Intimacy Activates

Intimacy activates. 

I paused my late night rumination to focus on His voice. I heard, "Intimacy activates." 

Wounds from negative experiences prevent us from being vulnerable.

Our new normal in this period of recalibration requires intimacy - a deep knowing and vulnerability. We must pursue healing.

On the other side of the recalibration is a pursuit of our high purpose...

Epiphanies

1. Jesus is an abolitionist. If you're looking for today's expression of Christ, search in the places where something is being dismantled, for example, the U.S. justice system. 

As we pray "on Earth as it is in Heaven", we are commissioned to abolish longstanding authorities (like racism, poverty, and every other thing standing in opposition to God) to ensure the kingdom dominates here. The Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Jesus - will provide the wisdom and power needed to do this work in your community, through your influence at your workplace, and within your family. Ask for the help.

2. Women are often valued/measured by their level of service to others. And our true measure comes from our identity as a Daughter of God. 

When I sit in God's presence, I have permission to rest.

3. Jesus aims to be the Chief Cornerstone of everything we build.

Invocation

Invocation: the action of invoking something or someone for assistance or as an authority

I did not have a singular defining moment for accepting God into my heart. Our relationship grew with every encounter - from my experience of Him rescuing anxious thoughts to undeserved advantages in life's circumstances. This latest expansion requires me to move past invitation to invocation. I've held onto control for a long time. Invocation requires a more full experience of God as an authority. I can ask for His help and support as a Father, and wade in his direction and influence. 

Next year's recalibration provides the sensation of a salt water float, dispersing the chronic pressures of the past two years into a buoyant landing place of trust. 

New Normal

"When the framework of our daily existence gets completely dismantled and the landscape around us grows increasingly unrecognizable, our strongest longing is seldom prosperity. What we yearn for is normalcy. We don't tend to ask for the moon when we've lost all we've known. We just want some semblance of our old lives back. The hard truth is, there's no real going back. But once we get up again, there can be a going forward. In His faithfulness, God sees to it what we thought was the end isn't the end after all. And eventually, perhaps not terribly long after, we realize we've transitioned into a new normal." 

- Beth Moore, "Chasing Vines: Finding Your Way to an Immensely Fruitful Life"

Permission to Launch

Sometimes you have to go to a place they've never been to become a woman they've never seen.

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John 15 is a staple biblical chapter in my life. I've never captured its full interpretation but I comb it routinely for new applications in my life. When my husband and I divinely received our daughter's name - while watching Netflix (ha!) - we didn't know that it meant "vine". Today, I read up on vines and vineyards to shape my parenting and connection to the Father.

A vineyard's soil requires a few rocks in it. Too many rocks and the vine is strangled. Too few rocks and the vine grows extra leafy. In both instances, no fruit. 

Your womanhood journey requires you to be planted in soil that has a few rocks in it. Too little care and you won't blossom at all. Too much comfort and you'll be all flash and no substance.

You must go. Your home base is too safe. Travel to new places that may pose a challenge but also provide opportunities for growth. Go to the places your forerunners haven't been so you can "bear much fruit".