More Than Anything Else...

Another weekend behind us...
A new week is on the horizon...

The past few days have been so refreshing for our family.
Evening meals with those who love & sharpen...
Sweet fellowship...
Seeking Truth...
Digging into The Word...

Remembering lives well lived...
Hearing the Word of God spoken in the simplest yet most refreshing of ways...
Reconnecting with ones who have repeatedly enriched our lives...

Unexpected visits from the one who birthed me into this world... ♥
Catching up...
Exhortation that produces resolve...

Family days...
Brisk walks...
Breakfast around the kitchen table...
Devouring God's Word...
Gathering around a well worn hymn book...
Preparations for winter...
Pumpkin seeds...
Tear producing laughter...
First fall pumpkin pie...

Being family...
Knowing God...
Joy returning...

By the end of last week, I was done in.
Facebook deactivated.
Cell phone off.
E-mail at a minimal.

I received correspondence on Friday asking if we had taken a leave of absence from facebook... :) Pretty much. Sometimes you just need a respite. A time away, void of distractions where God is your one & only focus. That's where I was.

So many things bide for our time, keeping us from true intimacy with God.
He wanted my mind still.
My heart fixed.
My spirit intent.
On Him.

Books were closed.
Worship music was silenced.
Communication with the world ceased.

#1538 - strong hands that signify so many things...♥

I'm a people person. I always have been. Because of that makeup that God designed me with, I take great stock in the words, opinions & thoughts of others. I listen intently & take to heart what is being spoken. I'm not one to listen & dismiss. I listen & receive. Sadly, many times, I put more value on man's word rather God's Word. And as I entered into the final leg of last week, God reminded me ever so clearly that His voice was the voice He wanted me to hear...listen to...receive... He wanted me to dismiss all others & simply yet deliberately hear Him.

You know, for the majority of my life if I had the grace, affirmation & value of others, I found myself fulfilled, encouraged & purposeful. And for the most part, I've had no problems discovering the reality of those things through the resource of man/woman/child (flesh). That was/has been my sustenance. Ironically, God has allowed me to arrive at a place where, in the human sense, grace is lacking, affirmation is conditional, value is wavering. Step-by-every-little-step, it's been an ongoing journey and although it is a painful destination full of refining opportunities that I could easily see as a "dead end", God has so much purpose in this landing spot. I've looked for avenues of escape in any possible direction...this person, that person; this place, that place; this thing, that thing; this way, that way; but to no avail, every door that I try to muster open, remains closed...locked...secured...

The only way to know the true depth of God's grace...

Is to lose the grace of all others...

And sometimes He brings us to a locked-in place...
Where it's just us & Him.

Much like where Jesus found Himself before His crucifixion...

Those closest to Him came up empty...

One betrayed.

Others slept.

Just Jesus & His Father...

A Father & His Son...

That's where He wants us...

Us & Him.

Him & us.

Kyle & I sat for a great length of time this weekend pondering & seeking what God desires for our lives as individuals & for our lives as a family. Bottom line, what God wants is for us to want Him.

God wants us to want Him...

More than anything else, God wants us to want Him more than we want anyone or anything.

My plea has been, "God, do what you must in order for me to see You clearly..."
In the realest of senses, He has.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness;

and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33