Consumed by my Abba

Towards the end of October I started praying that God would consume every part of me. I needed to find a way to remind myself to be constantly connected to him through out my day no matter what the circumstances.

I decided to start being more intentional about looking for how God was moving around me and listening closer to the Spirit's voice. To mark those connections I decided I would stop in the moment and jot down a quick prayer in my journal. When I didn't have my journal I would text myself or twitter the prayer.

Tonight I went back through the last 24 days and read some of the prayers. I am amazed!

• Abba teach me to be more patient and to love like you love.
• Abba your love and faithfulness overwhelms me. You are my source of joy.
• Abba teach me to love more, to takes steps of faith to shine you.
• Abba just one. One love. One focus. One more worker for the harvest.
• Abba I am overwhelmed by your passionate pursuit of me and consuming love.
• Abba break me of the things that are not of you. I long to look more like you.
• Abba, you are the source of my joy. Thanks for an incredible day.
• Abba I’m trusting you. Help me when I doubt.
• Abba my life is yours. All for you and for your glory.
• Abba help me in my unbelief. Forgive me when I fail to trust you fully.
• My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness 2 Cor 12:9 -- Abba you are all I need. Consume me.
• Abba consume every part of me.

God is doing so much in my life and I feel like I can't keep up. I'm falling more and more in love with my Abba as I see more and more how much he is pursuing me. I find myself consumed by his love and goodness at what appear to be the most random times. His love is far beyond my comprehension. I can't wait to see what he has in store next!

Anticipation, Homesickness and Advent

Some vampire movie came out this week called New Moon or Old Sun or something like that. Evidently people are really excited about this. They are even counting down the days in the facebook updates and tweets. I have to confess all of the anticipation seems a bit overdone. Perhaps it is because I find myself convicted. After all I've been guilty of doing the same thing with summer vacation. It's the expectation and a longing for something that just can't seem to get here fast enough. But should those things really be the focus of my anticipation?

I've found myself feeling homesick lately, not for Vestaburg or my family, but to be done with this broken world and be in the presence of my Abba. I even asked Jesus the other day if we could hurry up and get some more people saved so he could come back. Don't get me wrong I am loving life these days. I start thinking about what God has promised and I get impatient. (Big surprise. I know.) It seems like this is ought to be something I have great anticipation for instead of temporary things.

Advent is just around the corner. It is my favorite time of year. Advent is about anticipation and expecting that God will deliver on his promises. I don't really now what I love this season so much. It just always seems right. I always seem to discover a deeper peace during this time of year accompanied by a bit of unrest. So many people don't know that sense of longing that tugs on their core is Jesus just waiting for them to respond.

I guess the arrival of the vampires and the advent season have challenged me to stop and ask some tough questions. What if we had the same anticipation and longing for Christ's return as we do for things that really have no lasting value? Would my life look differently? Would I be more willing to share with others? Am I waiting with great anticipation?

More Roadtrip Highlights

For someone who really doesn't enjoy driving, I sure do take a lot of road trips. This month will be full of traveling too! Here are some highlights from this week's adventures.

- Doing tons of baking with my mommy
- Consuming wheat - NOT a good highlight!
- Beginning to dream about Camp 2010 with an incredible leadership team
- A beautiful fall evening remembering how my brother would beg me to be his hunting dog
- Staying up too late with Kari and the 1A girls
- Coffee and lunch with my brother
- Great conversations in Wally's office
- Praying with my boss, Dean
- Watching God answer more prayers than I think I even prayed!
- Sharing stories with Brooke from our journeys

Next road trip is this weekend. I'm heading to Kentucky to see Joe and Bev and enjoy some personal retreat time. I can't begin to explain how excited I am for this!