Tag Archives: dreams

I AM home at last…

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Frost on the window pane. Inside. 

Turning the hottest room in the house frigid by dawn’s first light.

So I snuggle down deep, burrowing next to him, hand resting lightly on his belly.  Chest rising and falling, rising and falling.

Slowly.

And my breaths sync with his own.

We are one.

Becoming more one each moment, with only seven months behind us.

Pillow talking our way into morning as the sun, one eye still shut, yawns and stretches towards day.  Then boldly mounts the distant hillside, proclaiming in no uncertain terms…

I AM here.

And He is. For this is the day the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Easy words to say lying wrapped up in Dearest Husband’s arms.  Safe. Secure. Happy. Peaceful.

Perfectly content in our little corner of the universe.

Then feet hit the floor. The wood is cold beneath my toes. A sharp reminder that I must will.

Choices to be made. Each day. Even before being fully awake.

Even when I don’t want to.  Even when the current circumstance is less than.

Dearest Husband agrees and we pray for change. Believing we are one day closer. Living our dream, our second half chapter, after the darkness of nights better forgotten.

A brand new day, in the making.

Yet life is measured in moments and moments are meant to be savored. All the moments from Him. But only by Grace.

By Grace are ye saved. And by Grace we will learn the lessons of the moments.

If not, they will be squandered. They will fall away and the door will shut and they will be lost forever. And one day we will wake up, look around and ask, where did they all go?

So savor the moments, I remind myself.

How?

I AM. In every moment.

Is He?

Like a constant drip, the question nags me as I go through the morning routine, gearing up for the grind.

Yet He is.  Always there.  Arms outstretched.

But one day I forgot.  Somewhere I got lost a little. Tangled up in what my eyes only could see. Choosing to ignore the spiritual joys that are just beyond the veil, to squeeze tight the bird in hand. Which flew away and died. Better off dead.

Something best was within grasp if only I would stretch out my withered hand.

And so I did. With palms upraised, lifted high, like a four year old longing for Daddy’s arms.

I need Him to pick me up.

Do you?

Then seek Him.  And I will too.  For all He is.  Just because.

He loves us.

And this is the only place we will find life.  Where our dreams, that are really His ancient plans all new, can come true.

I steal but a few moments with Him before the hustle and bustle sucks me in. Suffocating hope again. Churning despair in the deep parts.

I hear Him say, in barely a whisper, I AM.

I AM here and I have not moved.  But, where have you wandered, Little Girl, Little Boy?

I long to be there. To live there.  In His arms. Always.

Years ago, I was.  Much more closely.  Before a spell of sinful choices knocked me off course for a while.

Until God, in His great mercy, said enough.  And tenderly took hold of my heart again.  Set my feet on Holy Ground.  Dried my tears.

Rescued.

Then He sent me a very godly husband.

A man who inhales Jesus with each breath, bringing life and love to every fiber of his fabric, so warm and cozy, making every exhale an Alleluia…

I am wearied from traveling in a land far from home. So I keep seeking.  Holding my partner’s hand. My life’s love who helps me see Him better. Who spurs me on with his prayers when I am tired. Whose shepherd’s crook nudges me when I get a little out of line.

Are you weary, too?  Do you need to catch your breath? Do you need to return to the safety of His embrace?

Seek, wearied traveler.  Seek Jesus, the One who loved you so much He gave His life.

Seek with us.  And we with you.  All of us together.  The way it was always meant to be.  Loving. Longing for what is yet to be…while living fully in every moment of the here and now.

And one day we will arrive at the celestial city, all gold and gleaming, and the gates will fling wide open and we will walk through…Welcomed.

At last…I AM. Home…

With burning hearts…

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But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be provided for you. Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:33 HCSB)

In reflecting on these words, words coming out of the mouth of Jesus making it unwise for us to ignore them, I find it important to first understand—at least to some fundamental extent—what he meant by both “the kingdom of God” and “His righteousness”. For if these two things are of such importance that in seeking them we are to grant them a higher priority in our lives than the pursuit of food, clothing and shelter, we ought to have a clear sense of what they are!

While the kingdom of God, no doubt, encompasses more than what I offer here, it is yet a place where God is acknowledged as king and His will holds sway, gladly accepted by the inhabitants of the kingdom as wise, good, and preferable to their own. That God’s will is preferable stems from the settled opinion of the kingdom’s inhabitants that God’s righteousness, His goodness if you will, is perfect.

If what I suggest is at least fundamentally accurate, then to seek “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” is to be searching after, on a continual basis and as a higher priority than the pursuit of material things, that non-material, spiritual, life-imparting and essential treasure that is the fruit of a vital relationship with the living God and the defining difference between existence and life.

You may well wonder at this point, how is this to be done? What form does the seeking take? To which I give the only answer possible—follow Jesus!

My reply isn’t meant to be facetious. I’m serious. Jesus commands us to seek these things and, in the gospel record, claims to know what he’s talking about. He says that he and the Father are one and that his appearing on earth brings the kingdom of God near, visible to everyone. After all, Jesus is both the King and the human embodiment of the righteousness of God. To seek God’s kingdom and righteousness is to follow hard after Jesus, learning from him and doing what he says. For in the doing comes understanding.

The re-ordering of our lives to reflect God’s priorities is to agree to turn our own world upside down! Jesus knows this and sets the admonishment so that it is sandwiched in the midst of his addressing our human propensity to be anxious about our physical welfare—often to the extent of making money the paramount pursuit of our life. Jesus strips away any pretense of a pragmatic hiding place by saying that if we have our priorities in order our material needs will be provided for.

Bold words! One of the most incredible statements I’ve ever heard! So grand a promise that my heart longs to plumb the depths of its truth. I want to experience the unfettered, explosive joy of fellowship with, and worship of, the God who so loves us as to set us free from self-imposed drudgery and fulfill this lofty claim.

By the gracious help of the Spirit of Christ Jesus I have come a long way in my personal journey of faith to where I find myself, together with my beloved wife, Sheila, poised to take hold of our Savior’s words as a truth strong enough to overcome our fears. It must be so! For if this utterance of Jesus is false then our faith is in vain.

With burning hearts we desire to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ and to be found faithful stewards of that which he has entrusted to us. To know him and love him with the same wild abandonment of love that fueled his willingness to come and save us from our sins. Jesus is our Longings End and we look to set ourselves to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…

~michael

Talk is cheap…

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Especially when the topic is our dreams.

For if all we do is talk about those secret wishes that we hold in our hearts, then a lifetime might pass and at the end of the road we’ll realize that this leg of our journey is done with nothing to show for it except a pocketful of stardust.

And wishing on a star is not the stuff of which dreams are made.  At least not in real life.

While we must pray, talk, plan and visualize about our dreams, there comes a time for us to move out into the unknown.

Don’t just sit there anymore…do something!

And this step requires faith in our great God who provides the substance of things hoped for, although at present, the evidence is unseen.

Without faith, though, we cannot please him.  Without faith, our dreams may be stillborn.

And the enemy of the faith-fueled-dreams-in-the-making process, the thing that can most gunk up the works, is a mother lode of WORRY.

Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? Luke 12:22-26

In faith, we trust God.  If He has put this desire on our hearts and encouraged it by the particular gifting He has provided and even confirmed our plans by the affirming words of others over a period of time, then God will open doors, clear roadblocks and take good care of us along the way to turning dreams into reality.

But God’s not going to do it all for us.  We the dreamers have to do more than talk.  We must act.  We must go.  We must change.

And that can require risk.

Scary!

Recently, Dearest Husband commented to me – his sometimes Jesuschickenlittle – that my home office contained multiple plaques about pursuing one’s dream.  He wondered if too many words without significant action would ever accomplish the intended purpose.

And he is right.  His words prompted more praying on my part and then this post.  A plan of action steps for this new year has been devised so that each month we move closer to realizing our dreams and living the life we have always imagined.  Thank you, my Michael.

Whether we take giant steps or baby steps, we must start walking now.  So keep to the path, one day at a time, and don’t stop till you get there!

For we all, made in Father’s image, are creators at heart, infused with the desire to imagine the possibilities if only we will believe…

Won’t you hold His hand and take a leap of faith?

Hey, we can hold each other’s hand as we journey into our Jeremiah 29:11 futures and who knows where we will be a year from now!

Let’s make 2012 the year when our longings end as our dreams come true, breathing life into a future He planned for us so very long ago…
~sheila

A new year beckons…plus tips on creating a vision prayer board

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‘Tis the season for making New Year’s resolutions, yet oft times they wind up broken or discarded before Cupid even has a chance to draw back his bow.

Over the years that I’ve been setting goals for the upcoming 12 months, probably less than a handful have survived to be successfully implemented and achieved.

Resolutions, it seems to this writer, are centered on three persons…me, myself and I.

Perhaps it’s time to start a new tradition in 2012 by making praysolutions and focusing on three more important persons…Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Resolutions are a formal expression of intent, a firm determination to do something. And they seem to require self-will power.

Praysolutions, on the other hand, are primarily worship, a lifting up of all we are as we request guidance or assistance from Him who holds everything in His hands. All that’s needed here are open hearts ready to receive direction from the Wonderful Counselor.

It seems to me, this is one instance where it is better to receive than to give…

“This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:2-3

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity…” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

The One who made our innermost being knows us best of all. He created each of us for a unique purpose. A purpose we are to fulfill on this earth while He prepares us for eternity.

And He knows the best way for us to accomplish our life’s purpose and exactly what we should (or shouldn’t) be pursuing in the New Year.

I don’t want to get to Heaven someday and hear it said that I had wasted the talents given me. I long to hear the words, “Well done!” And the only way I can get that gold star, is by knowing Him more and loving Him better so that I can hear and understand more clearly as He leads me to my longings end.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

The last quarter of the year, though crazy busy, is a contemplative time for me. One for looking back and also ahead. Only this year, there was a twist in that I now have a life partner and together we have prayerfully created a new shared vision of our God given future.

To illustrate our praysolutions, Michael and I crafted homemade Christmas gifts for each other. He wrote a poem and I created a vision prayer board, both of which are tangible reminders of what we believe God has impressed upon our hearts as our life purpose. These gifts represent what we long for in the New Year and beyond…


Vision prayer boards are like vision statements only with more pictures than words. They are tactile reminders of the plans God has for us. On these boards, we can surround ourselves with images of who or what He wants us to become, or have: personally, relationally and professionally. Listening to Him, we fill our boards with the colors of our soul and pictures of the desires we believe He has placed in our hearts.

Tips for creating a vision prayer board:

  1. Collect old magazines.
  2. Select a cork board. (size to fit your dreams!)
  3. Buy a box of teeny common pins. (available at hobby/craft stores)
  4. Gather scissors and any decorative items you may want to use such as ribbons, buttons, sequins, markers, Bible verses or personal photos.
  5. Before beginning the process of creation (and this is the most important step), sit down with the Lord and still your heart. Ask Him what He has for you in the coming year.
  6. Tear pages from your magazines, including photos, words or headlines that apply to your vision.
  7. With your pile of pictures and words before you, allow His still small voice to direct your heart as you pin items on the board. Rearrange as needed, creating is a process. Decorate as you desire.
  8. Place the board prominently where you will see it daily.
  9. Thank God for how He is working in your life to bring about His plans for you.
  10. And remember to have fun as you follow His creative lead!

If you choose to create a vision prayer board, please feel free to email us@longingsend.com with a photo, brief paragraph of what it means to you, and your first name and hometown. As response dictates, we may devote a springtime blog posting to your vision boards. THANKS!

~sheila