This little LIFE.

I didn't see it coming, just like most of life's best moments, I did not plan it. Yet there it was, a good thing sitting right in my lap. There was a day I thought I'd never do it again. There was a moment I thought my love would be lost forever. There was a night when tears soaked my pillow and I cried myself to sleep. There was a day. 

And then so often like there always is, there was a new dawn. And there I held the promise of my Father in my own two hands, like a shining birthday gift wrapped in pink polka dots and glitter. My heart twirled like it does when you get the sweetest hug from a good friend or great love. My soul sang the goodness of the Lord. And I saw that in all things, He begged for me to know life. 

The chairs sat empty as I waited for beautiful faces to fill them and prayed that the Holy Spirit would let me be a vessel of God's love. I pinched myself about a thousand times to verify that this moment was not just again a vivid dream. And while the cool air left goose bumps on my skin, the very moment of seeing God's faithfulness left a fire in my heart. 

God comes that we might have life and have it more abundantly. It tells us right there in scripture, John 10:10. I know this well. I have the words written on my heart. Yet here I am again, still shocked by His glory. 

I tell these beautiful ladies this truth. I tell them God wants the absolute best for them. I tell them my stories about Kenny Chesney concerts and the SnapBack song and we giggle together as girls often do. But in between the giggles and the prayers and the country song sing alongs, there's this beautiful thing unfolding that the girls might not see. God comes that I might have life and have it more abundantly too. 

My words spoke of a Father who fights every day to bring us life, my heart saw that day His promise come true.  

All along He was begging for me to know the life He has created for me. And here it was, in a moment I did not plan, with good luck texts and thank you hugs, the life I now knew He saw coming all along. 

God has placed every last desire on my heart. My desire to love, to be loved, to serve, to grow, to laugh, to rest, to know, to be known, to trust, to surrender, to be His; He knows my desires.

And He knows my heart. And He knows what brings me life. He knows. More than my own thoughts, He knows. 

There I was twirling like a princess in the love of my Father, not because I planned it, but because He did. He knew all along life would consume me in that moment.  The devil will do whatever he can to steal that life from me. And on bad days I let him. On bad days I question God's goodness. And I let go of my desires to fall in love, speak the truth, see the good stuff, but on good days, there I am, full of life. 

I told those amazing ladies that God comes that we might know life. What I could not see coming was that there amidst precious hearts and words of truth, God was giving me life in the simple moment; reminding me of the amazing LIFE He desires for me. 

I was never robbed. I was not too late, or missing out, or not enough. I was here, right on time. Right where He longed for me to be, showered in goodness and fully alive. 

Keep searching for the good stuff. Keep knowing the LIFE Christ came so that you might know. And when life becomes one princess moment after the next, twirl because you were made to be ALIVE.