November 2013 Letter–Dear Beautiful Life,
You are marvelous, exciting, challenging, delightful, and worth all of me.
You are full, intense, gorgeous and terrifying. And many times, I have a love-hate relationship with you. Because I can’t ever figure you out. Because your twists and turns, they frustrate me to no end. Because they delight me. Because they scare me to death. And to life.
And you keep me on my toes. And you challenge me to hold on to the One who made you, the One who knows how you work. And when you make me shake down to my tippy toes in my boots, I remember that He’s not afraid of the cliffs and the boulders and the rivers too deep and the leaps too wide and the jungle too thick.
I remember that He made it all, and He is Lord of all. So I tightly hold on to His hand, and sometimes I even close my eyes because the ride seems like more than I can take.
But at the end of the day, you are marvelous. And in all the challenges that you force me to face, I sense God wrapping Himself around me. I sense Him telling me to go for it.
And so I do. Time and time again. And sometimes, I have fallen. But He has always caught me. And sometimes I have soared like an eagle. But He has always been the wind beneath my wings. And sometimes, I just barely made it. But He had always been there.
And this path we travel, you and I, dear Beautiful Life, it gets shorter every year as I get closer to the horizon. Some things seem dimmer, and others so much sharper; my desires are changing, my priorities are being tweaked.
All along, I know that you are enticing me to more of you, here and beyond the horizon that is coming. I sense the King wrapping Himself all around me. telling me to breathe Him in deep, and not waste any part of you at all. Not even one moment. Because He made you for me to delight in you.
The Beautiful, the Ugly, the Normal and the Boring. The Everyday and the Special Occasions. The Starts and the Middles and the Sunsets of each season. Every Inhale and all of the Exhales.
So I am breathing Him in deep in the Now, just like He tells me to.
Thank you for all that you are to me.
Barbara
Cultivating Thankfulness with Ann Voskamp
#793 Planning a surprise Birthday party
#794 The Lord helping me find a file that was lost
#795 An unexpected free hour to myself
#796 His Word memorized
Sometimes, I link up with any or all of these wonderful writers: Hearts 4 Home, SDG, Hearts Reflected, WLW, EOA, Things I can’t say, Growing Home, Play Dates with God, Monday Musings, Hear it on Sunday,Inspire Me Monday, Tell me a Story, The Better Mom, a Mama’s Story, Into the Word, In and Around Mondays,OYHT, Gratituesday,Titus2Tuesdays, Extraordinay, Lessons from Ivy, Denise in Bloom, Sweet Blessings, Faith Filled Friday, Finding Joy, WholeHearted Home, Mom’s the Word,
And sometimes He carries me… beautiful post, Barbara. Comforting, real, poetic. Thank you.
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I’m so glad to be here from Still Saturday…at age 56, I needed these words for where I’m living, too!
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It is nice to be reminded life is full of joy. Nicely done.
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I love your photography and your poetic prose. They are both so uplifting. 🙂
Mary-andering Creatively
Mary-andering Among the Pages
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Thank you for thi great blog! I love it to read and regognize things.
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Those twists scare me to death, too. But I’m growing.
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Lovely! He does so often carry us, catch us, and make us soar. Thanks for linking up for Testimony Tuesday!
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They scare me to death. And to life. Such beauty in your words here! I came here thinking this might be a sarcastic tribute to a beautiful life that is unattainable (guess I’m feeling a little cynical?), and instead you pointed me to the beautiful life I have. Love it.
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Thank you for sharing at our TGIF Link Party at A Peek Into My Paradise. I hope you will be back to link up another awesome post this week!
Cathy @ http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/
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“And this path we travel, you and I, dear Beautiful Life, it gets shorter every year as I get closer to the horizon.” Seems so much truer than it did a few years ago. Thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts with us here at “Tell Me a Story.”
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A beautiful post Barbara. Sorry it took me several days to get by here but thank you so much for linking this up for Three Word Wednesday. Blessings to you.
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You write so beautifully 🙂 Thank you so much for a lovely post
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Beautiful imagery. Thanks for sharing and for linking up with This Momma’s Meandering Mondays.
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