're content watching others do it through the safety of our screens, (TV, phone, etc.) and forget to do it ourselves— out there. In the real world. We forget to lift our eyes and look around— taking in a world that offers much more socialization than we will ever get via social media. We live life thinking that because we see it online, we're actually engaging in it. Ironically, social media has

I woke up in the middle of the night with the phrase, "But the Blood is free," resounding in my mind and reverberating throughout my spirit. As I pondered its meaning, I saw an image of an exquisite Fabergé egg and an art gallery filled with priceless pieces of art. People pay hundreds of millions of dollars to own fine artwork. Once purchased they can enjoy it's beauty whenever they want and take pride in the fact that they own something of such great value. All night as I drifted in and out of sleep I continued to hear, "But the Blood is free."  Although I knew God was talking about the Blood of Jesus, I didn't understand — the Blood certainly wasn't free — it cost the Lord everything.  We Are the Most Beautiful Piece of Art  When I woke up I had a vision of God looking from Heaven to the earth below. In the next scene, He was walking around admiring the earth's beauty. I saw breathtaking scenery — gorgeous beaches, colorful sunsets, an

Go about your day in confidence, believing you are who God says you are. God has declared that you are brave, favored, worthy, loved, smart, strong, and creative. You are these things and more because you were made in His image.  No one can make you believe otherwise. No one can strip that away from you—unless you let them. Most of us don't like adversity, especially when someone is trying to convince us that we're something that we're not. But the truth is that coming up against people who try to confuse our identity, can actually strengthen us.   Let me tell you a story. Recently, I was confronted by someone who was convinced that my inability to do a certain task was due to some deep wound inflicted upon me as a child. To say I was taken back would be an understatement. Not only was this person convinced of this, they believed it was their job to walk me through inner healing.  Okay, I'm all for inner healing, but I knew — at least I thought I knew, that t

Today I grabbed a shadow and held it in my hand. A fleeting moment, A whispering breath. Anticipation swells within, making it hard to sort my thoughts. Waves of creativity crash against each other somewhere deep. Too deep to fight, Too powerful to withstand. Yet the shadow remains in the cleft of my hand, awaiting my attention. Discovered in stillness, Offering answers, if only I would partake. As I allow myself to sink past the surging waters, Past the teasing notions which offer no substance, The shadow overtakes me, covering me with its feathers. It is the strength of peace, A well wisdom. It is purposefully hidden, Yet desired by all. Within this shadow, the clamor ceases. Striving ends, And destiny revealed.

After spending almost 9 years on the mission-field of Puerto Rico and 3 years processing what I have learned there, I'm ready to share some of these life-changing moments with you. One of the many stories that may floor you, is about a pastor who tried to expel us from the city.    Let me back up a bit. We were asked by a church in a small mountain city, to become one of their leaders and teach them about revival. We had served as associate pastors during the revival of the early 90's & these pastors seemed genuinely hungry for a move of God, so we accepted. We weren't children pastors, but my husband loved talking to the kids. He told them about God's power and encouraged them to pray for their unsaved parents, grandparents, etc. They did! Parents were getting rocked by God as their children prayed for them at home. In turn they'd invite their extended families to receive prayer -they were getting physically healed and turning their lives over to God.

I remember it clearly - watching a reel-to-reel movie in Sister Patricia's second grade class. Although I don't remember why the girl in the movie was crying, I do remember the affect it had on me. My heart was gripped by the fact that I wanted to know God more. The church was close to our home and I liked to hangout there, hoping to find God. One of the priests found it so odd, he phoned my Mom to let her know I couldn't be there everyday. Guess I looked a bit like a 7 yr. old hoodlum with my pigtails and missing teeth. In the eighteen years I grew up in Catholicism, no one ever taught me the deep spiritual truths of knowing God. All I knew was to attend mass, say my prayers, and take communion. And I did - until I visited a "non-denominational" church and felt God's presence for the first time. I was wrecked - in a good & bad way. Not only did I find what I had been looking for, I also became judgmental towards the Catholic religion. They had le

For many years I have started my day by spending quiet time with the Lord. Sometimes those moments are amazing and sometimes, quite frankly, they aren't. But either way, when we set ourselves to seek His face, it is always time well spent.  As Thomas Merton said, "We should not, however, judge the value of our meditation by how we feel. A hard and apparently fruitless meditation may in fact be much more valuable than one that is easy, happy, enlightened and apparently a big success." I remember when my friend Patricia King told me of a time when the Lord warned her that she wouldn't feel His presence for a season. He encouraged her to continue doing all of the same things she had been doing, and that He would still be there, even though she wouldn't sense Him. She said that when that happened, although it was a very difficult time, it taught her a lot. Patricia learned to go to the Lord for who He is and what she could offer Him (love, devotion, adorat

I fell in love with dance because it gave me a way to express what I didn't know how to say. Writing came as I matured; as I began to believe in myself and find my voice. Now I dance and write from a deeper, more fulfilling place. Our journey of discovery with the Lord never ends. My dance has been a number of things over the years - worship, ministry, intercession, prophecy, etc. But it has since become more profound; more authentic. I step into Him and give Him the deepest part of myself, not as concerned about what is happening around me, or who "gets it". As I dance in heaven's atmosphere, I give the Lord an opening to reach through. It's no longer about my efforts to bring heaven to earth. I simply dance in Him and allow Him to release through me. That's it. Even now, when injuries have stolen a great deal of my movement, I am more confident than ever that those movements are filled with God's breath, power, and love. In part I have those inj

Writing is like dancing with my fingers. In dance, my body alone conveys the deepest stirrings of my being. In writing I transfer the movements of both my heart and my body to paper. Whether we are writers, dancers, musicians, singers, painters, sculptures, photographers, etc., each of us carry an expression of God's heart which He asks us to unveil to the world. (Obviously, there are many more ways of releasing His heart than the arts, but this is the subject for today.) The more time I spend in God's presence, the more of Him I want to release. I  used to think that unless large numbers of people viewed my work, it was a waste of time. Now I realize it's about so much more. It is about being faithful to who we are and honoring the One who gave us these gifts. I'm reminded of the story of the talents in the Bible - even if our gift is small, we mustn't hide it.  We are called to release what is inside of us - whether to five or to five million, isn'

Lately I've been feeling a bit torn. On one hand, I've finished my first novel, an obscure dream I hid tenderly in my heart for many years. I never thought I could do it, but I did! And I think it's pretty good. But of course every mother thinks her baby is beautiful. I never imagined I would find a career I'd love as much as dance, but this burns deeply and I feel the breath of God on it. Learning how to write and create with Him, whether fiction or non, is fulfilling, peaceful - the Creator and His creation exploring together. On the other hand, now that I've truly caught the writing bug, I feel dissatisfied because I don't have enough time. Like many of us, I would love to quit my job and focus on writing. I'm blessed with a great job that I can do at home, but my heart is pulled in a different direction.  Can you relate? When you finally decide to stop dreaming about something and run after it full-force, even if you fail, it's a big

I am in Him. Within the King of glory, nestled safe in the burning heart of His love, alive within the deep mysteries of eternity, I am there.  Living.  Moving. Coming alive. My identity stares back at me in the reflection of His face; the internal resonating with the external. And then I remember ~ He is in me. Our life is a beautifully weaved tapestry of love.  Yet, though the Creator of all that is seen and all that is unseen is both in me and around me, He gives me the lead.  Never demanding what I won't willingly give. Never pushing me to move in ways I don't want to go. Never forcing my voice to speak words He longs to share. Always loving. Always compelling me to come deeper into that burning heart of passion that burns away what still looks like me.  It is not about me.  I am in Him. He is in me. This is where I live.  I want to look more like Him.  To live and breathe and have my being intertwined so completely with Him that there is no

Over and over again I've been hearing stories from people who are going after their dreams. Some are young and filled with a zeal for life that has met little resistance. I like hanging around young people, because it reminds me of what it is like to run after life with untamed passion. Others who have felt the excitement of life wane over the years, have recently met with the God who awakens dormant desires. They are taking giant leaps of faith to run after their dreams once again, regardless of cost. Living life with passion is always the right choice. My heart has been stirred to encourage you today! Many of you have been contemplating what it would be like to take a risk and go after your dreams - some for the first time, and others with renewed hope. Let me speak to those who believe that they are past their prime in life, and whatever goals and dreams they once had, are long gone. Stop believing the lie that life has crippled you! Life hasn't crippled you, it has

Last night my husband surprised me with a beautiful feather quill pen. He told me that the Lord prompted him to give it to me, letting me know that He (the Lord) had given me the pen of the writer. When I awoke this morning, there it was, beautifully waiting on my nightstand, next to my manuscript. It reminded me of the shift that has taken place inside of me; one I had been longing for. As I came downstairs, with my new feather pen and manuscript in hand, I realized how truly content and happy I am. It reminded me how drastically different life was only a few years ago, when I had a sense that something inside was dormant, but I didn't know what. Having been a dancer for my entire life, I've expressed myself, most eloquently, without words. With the movement of my body I was able to convey the deepest of emotions with my entire being. It has, and will always be, a significant part of who I am and how I release my heart when words fail. Being in ministry for most of my a

You know that little blue and black (white and gold for some) dress that's causing a stir all over the internet? (If you don't know about it, NO biggy!)  Well, it really got me thinking. (And not only about how I need a new dress!) Some people look at the photo and see blue and black and some see white and gold, even if they are looking at the same exact photo on the same exact device. It has to do with how the cones in our eyes interpret dim lighting. Anyway, I started thinking about how we see "dark" times in our life as opposed to how God sees them. No - I do not believe God brings sickness or financial ruin. However, I do believe that most of the time we are so caught up in the darkness of very rough seasons, that we are unable to see a very bright light shining in the midst of it. That little dress all over the internet is freaking everyone out!  How can two people look at the same photo and see two different things?  Dark times are just like that. M

Today I offer you a candid look at my journey of starting a new career as an author. I'm not about to offer you 10 steps for balancing a busy life, nor am I going to tell you how "together" I have it. It's just me, walking through life. Let's get right to the juicy center of it all: Although I've written a number of articles for websites and have a personal story published in someone else's book, it wasn't until the summer of 2014 that I realized how passionate I am about writing. Ironically, at the moment, I'm an Event Coordinator for an accomplished non-fiction author. Making the decision to embark on a new career path has been a crazy awesome fun! But it's also challenging. I always test 50/50 for being right/left brained, I prefer to live life on the "right" side. The part I'm struggling with, is the fact that my job requires me to be 90% left brained. And I didn't realize until recently, that life on the "

Constant thoughts are the noise within that dulls us to His voice, His touch, His breath.   Being dedicated to spend time with the Lord, silencing what clamors for attention like a crying child, isn't always easy. Life demands we pay close attention to the things that matter from day to day, but over time dull us to what gently whispers from behind the veil.  At times becoming still enough to hear those whispers, is difficult. We forget that the veil no longer separates us, but entices us to draw close and see what awaits just beyond it. Distractions don't have to be forced from our mind. To look past them we simply turn our attention to Him and remain there until everything else fades. In the stillness of His presence, distractions lose their grip and we find their importance landing in proper order. All we have to do to hear, see, and feel Him again, is turn our attention towards Him. Many unwind with movies or TV because it silences the thoughts and lists