I know the plans I have for you

  I am speechless. In total awe.  Lord, you amaze me.

I met my editor today!  I want to write that in all capital letters but I don't want it to scream at you. But sitting here,  feeling the amazement I feel for what God has done, makes me want to write in all bold capital letters- I met my editor today!!! And it's all beginning to feel so very real.

In the Spring of 2014, Parenting the Wholehearted Child will be published by Zondervan.  The book I told God I couldn't write, I wouldn't write- because I was unworthy, because I had no idea what to do, how to do it, or even where to begin......that book is becoming a reality. God didn't give up on me.  God never gives up on us!

If this journey (that has just begun) has taught me anything, it's that God's plans for us are bigger and bolder and more wonderful that we ever dare dream or imagine.

Do you believe God's plans for your life are bigger than your wildest dreams? Do you believe this......

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Do you believe He has a purpose for you?

"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)

Do you believe you are His masterpiece created to do the good things He planned for you?

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10)

I say I do. I say I believe all of this.  But so often my prayers reveal the real truth. The truth that I think I have to talk God into my "big" plans.  The truth that He doesn't have all the bases covered, that all the details aren't already sorted out, and that He doesn't want to bless me.  The truth that maybe He isn't sovereign in my little life.

I pray as if I need to convince Him to bless me even as I believe I don't deserve His blessing.

I'm not preaching prosperity gospel here.  And this isn't live your best life now.  It's just that my family just spent some time in the valley ....... but even in that valley, God blessed us with His presence and He revealed His faithfulness and goodness to us in that time.  He is close to the brokenhearted. And now God is allowing us to enjoy some time on the mountaintop.  And He is again revealing His faithfulness and goodness on the mountaintop.  By His grace, we proclaim His greatness in the valley and we will proclaim His greatness on the mountaintop.

In the valley and on the mountaintop, His grace is enough!

If darkness or confusion or doubt seems to hide His face,  know this- He has you!  You don't have to hold on because He is holding onto you.  You can let go. Surrender. Trust.  He longs to be gracious to you.  He longs to bless you.

As I look back over the two last years of writing Parenting the Wholehearted Child, I can see God putting the puzzle together, piece by piece. When I doubted, when darkness and confusion seemed to hide His face as I begged for clearer direction, when I told Him he wasn't being very nice to me, He loved me even then.  

He wanted me to want Him more than I wanted anything He could give me.  And He was planning something so much more beautiful and wonderful than I even had faith to pray for.  While I thought I was trying to talk God into my grand plans, He was orchestrating something significantly more beautiful.  Something that would remind me that He alone is worthy of all our praise.  Something that would remind me that He alone gets all the glory.

When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace....... Christ alone, Cornerstone!  Weak made strong in the Savior's love. Through the storm He is Lord, Lord of all! ~ Cornerstone.

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