simply me...

After all the holiday horns blew...

And the new year was ushered in.
My heart felt lost.
L.O.S.T.

Completion...
It's a beautiful thing...
It also means something new is beginning.
Beginnings have the ability to terrify...
Especially if you don't know where you are going.

I've been talking to Papa about what He desires...
For this next season...
Sensing an invitation to step away from former routines...
Fear quickly crept in.
I know how to do routine...
I am not amazing at "new."
This last week has left me without words.

All I could do was pray...
"What is it you want me to do?"

It's no secret...
I am NOT flashy...
I don't have a particular talent that wows...
I don't have a super skill allowing money trees to be planted in our yard...
I am no fashionista...
I am not technologically savvy...
I am NOT a genius...
I am an expert on NOTHING.
I am simply...
Me.
Don't get me wrong...
I adore being me...
I think I have just always wrestled a bit...
With not being an expert at anything.

So...
What does The God of The Universe...
Want from "simply me?"

I think what I heard Him saying this week...
Is the same message I have always heard...
"Know my heart...
Then...
SHARE IT!"
"Let your expertise be focused on love."

When I asked my smalls today...
What love looked like to them...
Charli's response struck me...
She said no words...
Instead...
Immediately...
She motioned...
Crossing her arms...

Using her little body...
To display love...
Reminding me love is indeed...
Less about words...
And more about action.

The other smalls had thoughts too...

Each expressing through their lens...
Their own hands...

What love looks like.

Love...
A giant topic...
Creating a GIANT learning curve.

So our entire crew...
Bigs and smalls alike...

Have decided to spend forever...
And especially this next season...
Being students of the greatest.

Because God is love...
To know Him...
Is to become like Him...
So to know love...
To share love...
Is to share HIM...

And that...
Is what burns in my heart more than ANYTHING...

Simply me...
Knowing Him...
Becoming like Him...
Sharing Him...
Changing the face of mountains.

December 31st marked the end...
To a chapter of...
"An Invitation to Eavesdrop."
Papa has declared that book completed.

January 7th...
Marks a day for the pursuit of something new.
Still not totally sure what it will look like...
But I am motioning forward none-the-less.
Free from self-inflicted pressures...
Rules...
Or boundaries...
Extra grace will surely be required...
And your presence and prayers...
Are always desired and welcome.
Still walking...
By faith...

Thank you for journeying alongside...
These past 600 or so days...
What a gift!
Expectantly,

The Hopefuls...