A Call to Be Fully Known

Dear Friend,

This month I retreated. (Not the pull-back-from-the-fight kind . . . the escape-to-the-mountains-with-Jesus kind. Words are fun, aren't they?)

One thing I was reminded of by fabulous women who joined me is people don't always know what goes on inside us.

Seems pretty obvious, right? While some truths about us might be crystal clear in our hearts, what if the person in front of us hasn't met that piece yet? What if we've never had occasion to tell them? Or maybe they haven't known what to look for?

And it got me thinkin'...which led to a very interesting question....

Why are you here?

Right now, this moment - reading about grace, taking up this corner of cyberspace with me, daring to post or connect or pursue truth.... Why are you here?

I know why I'm here. But maybe you haven't heard the whole story yet.

Or maybe stuff's gotten in the way as I write you letters, and post on social media, and pose "crazy" questions, and fumble with my pen and laptop, trying to arrange words in a nice, neat row for you.

⟩ I’m not here to offer you another Bible study.
⟩ I’m not here to write just one more Christian book.
⟩ I’m not here to tell you, “Grace covers everything, so never mind all your stuff.”
⟩ I’m not here to give you another spiritual discipline to master.
⟩ I'm not here because I have some exclusive, direct line to Jesus that you don't.
⟩ I’m not here to deliver mountaintop experiences with nothing for the ordinary days.
⟩ I’m not here to make you do something.
⟩ I’m not here because I love the sound of my own voice, wanna be rich and famous, can’t get another job, or think I’m perfect.

I'm here because of Jesus Himself.

Because He transformed my life so completely my jaw still drops when I tell the story. Then He showed me who He is and who I am to Him. And then He unmistakably called me on an adventure! (Ephesians 2:8-10)

♥ I’m here to dig for buried treasure and unwrap truth and learn together.
♥ I’m here to celebrate who you are.
♥ I’m here to swap stories of what God’s up to.
♥ I’m here to point to the grace path and ask if you'll walk with me, side by side.
♥ I’m here to defy religion and cherish relationship.
♥ I’m here to insist your heart is pure, your very nature brand new.
♥ I’m here to shed unembarrassed happy tears about how good God is and how Beloved we are.
♥ I’m here to stomp my foot at the ways we’ve been taught wrong, held captive, and controlled by guilt.
♥ I’m here to invite your heart, “Please come out and play! Live freely! Dance a little for joy!”

♥ I’m here to share the glorious Good News of Jesus over and over -- to hold everything we think, say, do, feel, & believe, up to the lens of His grace.

♥ I’m here because grace has gripped my soul so fiercely, I’m compelled to lean in, study its facets, hold it up to the light and “ooh and aah” at the colors . . . till I can define, for both of us, this treasure we hold.

Because Jesus is worth knowing intimately.
Grace is worth pursuing passionately.
And our Belovedness is worth owning fully.

Maybe you’ll throw quizzical looks or secretly call it strange, but I don’t mind. Honestly, it does look a little strange some days!

But I keep going, praying you'll find your favorite shovel and join me in digging for treasure. That you'll not stop exploring the riches of Christ for yourself, until you’re full to overflowing with the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)

Because that, my friend, is a sight worth seeing.
And a reason worth living.