Abandoned Giving of Oneself

Oftentimes, the most valuable gift a person can give is the gift of them-self.

In this post, I want to talk about how God gives of Himself to us, how He desires us to give ourselves to Him, and how we can bring this act of giving into our marriages.

God Gave Himself to Us
I’ve just started reading the book “Desiring God” by John Piper, in which his goal is to prove that there doesn’t need to be a struggle between duty and delight in our relationship with God for delight is our duty! We were made to desire and find the most satisfying pleasure and joy in God. However, before getting to that point, he says the following…

God’s own glory is uppermost in His own affections…This is the same as saying: He loves himself infinitely…God would be unrighteous (just as we would) if He valued anything more than what is supremely valuable. But He Himself is supremely valuable…Through all eternity God the Father has beheld the image of His own glory perfectly represented in the person of His Son. Therefore, one of the best ways to think about God’s infinite enjoyment of His own glory is to think of it as the delight He has in His Son, who is the perfect reflection of that glory.”

Now you may find yourself asking, “But doesn’t this make God rather vain and selfish? How can He love us if He is so consumed with loving Himself?” Yet, God has proven His incredible love for us by giving to us the best thing possible: Himself! Piper goes on to say, “If He withholds Himself from our contemplation and companionship, no matter what else He gives us, He is not loving.” God demonstrated His love for us by giving us the most valuable thing He could offer – relationship with Him, by giving His very life for us in the act of His Son’s crucifixion for our sakes. Truly, anything less than Himself could never satisfy the longings inside of us.

Just before His death on the cross, Jesus prayed that the Father would give us the revelation that the Father loves us even as He loves Jesus (John 17:23) – or, if we take my first quote from Piper, this could also be interpreted as Him saying that the Father loves us even as He loves Himself! His infinite love of His own glory and perfection is the same love He desires to pour out upon us – He desires to give of Himself to us without reservation, with no hindrances between us, for us to one day know Him fully as He fully knows us! (1 Cor. 13:12)

We Give Ourselves to God
Now, this kind of extravagant giving of oneself needs to be reciprocal. In the same way that God shows His incredible love for us by giving Himself to us in relationship, so He desires for us to give ourselves to Him as a demonstration of our love for Him. We know this because He has expressed it numerous times in scripture

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me… (John 17:24)

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes…How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine… (Song of Songs 4:9-10)

I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me. (Song of Songs 7:10)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)

However, we often withhold the very thing that He is asking for. Whether we’re fearful and ashamed of our sin and feel unworthy, whether we don’t believe He truly desires us, or whether we withhold ourselves out of selfishness, I think Jennifer Roberts put it best as she spoke during a session at a conference I attended, “Who are you to deny the Living God what He desires?” When we hold back in giving ourselves completely to Him, it’s sending the message that we don’t really love Him, for we are the best, most valuable thing we have to offer Him! He desires us and is ravished by us!

Yet, even as God is capable of giving Himself to us because He loves Himself and sees Himself as a valuable gift to give, I believe it is imperative for us to love ourselves in the sense that we see our value and beauty in the way He sees us. For if we do not love ourselves, we will most certainly not feel worthy of offering ourselves to Him as an act of love! Though we recognize that we are soiled by sin, we must also see that we are lovely to Him because of His gift of righteousness and that He sees us as perfect, even now!

Now, before you go and get intimidated by the prospect of giving yourself to Him entirely, wholeheartedly, with abandon, holding nothing back – take a deep breath, because He says that He is ravished by just one simple glance of our eyes! It all starts with just one look, one “yes”, one quickly whispered “I love you”, opening one more door in your heart, sharing one more secret with Him, letting Him into one more area of your life. I know that this is a huge hurdle for me because I often feel like I can’t give Him anything until I’m ready to give it all at once, and so I end up giving Him nothing. But if I can remember that I can capture His heart with just one glance, if I can give Him even that, soon it will abound to much more and He will enable me to give all of myself, one step at a time.

We Give Ourselves to our Spouse
Now I found that these same principles can be applied to our marriages. If I am not confident in my husband’s love for me, and if I do not believe that I am beautiful to him (in other words, if I don’t love myself), then I will not be able to offer myself to him in love. If I think I’m ugly or unworthy to be his wife, how can I possibly be open with him about my weaknesses, struggles, fears, etc. and allow him into the deep areas of my heart? I have to believe that my husband loves me for who I am and that he accepts me, flaws and all, otherwise I will want to withhold, thinking I am protecting him from seeing my blemishes, when really am I communicating that I don’t really love him or trust him. This is always a struggle for me, for I have always been one that likes to present a perfect appearance to the world and have everyone think that I have everything put together, yet when I allow myself to be vulnerable, open and honest with my husband, our love goes to further depths of intimacy than if I held those things back. When I confidently give myself wholly to my husband, sure in my knowledge of his love for me, letting down all the walls, confident that I am a valuable gift worth giving, then our love for one another with blossom and grow.

Onething and Our 4th Honeymoon!

The last two weekends have been FULL!  First of all, we hosted a Onething regional conference here in Winnipeg and Joe and I personally hosted 3 of the team members at our home for the weekend!  It was such an amazing time getting to know the team from IHOP and connecting with other young people who have the same heart and passion for prayer that we do.  Everyone was so great and fun and they did such an incredible job of putting on this conference for us!  Even though many of us at SHOP were volunteering for a lot of the time, we also got to enjoy a few of the sessions and received much from the Lord.  I also believe that much was sown in the spirit in our city and the youth and young adults here. 

Then, the very next weekend, Joe and I went to Calgary where the Onething team was doing another conference, which just happened to be at the church where we attended before moving to Winnipeg!  So it was the perfect excuse to go and visit our old friends there that we hadn’t seen in over a year.  This time, we got to enjoy the conference without having any responsibilities and then at pretty much every single meal or break, we were going out with friends to reconnect, which was really great!  Busy – but great! 

After that was all over, we took off to Canmore where we had booked a lovely suite with a fireplace, jacuzzi and king-sized bed for what was quickly appointed the “4th honeymoon”!    I basically like to call any time away for just the two of us a honeymoon, just because it makes it feel more special!  We spent three nights there and really loved just being in the mountains again, going out for nice meals, and sitting in front of our fireplace reading our Bibles or a book and talking about God and simply enjoying one another’s company.  It was a lovely, relaxing time that we had been looking forward to for a long time and which may be our last holiday like that for a long time, with baby on the way!  Yet, while we may not get that same level of quiet alone time at a nice hotel, I believe it’s so important to make time for each other and make it feel special, even after baby arrives.  I realize it will look very different (although I honestly don’t truly have understanding of just how different until I experience it) but I plan to make our marriage a priority, even in the midst of transition, because if our marriage isn’t healthy, then our family as a whole won’t be healthy and happy.  So here’s to many more honeymoons, no matter what form they take!

 

Our Mission Statement

When my husband and I were attending our pre-marriage counseling, our counselor recommended that we create a mission statement for our marriage. We took this suggestion seriously and wrote up a short, yet meaningful statement that summarized our hopes and dreams for our future together. On our wedding night, my husband presented me with a beautiful gift that displayed pictures of us, as well as a poetic description of why he loved me (I inserted my own reasons for why I love him later on) and in the center was our mission statement. This picture frame hangs in our bedroom as a daily reminder of our love for one another and our commitment to each other. Here’s what it says…

Mission Statement

To reach the fullness of intimacy with God, and with each other, as He intended it to be from the beginning.

To fulfill the first commandment as well as the second, in that order, knowing that in seeking to love God, we will be compelled to love people.

We firmly believe this to be true – that as we seek God first and seek to love Him with everything that we have, love for one another and for the people around us will just naturally follow suit. This thought was included in my wedding vows, in which I stated to Joe that “I covenant to love God first and wholeheartedly, allowing Him to flood my heart with His love for you” and which I also used to exhort my sister in my speech to her on her wedding day…

More than any magnificent treasure, your heart and the love you possess are a priceless gift that only you can give. Today, the greatest piece of wisdom I could offer you is to give that love in wholehearted devotion and adoration to Jesus, loving Him with everything that you possess, falling more deeply in love with the infinite God who will love you more deeply and more intimately than any human being ever could. In doing this, I guarantee that you will have the most incredible marriage you could ever hope to dream of having. For He will fill your heart to overflowing with His love for you and for [your husband] and it will fill your home with the richest, most secure, and enduring love that will stand the tests and challenges of this life.

Yet recently, someone chose to differ with us in their opinion on this subject, arguing that it was entirely possible for a married couple to both love God and be committed to one another but not actually be in love with one another. When my husband and I discussed this later on, we both agreed that this may be a reality for many Christian married couples, but that absolutely DOES NOT mean that it is God’s highest design for marriage and that we would absolutely NOT accept that as a possibility for ours! For if God designed marriage to be an earthly example of the passionate love that Jesus the heavenly Bridegroom would have for His Bride, the Church and vice versa, then we do not want to settle for anything less than that! In our mission statement, we declared that we desired to have intimacy with God and with each other “as He intended it to be from the beginning” – meaning, we desire to have the same level of unhindered, innocent, pure love that Adam & Eve experienced with one another and with God in the garden of Eden before the fall into sin.

Secondly, it seems to be an oxymoron to think that it’s possible to be completely in love with Jesus and pursuing intimacy with Him, yet be unmoved and unchanged in your heart towards the people in your life that He loves with the same intensity and passion that He loves you! Now, I know that I am not walking in this nearly to the degree that I would hope, but if I see that I have a dull, cold heart towards my spouse, or my children, or the people I encounter on a day-to-day basis, then I need to seriously challenge where my heart is at with the Lord! I believe it also needs to be a regular prayer of mine to ask the Lord to fill my heart with His love for people – especially my husband! I am not ignorant to the fact that I am mostly selfish and often reserved in giving love to people, yet this doesn’t change the fact that we are commanded to do so and that it’s truly God’s desire for His Church to walk in levels of love that the world has not seen nor can even understand!

1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

John 17:23
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

In closing, my husband and I took some leadership courses in our church, and one of the topics was on the various kinds of love that people experience in their relationships:

1. I love you “if” – an exchange of requirements; it is a selfish love wanting to get something in return.
2. I love you “because” – conditional on what the other person has, is, or has done.
3. I love you “without condition” – I love you in spite of…whether you change or not. I love you as you are. This is a creative love that produces change in the person that receives it.

Unconditional love is what we receive from God every day and it is truly a love that produces change in us as we receive it from Him. This is the kind of love we want to have in our marriage – a love that is pure and without condition – a love that is creative, producing reciprocal love in the person that it is poured out on, a love that only continues to grow in passion and depth until the day we die or meet Jesus in the sky.

The Great Canadian Wish List

The Great Canadian Wish List
CBC News has started a group on Facebook called “The Great Canadian Wish List” where anybody can make a wish for Canada, invite their friends to support it & then on July 1st, the top results will be reported about on CBC TV, CBC Radio, CBC Newsworld and online at cbc.ca/wish.

Their hope is to provoke discussion and the free expression of ideas and they have certainly succeeded, as the debates and arguments abound regarding several issues such as abortion, gay marriage, our nation’s spiritual condition and saving the environment. It has also evolved into a sort of competition for the top 2 spots on the list – pro-life vs. pro-choice.

We Are Not Our Own
As I browsed the pro-choice group, I think I was most bothered by their main image which portrays a female icon with the phrases, “My Mind, My Body, My Choice“, for herein lies the greatest deception of them all. I happen to be reading the book “Body By God” by Dr. Ben Lerner, which is a book designed to help you improve your body and health by applying principles found in both science and the Bible. The very title itself is a clear statement about our body – it’s by God – designed, created, and shaped by Him (see Genesis 1 and Psalm 139). As Dr. Lerner puts it, “No person can make another. The body is not by man; the body is by God”. Yet he continues to go even further by saying, “Your body is not your own! Your body is not only by God, it is for God, and it is God’s.” In other words, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his…” (Psalm 100:3) or as Paul states it, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

This deception that our bodies are our own, when truly they are God’s, is a terrible and destructive line of thinking that has invaded our society’s paradigm, yet not only with our bodies – we think this way about everything. We think our possessions are ours, our money is ours, our time is ours, our mind is ours – yet the Bible also says that “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1) Yet we are primarily selfish creatures looking out for #1 – ourselves – with little regard to how our decisions affect others or how they line up with God’s ways. David Sliker, an author and intercessory missionary at the International House of Prayer recently wrote a post on this very topic of humanism on his blog where he quoted Psalm 2:1-3, which says “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.‘” David goes on to expound this text and what that will look like in the coming days…

The result of this concerted effort to reject God and His Son will be the apex of humanism itself, or the exalting of man and his capacities and capabilities in a manner that is seemingly able to effect his own salvation without the interference of biblical morality or the “restraint” of the law of God. In the minds of the sinful man, “salvation” means the achievement of Utopian ideals related to perfection in society and perfection in man himself.

In the world’s eyes, legalizing abortion and gay marriage are a signpost to our progressive thinking, open-mindedness, tolerance and our rise to perfection as mankind, while holding to the moral values and guidelines as laid out for us in scripture is to actually regress. Considering how God feels about these subjects is simply not a part of their rationale, for it is primarily about what they want and what they feel they have the “right” to do. Somewhere along the line we came up with this twisted idea that we have the “right” to choose what to do with the lives that were never ours to begin with. The very breath in our lungs comes from God and it is He who has every right to ask us to live our lives according to His ways. And His ways are not bondage, as the world perceives them to be! His commands are not chains to be broken off! His commands were given to bring us abundant life, freedom and joy beyond anything we could imagine for all of eternity! He is not an angry God trying to take away our “fun” or force us into slavery to Him – He is a loving God who put rules in place as boundaries to protect us and keep us in a close relationship with Himself, since sin is what separates us from Him.

What We Truly Need
But I digress, for I have still yet to reach my main point. I’ll have you know that I did join “The Great Canadian Wish List” group and I supported the wishes of “Abolish Abortion in Canada”, “Spiritual Revival in our Nation”, and “Restore the Traditional Definition of Marriage”. I would probably also support many other noble wishes to end poverty and disease or save the environment, but the problem with most of these is that we are looking to ourselves for the solution instead of looking to God. I will always stand for protecting unborn children, but the fact is, that even if abortion was made illegal in Canada, it might change the behavior of men and women and save the lives of many babies, yet their hearts would remain the same. I am all for the changing of legislation in our country, but more than this, I long for a change in the hearts in our country. What good is behavioral alteration if the hearts of people still scream in rebellion against God and His ways? If they still have no regard for God, then we have gained nothing, for their souls are still lost. So taking that into consideration, the greatest wish for Canada needs to be for spiritual revival and for the hearts of people to return to the Lord God with weeping and repentance, for He truly longs to show them compassion and loving-kindness instead of judgment. (Joel 2:12-13) God is also the only one capable of bringing eternal restoration to the earth and He is the only one who is capable of ruling the people of the earth with justice.

What is our Response?
Consequently, the response that is most needed by the body of Christ today is to call out for the return of Jesus to the earth and for Him to bring speedy justice in answer to our unceasing prayers. (Luke 18:7-8) Let us fast and weep and mourn and call solemn assemblies (Joel 2:12-17) to cry out on behalf of our nation and our world and fill the bowls of prayer in heaven. (Rev. 5:8) Let us see His kingdom come and His will done by interceding for revival, appealing to the courts of heaven to affect change in the courts of the earth. I know it seems weak and it feels weak to simply pray when it feels like we should be signing petitions and making phone calls to politicians and marching down the street with signs, but I am becoming more and more convinced that in the “weakness” of prayer there is greater strength than we could ever imagine. For what would take us decades to try and change in our own strength, God could come and do in a moment!

How we met…

In celebration of the upcoming Valentine’s Day I decided to share the story of how my husband & I met & got married!

Where I was at…
In the fall of 2003, I was working at a church in Calgary, AB. I served there in numerous ways, at the weekly young adult service, doing websites and graphic design, and also helping teach in some leadership classes we did on Sunday mornings. At this time in my life, I felt I was “done” with the cycle of “crushing” on guys and decided to stop that cycle and take advantage of my singleness by enrolling in a one-year diploma program at a career college in computer programming and website creation. As my roommate and close friend Lisa Peppard said, “It’s prime time!” It was prime time to venture out and do something, since I didn’t have a relationship to consider in making the decision. I figured that this was a sure sign I wouldn’t be dating anyone until I was done the program, since I’d be in school and working!

Where Joe was at…
Little did I know that somebody else had very different ideas! Almost a year before this, is when Joe first started attending my church as a new Christian, recently having returned to God after several years away. On his first time attending our young adult service, he saw a clip of me in a video that was being shown from a prayer event I participated in in Ottawa, Ontario called “The Cry”. He was immediately attracted and drawn to me, but probably put me on a bit of a pedestal (his balloon burst pretty quickly after we started dating) and knew now wasn’t the time to pursue me – he needed to pursue Jesus first! But after several months of admiring me and watching from a distance, as well as praying about me and whether or not to pursue me, the Lord finally gave him the “go ahead”!

The pursuit…
My first week of school, I was back at work at the church, and Joe came into the office to drop off some of his assignments for the leadership classes that I would teach at. (Yes, I was his teacher! And no, I didn’t get the hint when he kept bringing his assignments in to me personally.) And out of the blue, he asked me if he could take me on a date sometime. I was totally shocked and not expecting this, and was a little frazzled, but, knowing he was a man after God’s heart, I didn’t have a problem agreeing. However, I thought he was super shy, quiet, guy and not really my type, so I anticipated having to tell him I wasn’t interested! Yikes!

The First date…
But from the time he asked if he could take me out, to the night of our first date, it was all I could think about & every time I did think about it, it made me completely nauceous! I was sick to my stomach with nerves and anxiety and confusion! As I was waiting with my roommates the night of our first date, I was shaking and my teeth were chattering – it was quite ridiculous! haha! But as soon as I went to meet him, I calmed down and began to observe who this guy was. He was a gentleman – opening the car door for me. He showed leadership – he had the whole date planned out. He served me – by hanging my jacket for me & refilling my water when the waiter was MIA. He was hilarious – making me laugh the entire evening. He loved God – he told me his testimony & was vulnerable in sharing his heart. I was completely blown away! He wasn’t at all what I thought and he was serious husband potential! I was shocked, because it was the last thing I was expecting at this time in my life.

The Third date…
Was Valentine’s Day! We went to Banff, hiked in the mountains, went for dinner, and went to the hot springs – rather romantic and intense for the 3rd date! On our drive back to Calgary, I was very bold and came right out and asked him, “So what are your intentions?” Ha! My mom freaked out when I told her about that, thinking it would totally scare him away! But I was not into dating for the sake of dating and I wanted to know if he was in this for the purpose of discovering if we were meant for marriage. And he was not scared away at all, and was totally on the same page as me. So, it then became official – we were “courting”.

 
The Fourth date…
We had gone to see a movie and were back at my apartment, talking in his truck. All of a sudden he begins talking about Jesus as our bridegroom and about Jesus’ intense love and passion for me & he begins to practically prophesy to my heart about Jesus’ zeal to win my heart and conquer all my enemies. I hardly knew what to do with myself. I wanted to burst out crying. I had never heard anybody speak like this before. He was speaking in my language!!! As an avid lover of the book of Song of Songs, and as a romantic at heart who loves the image of Jesus as my bridegroom, I had never imagined I would find a man who shared this passion. And the reason I wanted to cry, was because I was so amazed at God’s goodness towards me and so thankful that He had brought me this man, and I felt so loved by God that He would bring me someone like this who “gets me”. Someone who understands the way I tick. And I knew that Joe was the one I would marry.

Six months later…
It was my 23rd birthday August 26, 2004, and I knew that Joe was planning a special evening for me for my birthday. He picked me up around 7:00pm and we went to his place where he had prepared a wonderful, romantic, candle-lit dinner for two. Earlier in the week, he had called my mom to ask her what my favorite foods were and got recipes from her so that he could cook me up the best meal! It was a fantastic meal of my favorite broccoli cheese soup, served with vegetables and dip, and followed by an amazing dessert of chocolate cake (in the shape of a heart!) topped with icecream and a hot chocolate sauce. It was absolutely divine!

Then, it was time for Joe to present me with my birthday gift surprise, which meant I had to be blindfolded!! So, I was kept completely in the dark (literally) while Joe led me to the truck, took me for a drive, and then led me on a walk, uphill, downhill, and through tall grasses! We finally reached the spot he had carefully selected for this exact moment and positioned me in the right spot. He then directed me to stretch out my hands to receive the first part of my birthday gift – if I could guess what it was, he’d give me the second part!

Well, I had been saying for a few weeks how much I wanted a kitty, but I couldn’t have one, because I wasn’t allowed to in my apartment. So instead, Joe got me a stuffed kitty for me to cuddle! lol – I was already won over and thought it was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift. I had no idea what was about to happen next!

The Proposal…
He then said that I could look, so I pulled down my blindfold, and there he was, knelt down in front of me, with the ring out, and he was videotaping my response with my digital camera! As soon as I saw the ring, I gasped and basically started freaking out – haha! Throughout the proposal, I was practically hyperventilating and just laughing as I exclaimed “Oh my goodness!” and watched it all unfold in complete disbelief. When I removed the blindfold, I also got to see where he had brought me – we were up on a hill in Edworthy Park, overlooking the Bow River and Downtown Calgary. It was absolutely beautiful with all of the city lights lighting up the evening sky.

He then proceeded to tell me how much he loved me and that I was more beautiful than any majestic view! *Sigh* He then told me that he wanted me to be his wife – would I marry him???? And in girlish delight, I squealed a “Yes! Absolutely!!” in response and proceeded to start screaming and jumping up and down in excitement! lol.

We then had the pleasure of just soaking in the moment, sitting on the hill, looking out at the view, and sharing our excitement with each other. We prayed, thanking God for bringing us together and for the amazing ways He had shown us His love for us through each other. We asked Him to guide us and cover us in the days and years to come as we were about to begin on this amazing adventure of life together.

The Wedding…
So, 5 months from then, we got married on January 22, 2005 – almost exactly a year from our first date on January 20, 2004. It was a gorgeous, balmy winter day in Calgary and my lovely bridesmaids, dressed in red, orange, and yellow, brightened up the white landscape! We got married in a beautiful old Baptist church with a huge vaulted ceiling and gorgeous stained glass windows and rich red carpet. It was perfect – of course!

And that’s our story! I hope you enjoyed it!

The Esther Season

When I was approximately 20 years old, I felt the Lord speak to me that He was bringing me into what I coined “The Esther Season”. The Esther Season was a period of time that He was going to use to prepare me for my future husband. For those of you who are not familiar with the story of Esther, she is the young woman in the Bible who was chosen to become the new queen of King Xerxes. Before she met the King, she spent a year in preparation, being submitted to beauty treatments and learning about how to be a queen. Similarly, I was desiring for the Lord to work in my life to make me beautiful (in spirit) and to prepare me to be the kind of wife He would want me to be for my future husband, who I was also waiting to meet. At this point of my life, I had already been praying for my future husband for approximately 7 years (since I was 13) but now I felt prompted to create something to record my journey through this special season. Therefore, I bought a journal and filled it with the following…

1. A list of “must-have” qualities I was looking for in my husband.
2. A “bonus” list of qualities I wanted in my husband, but weren’t a requirement.
3. Prayers for my husband.
4. Letters to my husband.
5. Lyrics to love songs and poems.
6. Pictures.
etc.

Keep in mind that I had no idea who I would be marrying – but it was something to remind me to pray for him and it was good for me during those single years when it sometimes gets lonely and you wonder if you’ll ever find him!

So, when the time came that I finally met the man I was going to marry, it became even more special. I could now write prayers for him, knowing what his needs were. I could now write letters to him and write a name and picture a face! I could now record the love songs that I had written myself for him! It was lots of fun and I really enjoyed putting my love and time into this creation. After we became engaged, I was going through several old journals from when I was a teenager and I found more prayers that I had recorded for my future husband from as far back as 13 years old and 15, which I then copied into this journal as well.

It was amazing to see how God has been so faithful to answer all of my prayers! And God even took the silly, seemingly unimportant desires of my heart and fulfilled even my “bonus” list! He is so good! What was really special though, was when I surprised Joe on our wedding night with this journal as my gift to him. It actually moved him to tears, seeing all the prayers and letters I had written before I even knew him. But God had known! And this journal is still a special momento to look at today.

Now, I told you all this to tell you of a new season and a new journal that the Lord has prompted me to begin…one that I have decided to dub “The Hannah Season”.

More to come in my next post…

« Previous Page