let it come, let it come, let it come.

I think the answer might be snow.

Umm, okay? Sooo...what's the question?

I'll get there.

First, I gotta say that this summer I acquired a new found love of rain. Now that it started snowing in beautiful Northern Minnesota and winter is truly upon us, I acquired a new found love of snow.
  

This is a strange comment for me.

Summer has always been my best buddy when it comes to seasons. Winter and snow...I don't not like these things. However, my spirit has never had such a response to the snow like it has during the first snowfalls this season.

Something's different this year.

  

And it's snowing again tonight.

Gently.

Powerfully.

Steadily.

When you look up, it seems never ending. Pure, white flakes just keep falling from sky, filling the air and landing on this city. A fresh blanket of snow rests upon the streets. On rooftops. Over fields. It traces the tops of fences and makes it's home on the tops of tree branches.

Everything out in the open has a new covering.

It's awesome.

When I got off work tonight, I spent time outside by the lake simply enjoying the snow. 

I can't help but desire to be surrounded by it. I genuinely want it to fall upon me. I can't stop gazing into it. It's captivating. It carries such peace and hope.

After I got home, I started listening to this song.

  

"What does it sound like when you sing heaven's song? 

What does it feel like when heaven comes down? 

What does it look like when God is all around?

Let it come."

That's the question: What does it look like when God is all around?

What do I think the answer is?

Snow.

I think it looks like snow, at least in part.

Something inside knows it's a lot more than just the snow. But this is one of the tangible ways God is showing me the awesomeness of His presence right now...through the snow.

And it doesn't show signs of stopping.

So let it snow.

Let it come.

Let Your presence come and fall.

Let it be a new covering here.

90° corner back.

I took my drivers test twice in high school.

During my first attempt, the 90 degree corner back got me. My parent's Buick got a little too acquainted with those bright orange cones.  

It wasn't the Buick's fault. Or the cones. The driver just hadn't quite mastered the move yet.  

But as a 15 year old hoping to walk away with my farmer's license that day, I allowed it to be a pretty big bummer. As a 29 year old looking back on it all, it makes me chuckle.  

Especially when I think about an image that God gave me the other day as I thought about all the stretching and growing I am in the midst of right now.  

I saw myself in my car with Jesus and he was teaching me to drive. And guess what we were working on?  

Yep, 90 degree corner backs.

He certainly has a sense of humor, don't you think? 

In this vision, Bertha, my Pontiac, was getting acquainted with those bright orange cones. I wasn't exactly thrilled about it right away.  

Until I realized Jesus wasn't freaking out about it. He wasn't upset with me. He didn't think I was incapable of getting it. He wasn't disappointed. In fact, he was kind of laughing. Not at me. Just at the situation. He was delighted in the whole deal. And he released a whole bunch of grace and joy in the learning process. I lightened up and laughed, too. And kept pressing in and trying.

In life lately, I'm learning how to do 90 degree corner backs. Things with relationships. Confrontation. Stewarding time. Forgiveness. Honor. Leadership...

As I learn, I am hitting some cones. Each time it happens, I'm realizing more and more that I have a choice. I can choose to give attention to the pain and lean into the disappointment of the situation. Or I can choose to press into God, praise Him, and receive healing and courage to keep going.

I'm not suggesting we need to deny the hits and shove them under the rug. But we certainly don't need to glorify and feed them either! The pain of "hitting cones" will happen in life. As Becky said last night, "Put it on your planner!" 

It's what we do when we're faced with the challenges. I think how we react or respond is the true test of revealing in whom or what we're placing our identity.

...phew, that's hitting my heart big time in the last couple of weeks.

It always comes back to identity. Wow. 
    
... this seems like a good pause point ...

Alright, now jump back to my drivers test for a second. If I didn't go back and take the test for the second time in high school, I'd still be getting around on a bike today.
  
I'm not knocking bikes here. But seriously, why ride around on a bike when there is something far greater and more powerful as your inheritance?

If I don't press into these current challenges, before I know it, I'll be 89 and still avoiding the corner backs of life and will have strayed away from my purpose and inheritance.

No thanks! I choose to press in and leave an imprint in my Daddy...

What are your corner backs of life right now? What would it look like for you to press into God and courageously move forward...or backward, that is, if you're doing a corner back.

Friends, I declare right now an outpouring of grace, healing, and courage to take ownership in our lives!

thank·ful [thangk-fuhl]

Tonight, I choose thankfulness.
     
It's been a week of living in tensions. Fighting to remind myself of the truth of who I am. Sifting through many thoughts and emotions with Dad. I sense so much rising up in me. New revelations. Healing. Destiny. It's gotta break soon. Until then, I press into Him and choose to remain thankful. Praise and thanksgiving alter the condition of our spirit and our atmosphere.
       
So, tonight, I declare my gratitude for...
      
::time today to rest and be still in God's presence.
::spending time with friends I haven't seen for awhile.
::sleeping in.
::a new winter hat. Let the winter hat wearing commence.
::a Daddy who catches our tears and draws in near to His children.
::Branch Court.
::my family. I miss them so very much.
::going deeper.
::(I can't believe I'm saying this) but the snow. It's a quiet night as I look out my bedroom window and see it accumulating on the grass and on the porch. It's peaceful.
::the fact that "elf yourself" is back. If you know what elf yourself is, you are probably thankful as well.
::unexpected provisions.
::cozy coffeeshops and hot chocolate.
::journals.
::ibethel.tv
::the city of Bemidji.
::psalms.
::Bemidji Area School of Transformation.
::new life. (A friend is in labor right now...they will be welcoming to the world a precious little one soon!)
::healing.
::discovering new music.
::words of encouragement.
::friendship.
::the way all this makes me smile.