Sunrise, Sunrise

"I like to compare God's love to the sunrise. 

That sun shows up every morning, no matter how bad you've been the night before. 

It shines without judgement. It never withholds. 

It warms the sinners, the saints, the druggies, the cheerleaders - 

the saved and the heathens alike. 

You can hide from the sun, but it won't take that personally. 

It'll never, ever punish you for hiding. 

You can stay in the dark for years or decades, and when you finally step outside, it'll be there. 

It was there the whole time, shining and shining. 

It'll still be there, steady and bright as ever, just waiting for you to notice, to come out, to be warmed. 

All those years, I thought of God and light and the sun as judgmental, but they weren't. 

The sunrise was my daily invitation from God to come back to life."

- Glennon Doyle Melton from Carry on, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed  

What's To Come

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." - C.S. Lewis

Remember Well: Gratitude

Thankful for a midwestern fall...

For fresh flowers...

For words of encouragement...

and times of solitude.

Everyday I try to take some time and think through things I'm thankful for. 

There are so many things that feel insignificant in the business of daily life 

that really are such blessings when time is taken to acknowledge them. 

I've started to actually write them down... these are just a couple of things that are on it. 
Would love to hear some things that you're thankful for.
Any good stuff going on in your lives?

Long Before

"Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God's loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love. Our preciousness, uniqueness, and individuality are not given to us by those who meet us in clock time - our brief chronological existence - but by the one who has chosen us with an everlasting love, a love that existed from all eternity and will last through all eternity." 

- Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved

Grateful for these words this morning.

Recommendations

I am always nervous when I hear from tons of people about a certain book to read, movie to see, album to listen to. I think sometimes there is so much hype around something that when it comes time for me to experience it on my own the beauty others have experienced is clouded by my expectation. 

With that being said, I love it when the very opposite happens. A handful of close friends of mine recommended the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It is wonderful. Ann is a beautiful writer that puts words to what communion with God is like. 

The book really has challenged me to be more aware of what's happening around me. Just a week or two ago I was driving to meet a friend for dinner and noticed how beautiful the sky looked. Instead of just passing by I decided dinner could wait 3 extra minutes and pulled over, got out of my car, and took the picture above. It was so gorgeous. There are invitations all around us to be invited into something more, sometimes it's just whether or not we're able to see them. 
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the book: 
"We want something else which can hardly be put into words- to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it..." 
I don't want to give too much of my opinion about it except that it's worth a read. You can find it here.