Trust, wait, don't give up...

My prayer:

I am grateful for the rest you gave me this weekend God. Downtime can be such a huge blessing in this crazy world. 

We are about to start a new week in a new year and I pray and ask that you bring new opportunities and new blessings. Above all things, I pray your will be done. My hope is there are opportunities and blessings in that will. 

I love you Father God.

What God Said Tonight:

Waiting in the wings is always temporary. No one waits forever. You wait until you see the change or you wait until you give up. 

I ask that you don't give up. I ask that you wait until you see the change. I know my timing can be hard to understand and I know it is not easy to wait on me. But I promise there is reason in the waiting. I promise I have not forgotten you. I promise there is more. 

Trust, wait, and don't give up.

Patterns and puzzles...

My prayer:

Awesome God. Thank you for your help today. Thank you for your grace. I get a lot of stuff wrong but I keep trying and you keep giving me second chances. I guess that is part of what grace does. It gives me the space to work out my stuff while I try to become the person you intended me to be. Thank you God.

What God Said Tonight:

Patterns and puzzles. They are there to help you and to guide you. I don't always want to give you the answers outright. I sometimes will give you the puzzles and the patterns so you can figure out what comes next , or what the choice should be, or what direction to go. 

I could leave you as a baby but I want you to grow and experience all that I have for you. Look around you. Watch for the patterns. They are not random, especially right now. I am showing you more than you realize through the patterns in your life right now. 

See them, think about them, and see if I won't show you the way. 

I love you and you are mine now and forever, no matter what.

Peace and quiet...

My prayer:

Awesome God. I pray for guidance, direction, favor, and grace. Guide and direct me in the way you want me to go. Then, I pray that you give me favor in that situation and grace for when I mess it up. My life is yours God. I am excited to see what we are going to do together this year!

What God Said Tonight:

Nothing to say or impart tonight. Just sit here with me. Enjoy a moment of peace and a moment of quiet. 

These moments are becoming more and more rare. So, tonight, just sit with me.

I love you. 

New beginnings, new habits...

My prayer:

I am really looking forward to a new start with this new year God. Thank you for all of the hope, the opportunities you are showing me. I am really beginning to believe that 2019 will be a year of changes and new beginnings. 

It is funny, January 1st is an arbitrary date but we often attach so much meaning to marking time by years. I do it every year to some extent but I also know, as I am doing it, that it is a date of my own mind and making and really has nothing to do with anything new happening.

But, this year feels different. It does not feel like the normal passing of an old year to a new year. This year truly feels like it is bringing substantial new beginnings and I am grateful and ready God.

What God Said Tonight:

New beginnings require new patterns and new habits. I am bringing you change but if you continue to do what you have been doing, the new beginnings will end up no different than where you are today. 

Change some habits. Find, or even re-find, the habits that led to growth and joy. Let go of anything that is not bringing you joy, growth, or purpose. 

It is time to look forward and let go of all that is behind. You cannot go into this future dragging your old habits. They will drag you down. 

I love you my child.

Peace like a blanket...

My prayer:

Sweet Father. Thank you for strategies today. Thank you for favor. Thank you for giving me everything I needed to meet the challenges of the day. I am extremely grateful for you in my life!

What God Said Tonight:

I bring you peace my child. 

The peace that the world gives is so ephemeral. It is there one second and gone the next. My peace is lasting. 

My peace can be present in the toughest of battles. My peace can dwell with you in the middle of the fire. My peace will settle on you like a warm blanket on a cold day. 

I love you now and forever. 

Unique relationship...

My prayer:

I pray that you had a wonderful birthday Jesus! It was wonderful to celebrate with you. 

In this next year God, I pray that you show yourself to more people. I pray that people have the opportunity to get to know you, personally. Not get to know religion or the lessons taught by others; however well meaning they may be. But, instead, I pray that everyone get to hear your voice, feel your spirit, and know your mind. 

I love you God, now and forever.

What God Said Tonight:

Living life leaves a mark on you. The struggles and the storms and even the days of great blessings, they all leave a mark on who you are. It is like a piece of wood left out to be weathered by the elements. You can trace the experience of the wood by looking at the marks that are left behind. The same is true of you. You, your life, who you are, these are all the results of what we have gone through together. 

Our relationship is a result of what you have lived and all that we have been through together. My relationship with other children is different than my relationship with you. Not better and not worse but different. 

Every relationship I have is different because every person has different scars and marks, Each person has different needs and different levels of understanding of the world. I do not change but my relationship with each of my children is different. 

You know how I have said that I am all things to all people? Think about that a minute. It may not mean what you have always thought it did. What I am saying is that I am what each child needs of me. Because I am so completely beyond your ability to imagine, I can be everything each person needs and there is still much of me left over, waiting for the child who needs that part of me. I am everything you need and everything you will ever need. 

It is my great desire to grow in relationship with every one of my children. I will do what I can but in this relationship thing, it has to be a two way street. You have to meet me in the middle. Come, meet in the middle and see what I will do in your life. 

My love, now and forever.

Facets of beauty...

My prayer:

It is almost your birthday Jesus. I honestly wouldn't have wanted to live one day of this life if you had not been born and died for me. If I had to live life without you in it, without your grace and forgiveness, without your love, that is a life that is not worth living.

Thank you Father for giving your son for us, for me. 

What God Said Tonight:

This time of year when I bring you snow and ice, I want you to see it differently than you have before. Snow and ice and crystals. They are filled with facets that reflect light and allow you to see beauty where before there was nothing. 

I will give you beauty for ashes. Part of how I give that to you is by giving you new ways to see what you could not see before. I will bring you the insight to see the facets before you and the beauty will be apparent. 

I love you. I am with you now and forever. We will see the beauty of life together.