How Do I Help a Friend Who's Hurting?

by Jennifer Smith

Bless our hearts.

As I’ve grown into adulthood God has given me the very precious gift of deep and lasting friendships. It seems He knew something I didn’t-

Friendships of youth are fun and important and beautiful, but it takes a woman-sized friendship to help tackle the grown-sized problems of being an adult.

What a gift my friends are. They have helped me navigate some seriously terrible storms in the past few years: loss, emotional trauma, fear, and uncertainty. And in turn I hope I have helped them through their wind and waves.

My friendships are valuable to me: the ridiculous laughter, important conversations, and the gift of just being well known. Yesterday my friend Jamie literally said these words to me, “You turned your head a certain way. Are you keeping a secret?” 

And, you know what? I WAS.

(For the sake of transparency I will tell you it was a boring work secret akin to the secret Phoebe told Monica when her “friend Nancy from work was being fired”. #friendsreference)

Y’all, friends are important. And we need each other. So if a friend is going through a hard time, how do we help? I’ve combined my own experiences, a conversation with a licensed counselor, and most importantly, prayer, to compile this list. I hope it helps you to help:

1. Ask. If you feel like a friend is hurting or is a little “off” it’s okay to say, “Are you okay?” Either they’ll say yes and we’ll all move on with our day or they’ll say no and you’ve opened a door for conversation.
2. Listen. When a friend confides, you don’t have to talk. Take in every word they’re saying without worrying what you’re supposed to say next or comparing their struggle to your own story. Most likely that’s all they need from you- a listening ear.
3. Understand. Give validation to their struggle. Saying the words I understand or that must be hard or I can’t imagine gives your friend support in their struggle and let’s them know they are not alone.
4. Don’t try to fix it. We are not licensed therapists. (Well, maybe some of us are, but I certainly am not.) I don’t know how to fix a broken marriage or guide in grieving a death. But I know the One who does which leads me to...
5. Point them to Jesus. This does not mean saying things like "This was all in God’s plan" or "God never gives us what we can’t handle" or "It'll happen in God's time". (Just stay away from any generalization your great aunt Helen would say.) This does mean saying, “I will pray” and meaning it.
6. Pray. To our human mind this sometimes feels small, but it’s the biggest one. Friends, lift your friends up to Jesus. He’s the only one who can fix or change anything. Tell Him of their sorrow and let Him do His mighty work. James 5:16 tells us the prayer of one who knows God is powerful and effective.
7. Encourage. Remember your friend through texts, notes, and laughter. One time when I was down, a friend sent me socks. Socks! In the mail! And oh how I smiled.

God is so good to give us each other to care for and help. This is an actual commandment Jesus gave to us. He told us to love God and then love people. And if I am well in tune with the God-love inside me, great springs of love run out of me to those around me.

Let’s remember that being a godly friend doesn’t mean we have all the answers. We don’t need to think of the perfect thing to say. A godly friend listens, prays, and loves. A godly friend points to Jesus, the best Friend of all.

Week 39 (The Work of Waiting)

I'm waiting. Waiting for a tick, a twinge, a sign that says things are moving forward. Week 39 for an expectant momma is the longest week in the history of all the weeks of the entire world. Her wait is the longest wait. Her wait is longer than Tom Hanks' wait in Castaway. She laughs in his waiting face as he's talking to Wilson. Her belly is her own Wilson.

This time next week I will be holding my baby boy, James.

To you 7 days might not seem so very long. And you're exactly right. But something happens during Week 39 and time starts to tick for Momma in a different way.

My nursery has been ready for weeks. My hospital bag is ready to go. I finished, weeks ago, all I could do at work at both school and the studio.

And now, I'm just waiting.

Last week I talked to Vicki about the waiting. My dear friend who with two babies of her own understands completely the week that is 39. And she reminded me of something simple: use your time. Do something. Don't wait. Work.

Don't wait. Work.

Smart, huh?

And so for the past several days I have devoted myself to creating. I've used my days to create approximately 25 original prints and a slew of handmade cards for the studio. I ordered new inventory for our boutique section. I sat with the blogger of Love Gaston and she interviewed me about the studio. I lettered on a wooden cut out for Vicki. I completed the write-up for our Created to Create event in the fall. I took my boys for cheeseburgers. I TOOK THEM TO THE LEGO STORE AND THE DISNEY STORE. After typing this, I will build a robot with my boys for Bible School.

I've also binge-watched four seasons of Call the Midwife. (Does this count?)

Don't wait. Work.

And you know, what? The work has made the wait all the more bearable. In fact, the work makes the wait completely bearable.

I'm so busy working that I forget about the waiting.

There's a verse we Christians love. We say it at graduations and as encouragement to each other. A simple verse that conveys hope and inspiration to persevere.

But we use it completely out of context. And I want to tell you why.

"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."

Jeremiah 29:11

Oh, how true this verse is. God speaking directly to His beloved people. And every word he breathes is true. For those he has made righteous and called according to his purpose (That's you!) he has great plans and a beautiful future. Oh, what a sweet, good, and true promise!

The same goes for the people he was speaking directly to that day: the people of Israel who were being forcibly removed from their homes and about to be taken into exile, as prisoners, to Babylon.

Well, that doesn't sound so good, does it? The words forcibly, prisoner, and exile do not sound like words filled with hope nor do they sound like words that describe a non-harmful situation.

But God would use this time in Babylon to prosper his people. 

If we jump back to verse 7 it explains the Exiles should work hard for the prosperity of Babylon. In fact, they should embrace the time spent there. How much time? God tells them they will spend 70 years of waiting in Babylon before returning to Israel. 

So what do they do during 70 years of waiting in exile? They work. They live. They build houses and plant gardens. They have sons and daughters. 

And when the time of waiting is over, they will call out to God and he will hear them. They will look for him with all their hearts and he will be found. He will restore them and send them home to good things.

So the waiting and the work are worth it.

Here's what I want you to know today: waiting is hard, work makes it easier. The rewards are worth it.

I don't know what your wait is. I don't know how long you've been waiting. But I do know that being consumed by the wait isn't healthy nor is it productive. Work in your wait. And remember that God is watching the clock of your wait just as much as you are, if not more. Jeremiah 29:11 says he is the one with the plans. He's the one that knows your future. We wait-ers are to be the workers. We wait-ers aren't the planners. That's God's job.

I know God has the perfect birthdate for my sweet baby James. I know his birthdate has been appointed from the beginning of time, that it is significant and purposeful. I don't want my James to be born on a misbegotten date of my choosing. I'm willing to wait for the perfect day God has planned for him. 

Are you willing to wait for God's perfect plan for you? I know you are. 

So use your wait and work. Build your house, plant your garden. Make your mark.

I'll be over here cheering you on from my Week 39. I hope you'll do the same for me. 

A Father to the Fatherless

Hello, my friend. It's Father's Day. And I want to talk to you. Just to you. Not to all of our sweet friends who have present and faithful and good daddies. This Father's Day post is just for you. So lean in, I have things to tell you.

I'm not sure what your story is. Your Father Story. Did he leave when you were a baby? Or when you were a teenager? Is he sometimes there when it's convenient for him? Or has he just never been there? Did he walk you down the aisle? Or did someone else stand in his stead? Did he make some rotten, no-good mistakes that shook your world to the core? And you've found forgiveness, but the connection is just gone?

As I type these words, I weep with you and the dad-shaped hole he has left. Because I won't tell you a lie. Daddies are important. Research shows that fathers who are present in their children's lives create adults who are empathetic and more joyful.

We are our best selves when loved by a dad who gives his best.

But there are some who just don't get the gift of a good dad. And guess what?

It's not your fault.

I have several dear friends who have Rock Star Status Fathers. And, in their adult lives, you see the fruits of love-seeds their dads sowed in their lives: security, joy, self-assuredness.

I also have several dear friends who feel an intense lack of belonging on Father's Day. Their day left to wonder what could have been, what should have been if their fathers had done their job.

Dear friend, your dad had a job to do. Given to him by a holy and good Creator. And that job was to love you, shelter you, and lead you to Jesus. If your dad failed at these things I am sorry. And I have three truths to tell you today:

Forgive him.

Find a better Father.

And embrace Him.

See, fathers are humans. And just like us they are made of flesh. And that flesh comes with baggage. Things like their own upbringing, bad experiences and bad choices, holes of sin they cannot climb out of. We need to find a place in our grown-up hearts to forgive the wrong they've done us and to move on to better things.

Better things like a better Father.

Listen to Psalm 68:

Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through
the deserts;
his name is the LORD;
exult before him!
Father of the fatherless and protector of
widows
is God in his holy habitation.

Let go of the things your earthly father can't be, or won't be. And cling to the things your heavenly Father can be and will be and ALREADY IS.

Our Father God comes and finds us in solitary, deserted, lonely places. He will love you with the intense love that only a Perfect Father can muster.

This perfect Father is also the Father of your earthly Dad. Let this perfect love that is completely yours transform your heart. Let go of the anger, the hurt, the emptiness, the loneliness, the trying-to-fill-the-dad-shaped-hole-with-whatever-thing-that-seems-to-work.

Use your heavenly Father's love to overcome to lack of your earthly father. Use your heavenly Father's love to forgive your earthly father. Use your heavenly Father's love to move on and reclaim your Daddy happiness.

I don't know why God chose you to walk this fatherless path. But I do know if God chose it for you, then it is good. Instead of clinging to a vision of what you missed, cling to the firm knowledge of what you have: shelter, security, and love from the One who will never hurt you or leave you.

It's funny, but somehow I think the fatherless are actually the fortunate. You see, it's you alone who understand the importance of a father and you alone who find all you need from our Heavenly Father. You know the completeness of being filled by Him above and no other. His love alone is perfect. No father, even a present one, can accomplish this.

"Every good gift  and every perfect gift  is from above," says James 1:17, "coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

This Father's Day, rejoice and celebrate. Be free and be full. Because you clearly have a Father. And beloved, He is the very best Daddy you could ever have.

James Week 9 ~ Patience

Those trials you face that crush you and break you and sadden you? Hold steadfast through them, my friend. Because God will repay your loss.

James Week 7 Draw Near, My Dear

Drawing near to God takes more than just wishing for it. There are steps outlined in James 4:7-10 that help us see how to draw near to His peaceful, perfect presence. 

James Week 6

I look very aggressive in the screen shot below. Enjoy this lesson on Wisdom. I promise I do not attack you from the screen.

James Week 5

Our words can heal. Our words can hurt. Take a peek at what determines the intent of our words.

James - Week One

Welcome to James! Week One is here!

I'm Writing a Bible Study...

So, I'm a little crazy. Amidst the opening and preparation of the new studio in Mount Holly I've decided to write my very first Bible study.

Because there are 28 hours in a day, right? Right?

Kidding aside I'm super excited to take this step in my writing ministry and I hope you'll come along beside me. Sunday, June 19 here on the blog and on Wednesday, June 22 at Depot Church we'll begin the study of the book of James. This 10 week study will carry us into August. You can read more about the study in the introduction below.

Study guides will also be available for purchase by emailing me at the blog or contacting me through Facebook. Additional copies will be available at Create in Us Art Studio and Depot Church. Copies are just $5 a piece. Pre-orders are taking place now and you'll receive your copy by mail or by me before June 19. The sooner you order the better, so I'll know how many copies to order.

The study guide will feature 20 pages of hand lettered and watercolor text and art complete with response questions, prayers, and space for notes.

While I'm writing this study I will have to say goodbye to weekly blogging until the study starts up in June. I'll still be posting your favorite past posts as Evergreen posts each Sunday night.

So, let's start praying. Please pray for me as I write my first ever study. Pray that I will receive wisdom beyond my own ability. I will be praying for each of you, too. That Jesus will use the book of James to transform the way you see the world, yourself, and Him.

Let's get started.

James

Practical Wisdom

for a 

Present World

A 10-week study

When Jesus arose from the grave He appeared to lots of people. Many personal encounters

are recorded in the New Testament: His reassurance to a doubting Thomas, His forgiveness

given to a repentant Peter, His hope given to the heavy-hearted on the road to Emmaus. 

I Corinthians 15:7 says Jesus appeared to James as well, but that encounter isn't described.

Why? Well, as Beth Moore says, "Because it isn't any of our business."

See, Jesus and James had some things to discuss. Not only was James a follower of Jesus, 

but he and Jesus shared physical blood - they were brothers, both the sons of Mary.

Even before we read a word in the book of James some things have been revealed to us:

James was of personal importance to Jesus.

Jesus was of personal importance to James. 

Because Jesus is a personal God.

James saw Jesus not only as brother, but also as Christ. And James sought to teach others

that a personal relationship with Jesus is the only way to live life.

James the book is described as a New Testament Proverbs, a book of practical living

that transcends place or time. 

James knew Jesus, possibly more than any other human ever did. He never went a single day 

of his life without knowing Jesus and this shaped his life in radical ways, causing him to do

radical things for God's glory.

James the book calls us to this same relationship and teaches us that knowing Jesus 

personally can cause us to do radical things for God's glory. 

So let's start our study, let's commit to reading, responding, and praying over this book

for 10 weeks. It's a real book for real people who want to know 

what walking with Jesus should look like. And who better than James to teach us?

It's Time to Start Asking

I'm learning. I love to learn. That's probably why I became a teacher. I'm curious and will spend hours on Wikipedia reading about everything from vikings to Tolstoy.

But what I'm learning about now is of far greater importance than simple history and literature.

It's prayer.

And before today I didn't understand.

But God in His tender grace and mercy deigned to teach me.

And it's changed my life.

See, I learned that prayer actually changes things.

Without getting too much into technicalities, I am a bit of a Calvinist. I can believe that God has a set plan, that He calls those who He will, and that His plans and callings are perfect. Who am I to try to change His perfect will?

But that's not exactly right. There's more to the flow of our lives than that. Because He's given us a beautiful gift -

Intercession.

James 4:2 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask."

While studying prayer I've sat under the teaching of scholars who are much smarter than me. And they all teach me the same thing - We pray because prayer works.

Genesis 18 recounts the first recorded prayer. Abraham intercedes for the city of Sodom. He knows of God's plan to destroy the city by fire and Abraham, humbly, asks God, "Father, if you can find anyone righteous in the city will you spare it?"

The city was so corrupt that the only righteous folk to be found inside were Abraham's nephew and family. And God sends His own angels into the city to drag Lot and his wife and daughters out.

His own angels.

Prayer changes things. Abraham asked and God gave.

I'll tell you something intensely personal. Since November, my joy, which is usually found in abundance has disappeared. I admitted this to my friend Hannah last week and she vowed that she would pray for me.

My joy has since returned, and not just in its usual amount, but I possibly have more joy in my heart than ever before.

Prayer changes things. Hannah asked and God gave.

My friend Hannah is righteous. Not because of her own doing, but because she claims the precious blood of Jesus. And James 5:16 tells us, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

Prayer changes things.

James tells us to pray so much, so fervently in his letter found in the New Testament because prayer works. Prayer can change the course of your life, of your city, of your family. Prayer can change the world. Your prayer can change the course of human history.

I realize this may seem far fetched to even the most devout of us. But we believe in a God of miracles, don't we? We believe in a God who can do immeasurably more than we can even ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)?

What if He's just waiting for us to ask?

Why aren't we asking?

I'm committing myself this day to start asking. I will ask for the small, the big, and the seemingly impossible. I will ask the God of the Universe who claims me as His precious child to do great and unimaginable things. I will ask Him to perform miracles in my family and in my town and in my church. I will believe Him when He tells me, "You don't have...because you haven't asked!"

Do you believe enough to put your heart on your sleeve and ask God to show up? Because I am. I'm asking Him to show up in big ways.

Starting today I will pray. Are you brave enough to pray with me?

Consider it Joy (to the World)

This is the season of joy, right?

Joy to the World! The Lord has come! 

Good tidings of comfort of joy! 

But what if, during the Season of Joy, I feel anything but joyful? What if life has thrown me a curve ball and the unexpected or the unwelcome has happened? What if the joy in my heart has faded?

If you're anything like me you've walked through these times of joylessness. We realize during these times that joy isn't vital to brainwaves and heartbeats, but joy is vital to living the way God intends us to live. We are called to abundant, joyful lives as Jesus tells us in John 10.

Oh, Lord. The circumstances of life have taken my joy. The path You have called me to walk brings a sorrow to my life. So what do I do with the darkness and pain You've let me encounter?

Beloved, consider it joy.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

Or, as the Message version translates it:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Here's the thing: we don't always get to pick the paths we walk down in life. God directs our paths and these paths are not always well-paved and peaceful. Sometimes the path God chooses for us seems dark and painful. Sometimes the Way is not the way we would choose for ourselves.

But it's not our call. Isaiah 30 tells us that even when we "eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction", His presence will be with us saying, "This is the way, walk in it."

So maybe God has called you down a bramble and thorn-filled path, but we are to consider it joy, a gift. We are to rejoice in our troubles because God is using them for good. God uses our troubles to make us better, to refine us.

This path, friend, counts for something. Your pain, your sorrow, your loss. It means something. God loves you enough to make you uncomfortable. He loves you enough to lead you through the valleys, so your mountaintops will be sweeter.

I don't pretend to know why God has asked you to walk through your particular trial. But I do know that your trial is very precious in the sight of God. I know that He has promised to walk with you through it.

I also know He has told you to rejoice and have joy in your trial. Your trail will deepen your faith and deepen your need for Him. 

And when the road is finished and the time of darkness has passed, you will have been shaped into a new and better version of yourself. A version that does not depend on circumstances for your joy. Instead you'll be someone who finds joy in one place and one place alone. 

Because, as the song says, the moment the Lord came, angels declared joy to the world. Our joy, true and deep and real joy, comes from Jesus alone. 

So, consider it joy, friends. Consider the path He has called you to walk as joy. Each sad and painful step will lead you closer to Jesus.

And knowing Jesus is knowing the best kind of joy there is.

You Make Me Brave

My two-year-old son has absolutely no sense of danger, no fear of risk.

And this makes me nervous.

I've literally lost him more times than I can remember. I lost him on Halloween. Panicked, I ran from booth to booth at the Halloween carnival. Finally a cowboy came up to me carrying my Yoda-clad son.

Brave, I think he is. (That was a Yoda impression.)

But he's not brave. Brave means making a move while knowing the risk. And my precious son knows no risk. Strangers, forests, animals. He does not calculate the danger in his actions.

He's not brave. He's just a terrible decision maker.

Now, Rahab? She was brave. She knew danger and risk and she made her move anyway. If you're not familiar with her story, here it is in a nutshell taken from Joshua 2:

Rahab operated an inn in the wall of the city of Jericho. Jericho was the home of the Canaanite people. These people knew God had promised their city to the Israelites, led by Joshua. The people of the city were "melting" in fear because they had heard of the amazing victories won by the Israelite army. Joshua sent two spies into the city to scout it out. The spies, being good spies, went to the local inn which could also serve as a tavern. (What better place to get information than a bar full of drunk people with loose lips?) Here they are discovered, but before Jericho soldiers arrive Rahab has hidden them on her roof.

An important fact about our heroine, Rahab: she was a prostitute. And we're not talking glamorous Julia Roberts-Pretty Woman prostitute. She practiced her profession in a Godless city where morals and kindness did not exist. It was gritty and dirty and she was in the thick of it. No stories of escargot and hotel suites here.

Once the soldiers arrive at her inn she tells them that the Israelite spies have gone, that they have fled from the city and if you hurry you can catch them! They went thataway!

Rahab returns to the roof and the hidden spies, telling them how to avoid capture. She boldly professes to them faith in their God, knowing that if God sees fit to give Jericho over to them it will happen.

See, Rahab lived in harsh conditions. She was unmarried, a prostitute, and possibly providing for her parents and younger siblings. She had no hope for her future. No man would ever have her and she would never be a mother. She was low on the totem pole of society. She hid these spies knowing if she was found out by Jericho officials she, and most likely, all she loved would be killed.

So why did she risk it?

Beloved, she risked her safety for something better.

In exchange for their safety, the spies promised her family would be spared destruction once the Israelite army attacked. They would pass over her house if she tied a scarlet cord in her window. They would welcome her and her family into the house of Israel.

I want to be brave like Rahab. I want to risk discomfort of the known for a chance at the peace of the unknown.

Her bravery served her well. Not only did the Israelites attack, but they were true to their word and spared Rahab and her family. She left the slums of prostitution. And her bravery was honored by Joshua. She married one of the spies, Salmon. Salmon, who was most likely Hebrew royalty.

Her story does not end there. She becomes the mother of Boaz. And if you know the story of Ruth, you're familiar with his name. If not go and read this short book of the Bible and see the amazing man that is her son. Amazing men come from amazing mothers.

Her story does not end there, either. Boaz becomes the father of Obed. Obed becomes the father of Jesse. And Jesse becomes the father of ....King David, the man after God's own heart.

Oh and beloved, her story doesn't end here, either. If you follow the lineage listed in the first chapter of Matthew you'll read some really lovely, skin-tingling words: "and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab." Who's genealogy is is being listed?

None other than Jesus Christ, Himself.

Rahab is listed in the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews and is counted as "right with God" for her bravery in James 2:25.

Rahab risked her less than perfect present for a better than perfect future.

Am I brave enough to do that, too? Do I have the courage to step out in the faith of God? To allow Him to create a future for me than is only found in my wildest dreams?

Because there will be no Richard Gere coming to change my life. I've got something better. Way better. I have the sovereign God of the Universe who wants to bless my life and my path.

If, through God, a prostitute can become:

the wife of a prince,

the mother of a kind and generous man,

the great great grandmother of a king,

and the ancestor of the Messiah,

then what can He do with me?

Beloved, let's be like Rahab. Let's trust in the God of the Israelites, too.

Let's do something brave for the chance at something better.

Lord Jesus, Descendant of brave Rahab, create in us a heart that is brave like hers.

The Top of My List

Let's face it. We're busy people. From sunrise to three hours past sunset our day is filled with items on a To Do List:

Wake up, get ready, kids ready, kids breakfast, commute, school, work, errands, dinner, homework, laundry, housework, bills paid, trash out. Fall into bed. Exhausted.

Your list may or may not resemble this one, but either way you have a list so long that it is never truly completed. It is copied and replicated many times over as each day passes.

Such is life. If you're like me you don't mind your list so much. I mean, your list is your life. I love my job. Love cooking for my family. Love shushing my boys to sleep. Busy-ness does not always equal unhappiness.

But sometimes my list is so busy that I misplace my priorities and don't have time for the one thing that should always be first on my list:

Time with God.

I haven't always been a Christian who devotes daily time to the Lord. In fact, there was a time when I thought I didn't need intentional time with God in prayer and in the Bible. I mean, I grew up in church. I'd read the Bible. Well, I'd read most of it...parts of it. I knew right and wrong. (Did I?)

But friends, daily time with God is so much more than an item I check off my list.

It's sustenance for my soul.
Expansion of my mind.
Awareness of things unseen.
Inhaling the sweetness of glory.
Finding who I am in Jesus.
Communing with my Creator.

See, if we are of Jesus we are not of this world. And, for lack of a better term, my time with the Lord is like a phone call from my home planet. From heaven.

It's my E.T. Phone Home. Without it I am weaker, duller, and out of touch with who I am. I cannot be all that Christ has called me to be without communion with Him.

So this past week, a busy week, full of long work days, grocery store runs (the folks at Bi-Lo and I are on a first name basis), and playing in the yard with my kids I let Him fall off of my list -

a list that He should consume.

And I felt it. In my relationships, routines, and running errands. There was a dullness, a missing joy.

In order for me to experience the fullness of life that Jesus spoke of in John 10:10, I need to be first filled with Him.  Because in consuming my list, He consumes my life. 

James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

Daily I want to draw near to Him through prayer, praise, and reading His Word. Whether it's ten minutes or sixty. A verse, a chapter, or an entire book. I need to spend time with my Jesus. Daily.

Because I'm an alien here. And I need my connection with Him to hold strong and fast. Like we sing in "Come Thou Fount":

Let they goodness
Like a tether
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Oh, because Jesus...my Jesus. I cannot be fully myself if I am not filled with Him.

My Jesus,

Gently draw me toward time spent with you. Remind me that you hold all that is true and good and best for me. When I come to the Rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2) bless me for it. Show me that time spent with You is not just another box on my list, but is the means through which I have the strength and joy to complete all the rest.

Lord, may it be so.