Not something to be grasped.

Beautiful day.

I'm trying to figure out how open I "should" be on a blog like this... I sort of just want to dump everything out on here, but perhaps there are things I should only "ponder in my heart" for now.

I do want to share about my excitement over spending time with God... more time than just "morning devotions," which is sometimes the extent of my regular times with God at home (especially when I let myself feel busy). Today I had times of just being, and times of praying, and times of honesty - those, I realized, were a bit different from how I normally am with Him. I know you're supposed to be honest, and tell Him everything (even though He already knows everything), and share your feelings and whatnot, but it's so easy to let bigger, more important things, like praying for people, take precendence. And then I never really take the time for the simple stuff, other than squeezing it between "real life" activities so that I can be a "real Christian" who "prays without ceasing."

But what about friendship with God? Talking and listening and opening my heart about things that don't carry much weight on the scale of eternity? I know, I've sung all the songs about Jesus being my best friend, and I can quote scripture all across the board about how God wants friendship with us, about how we aren't servants of His but friends, about how much He delights in us and about all the joy His presence brings... but really, friendship with Him has been much more of a here-and-there type of experience than something I live in.

So, the more time I'm able to focus on God and converse with Him, of course, the better - and for me to spend quality time with God, I generally do have to be by myself. Somewhere quiet. Sometimes I need the lights off, too. And lately I've been taking time to do this more and more... and loving it. I think I had a bit of a rant there [sorry!], but the point was things are good :)

In other news, our "Tuesday night base meeting" [basically church with everyone on base, which happens Monday mornings and Tuesday nights] ended just really nicely, for lack of a better term. We were praying out whatever'd been put on our hearts, and finished by singing "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful" a cappella. I'll say it again: really nice.

There's so much more on my heart, but this is long enough, and I'm not feeling all that coherent tonight. So I'll leave you with a THANK YOU to each and every one of you who has supported me, financially, emotionally, or prayerfully. I'm confident in what God's doing here and so excited to be a part of it. Big undercurrents of change rushing through this place... just a SWEET season at Richardson Springs here.