The Uncaged Journey

This has been such a beautiful season with the Lord for me personally. I've been so aware of the burning desire in my heart for Him, so grateful that He has fanned the flames of longing. There has been a fresh grace over me this year - a consistent desire to remain aware of the Lord's presence at all times.  Yet in my longing to hear more accurately, see more clearly, and encounter His Kingdom more profoundly, I was actually losing focus. It wasn't that I was getting distracted from this overwhelming desire to know Him more, but the desire itself was becoming larger than the Object of my desire. As I encountered Him more deeply, I also felt the frustration of wanting to be closer. The desire has been so deep, that the Lord finally revealed to me that the desire itself was distracting me. Focusing on what we aren't experiencing, causes us to come to Him with frustration instead of expectation. No matter how much we have experienced His love and have encountered His gl...

Breathing You in, effortlessly. My eyes adjust to the unrelenting glory of Your nearness and my mind settles into peaceful torrents of  stillness. Our hearts,Yours and mine, tangled knots of tangible affection. I can taste the sweetness of Love swirling all around me, flooding into me and surging through me.  Uncontainable. Heaven and Earth converge as I engage with what is vastly felt yet dimly seen.  His fragrance gently reveals itself until it penetrates deep into my being, demanding memories of love revealed. Distractions no longer persist, but vanish away. Unrelenting glory consumes me until there is nothing left but blood-washed fragments of who I used to be, revealing the true beauty of who I have become in Him. Unveiled glimpses of His face and the warmth of His embrace become my obsession.   Learning to live here - in this place that transcends the mirage of reality, announcing what is true. This is life in Him; the beauty and awe...

There is a simplicity of life offered to all, but sadly attained by few. It is a profound clarity in our identity and purpose that comes from knowing who we are in the Lord and how much we mean to Him. It is the place of peace that surpasses all understanding; a knowing that life is much more than what is commonly perceived. It is the discovery that the One who calls us to Himself, is worthy of our unhindered trust and unlimited love. In fact, for many this deep seated security is only found when God mercifully and lovingly swoops in to adjust our focus. He cradles our face with those big, strong, yet gentle hands, looks straight into our eyes and waits. He patiently watches as we strive to attain peace through ever spinning trinkets of man-made pleasure and trivial pursuits. He waits for us to stop wiggling around in fruitless efforts to quiet our soul and center all of our attention on Him. "And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and theref...

I have written many times for this blog and as a guest author on other sites, encouraging others and myself on the importance of hanging in there & worshiping beyond our circumstances. But yesterday I realized how few write about the experience of dreams coming to pass. To keep writing about how things will get better and failing to write about how incredible it is once the breakthrough actually comes, sounds as though we are beating a dead horse ...always hoping but never realizing our dreams coming true. It's essential that we celebrate and shout our victories even louder and longer than we have bemoaned our struggles. Today I want to tell you that it is quite sweet on this side of the breakthrough! Years ago I led an amazing dance team in FL and felt so fulfilled and blessed to be doing what I loved. Then I gave it up to serve for many years on the mission-field. For all of the years that I was on the field, I taught ballet here and there, but longed for the day when I...

In all of the years I’ve been dancing, I have never had a season where I have learned more about dance and myself in it, than this last year. Unfortunately, it has come out of a season of injury. This has been a difficult season to navigate through in the natural, but what the enemy has tried to steal, kill, and destroy, God has turned into a time of great discovery.  I have danced since I was 4 years old. I have no memories of a life without dance (except when having babies). As a result of a life woven into a beautiful tapestry of dance, my identity has been intertwined with dance as well. When I cannot dance, I feel incomplete. However, what I’ve recently been processing with the Lord is that my identity is not that of a dancer. When God looks at me, the most significant thing He sees is not that I am a dancer. The most significant thing to Him, is that I am His child.  I am much more than dance. Within me is the convergence of two realms – Heaven and earth con...

At the close of the year, whether it was a tough year or an amazing one, most people begin to hope. We look at the approaching year as a clean slate, a motivation to believe in ourselves and allow ourselves to dream again. So many make quiet promises that in all of the ways they let the year go by with unfulfilled goals, the new year will be a year of focus and commitment. Stirring themselves up, they decide to believe that anything is possible and lists of hopes and dreams are rewritten. I too have felt a great excitement about next year since November! However, this morning the Lord prompted me saying, "I am the eternal now." And, "I am enough." Because Jesus is The eternal now , and He is enough , each morning is our clean slate and the start of each day is our chance to refocus and stir ourselves up. He is the eternal now , ready to create hope in those who feel hopeless and revealing the passion inside of us that is able to move us to greater things. He is...

Here we go! If there is one subject that is my absolute favorite, it's worship! For me, more than any other place of encountering the Lord, worship is not only the easiest and quickest route, but it is the most intense place I encounter Him. By worship I mean a time when music is on and songs of love are pouring out of our heart and song; probably some dancing happening as well! Worship is a huge part of my identity; it probably is for you as well! I was reminded again today how important worship is to my life and how I honestly don't feel "normal" if I haven't had good worship time with the Lord. (For the record, worship doesn't always have to be with music. Even as I write this, my heart is yearning, longing for Him; pulling Him closer just because He is on my heart and mind. I can barely write as I can feel His nearness. Worship is so much more than a song, but I'm choosing the one facet of song just for today!) There is something about worship tha...