I know you’re tired and you’re weary. You can’t see a way quite through. You long for a new day, another way. A kingdom to come, my will to be done, And more Love for along the way.
Yes, I am on my way, child, But remember, too. I’m already right here, today, too. Right here, with you.
Come my child, and rest. Lay your weary head upon my chest. Don’t need to fear, Your papa is right here. If you’re waking or you’re sleeping, You’re tired, or you’re still dreaming. Come along, and lay your weary head upon My chest. Open your sleepy eyes, My child. You’re going to make it with through, Right here with Me.
Look around and see, who you’re made to be.
Lay in my arms for a while. Let me be the one who holds you. Love, you’ve never been defined, by what you do or see. You’re worth more than all of that to Me
My hearts longs to hold, and soothe you. To give your soul a rest, from all of these trials and tests. They were never meant to be, pass or fail to me. Only come to me, and let me give you rest.
Come crawl into my embrace. Lay your head down as I smile upon your face. Let me love you, Still.
Like a boat that’s rocking gentle on quiet waters, whatever storms have passed, Or are maybe still yet to be. I’m right here with you, beside you. Can’t you see?
Come My child and rest, Lay your weary head upon my chest. There’s no need to fear, Your papa is right here. You’re waking and you’re sleeping, You’re tired, and still dreaming. Come lay your heavy head upon My chest. You can open your eyes, my sleepy child. Look and remember Who I AM And who you are in Me.
Lay in my arms a while. Let me be the one to hold you. Love you’ve never been defined by what you do or what you see. Your worth is more than all of that to Me
I want to hear your warrior breathing slow, And quiet next to me. Feeling your lungs rise and fall, In rest, knowing I’m right here with you.
Hear the sound of My steady breath, Hear My heartbeat, full of love, inside my chest, for you.
I’m not just coming, Love. I’m already here and I’m Ready to love you through.
Your prayers are not wishes. Your weapons not metal or swords They’re the word of the Lord They’re true Jesus lives in you Cmon church, rise up Come out of your slumber Get down on your knees. Your weapons are not just words It’s my spirit living in you
Your time is now Raise your voice Lift a shout They battle’s begun, We call alive, every one
You’re a valley of bones Come alive in your skin Be no longer troubled With the weight of your sin I have made you free Walk no more in chains
Come alive, come alive Come alive again
The world needs that light. I gave it to you You can no longer hide it, No more, that is true
without malice or strife. “Do I look like I hold a grudge?”
Your words are so light and do true,
not a worry or care. no drip of shame.
My mind instantly sees the cross,
where you bore it all,
said it was done.
That says it all,
then I turn to you now. In the water,
so true,
Deep and blue.
Now the fun has begun,
there’s no sacrilege
You’re adventure and Love
Yes you don’t hold a grudge.
You came so I could really live.
Free as a bird, swimming deep in an ocean,
more good than I know.
But I’m diving right in.
“Tell your kids about me. Teach them to swim. Generations have been wading. It’s time to go deeper. Now won’t you come right in. Come deep in my ocean.
While I walked a couple of nights ago, the sun was just going down, or had, and a group of dear neighbor gathered. They sat together on one of the porches on a beautiful evening and as I heard their voices, happily telling stories, I instantly smiled. Then I heard the voice of one special neighbor, who had recently returned from a long stint at the hospital. I hadn’t heard his deep voice in too long, and I smiled too. I turned to see the figures gathered under the glow of light on the small front porch, spilling out onto the walkway. His back was to me and he was telling a story. In the next sentence or two, he got to the punchline, and everyone laughed and smiled. I smiled again, too.
The second neighbor had been in the hospital too, though not nearly as long, and here they were, laughing and spending time together on a beautiful summer evening.
“What a miracle,” I thought to myself. One of the everyday kind of miracles it’s kind of harder to notice until it’s almost not so anymore.
The next night I was walking, again. This time when I passed my deep voiced neighbor’s house, I saw he was sitting with his wife on the front porch.
I tossed a greeting out, loud enough to be heard from a distance. “It’s so good to see you!” I practically shouted. I smiled big enough for him to see.
He smiled too, and said something to the affect of “It sure is good to be seen.”
His wife joined in, and a conversation started, one that ended up lasting a rather long time, by casual walking-by-in-the-evening standards, especially.
They told me about his hospital stay, and following nursing home stint. He has cancer in the spine, and things got really bad for a while. Then they told me about his return to the hospital, for a second surprise issue.
At one point early in our conversation, he looked me in the eye, pointed his finger at me, and with clearer eyes and a brighter countenance than I’ve seen in so long, he said, “Those prayers you prayed for me worked, Courtney. I heard you were. They worked.”
I got chills. In fact, I do again, just remembering.
I had some surprise tears escape the corners of my eyes. My heart unexpectedly overflowed. He repeated his stance a few times. And at one point, with a decided, settled, and grateful look in his eye he said, “It really was a miracle.”
Just the night before I called it a simple miracle.
Tonight his kind, pointed finger connected some dots. And I realized that I got to be a very small part of it, through nothing of my own merit. For remembering, alone, that God is loving and listening and powerful, and for asking Him to help a friend.
I remember telling him I’d pray for him, before he landed in the hospital. And I meant it. I felt a bit shy in my delivery ( I mean he’s my neighbor and everything.) But in my spirit I felt so bold, and so convinced in my soul that God could heal him, touch him, and ease his pain, to whatever degree He saw fit. Regardless of what it would look like, I knew God could help him. And I was going to pray exactly for that. Whatever it could look like. That God would make it better.
At another point, when he was in the hospital, I saw his wife as she walked the dog, and another while she took out the trash. I checked in , asked her if she needed any help. She really didn’t need any, not in a practical way at least. She was surrounded by kids and more grown grandkids, who helped daily, and neighbors that mowed her lawn (the same neighbor who ended up in the hospital as well, actually.)
She didn’t need any practical help. But I told her I would pray. That I was praying already (in fact I was mid way through praying for him when I bumped into her.) I told her I would continue and please send my well wishes to her husband.
Some weeks went by and I didn’t know what was happening. But I still mentioned him in prayer anytime I thought of him.
Now here we were, reconnecting, sharing stories of healing and hospitals, pain and pills. And ultimately, of what the patient recognized as Gods mighty hand helping him through it all.
A miracle.
Some might scoff, credit the doctors and nurses, alone, say healing without them is some kind of fairytale. They do so deserve credit and special mention.
But truthfully, God deserves more. He gave them the special talents, He created the body to heal, and He allowed things to work together. they said some of the care they received was better than others, mistakes were made, and his wife had to be a pretty vocal advocate.
At the end of the ordeal, for them, God stood out. Gracious, listening, and helping.
I can agree with that assessment, for I have seen it in my life too. He uses any means necessary, but at the end of the day, every good gift comes from above, even if He has to use imperfect human messengers to get it there.
Why do I tell you this story?
To remind you, you might be one of those imperfect messengers too. You might be a nurse or a doctor, grandchild that calls and checks on their grandparents, someone who cuts a lawn. Or you might be just a walking and praying neighbor, like me.
You have a part to play in some miracle, somewhere.
Keep your eyes open as you go. Look for those miracles. See where you can help, maybe even be a part of one.
And always, pray. Pray more than you think you need to. Pray bigger than you feel capable of asking for. (It’s not about that anyway.) Pray bigger than you think can happen. Pray for miracles.
Because God has a part to play, too. He’s just waiting for an invitation. He’s waiting for someone to ask.
That someone might be you.
I left that day with new marching orders, new things, next miracles to pray for. And you better believe I will.
Because there He is, this Jesus. Just waiting to come to your everyday ordinary. To show up on porches and at hospital beds and on your evening walks. And He always brings with Him exactly what we need. Himself.
And the miracles, too. Peace. Healing. Love. Just like the wedding of Cana. He can’t help it. It’s the really true nature of Love- the ability to heal what ills us.
And Here we are. Ready and ripe for such miracles. What a perfect combination.
David, don’t let anyone talk you out of it. Don’t let anyone downplay or redefine Goliath for you.
If this is meant for you
(and surely it is, if you see it.)
You are not meant to ignore it. Don’t let them lure you into putting away your slingshot. Do not give up and go home. Don’t shrink your existence back to your tiny tent. Just because someone tells you. Even if that someone is you.
You know what the battle is, and what wars against you. It’s not a man, it’s a spirit of captivity. It comes in many forms. You known your own Goliaths.
And you were made to be free.– Body, soul and spirit.
Stand up to Goliath And you tell them about your God.
That He is GOOD and He has good things for you. Accept nothing less. Nothing less than His best for you.
What does it mean to be an ally? Do I need one in this world? Do I need to be one?
Ally; to unite formally, as by treaty, league, marriage, or the like
The word ‘ally’ forms the basis for the word allegiance. Well when you put it that way….
What side am I on, am I team peanut butter or team jelly? Team yes it team no. Team left or team right?
But seriously, whose team should should I be? What about this. What if Jesus was your one true ally? The friend that sticks closer than a brother. More than any man or idea. Him. What would that look like? Or rather, what would it look like if I really let myself be His ?
Maybe it would look less like drawing my own lines in the sand, and more like falling in line with His.
Maybe it would look less like taking sides, making teams, and more like being decidedly on His.
Maybe it would mean consulting Him for His opinions more than consulting my neighbor for his.
Maybe it would look more like loving the orphans and widows, feeding the homeless (spiritually as well as physically) and less like loving the world that broke them.
More like telling the truth and less like telling lies.
It would look like unity with the Father, not with man. Not of my own engineering, or to my own own ideas, ideals or structures that are built by man.
I’m not talking about compromise. I’m talking about no compromise, about the truth that is Jesus. Where I give him my ashes and let Him make them something beautiful, not where I cling to the ashes and ask Him call them beautiful or somehow change the definitions. Finding His righteousness and seeking forgiveness for anything in me that doesn’t reflect Him.
It would look like being more married to Him than anyone or anything else, including myself. Not the world or even the church, but Him. It would look like being connected to Him, like being the bride that we are supposed to be, with many talents and different callings. But united in this one purpose: to see His name glorified on the earth.
You don’t need to know or seek what anyone else thinks about your life, your decisions, your anything. No one needs to talk to you about what you might be doing wrong or right. Ask the Lord. Don’t ask any others.
I mean we can talk if you want. I’ll try to be an ally to the Jesus that loves you more than I do. I’ll try to listen to what you’re saying and see what it is that He’s saying, too. I’ll love you the ways He tells me, as best as I ever can It’s not my job to point out your sins or anyone else’s It is my job to point you to Jesus.
(We tend to judge one another in order to distract from our own faults, anyway.)
I have plenty of my own shortcomings and failings. I keep asking Jesus about my own. These imperfections, fault lines, they just keep showing up. So I’m going to keep crawling up on the altar myself. Care to join me?
Why don’t you talk to Jesus. Ask Him what He really thinks. About you. Ask him for His opinion , without clinging to one thing or the other. You might be surprised. And I’ll do the same. Let’s both ask Him to reveal Himself to us, His love, His truth. I don’t know His time schedule, and when it will happen that He shows us things. But I know He can do it, and when we ask Him, He will. Let’s let him. As much as I love you friend, let’s both let Jesus be our One, true ally.
Because if we’re both really trying to line up with Jesus, I think we’ll find that we’re already on the same team. I want to be with Him, wherever He’s going. I know He’s Good enough to love us both through this life. And on to the next. Let’s go, Team Jesus.
Hey, I'm Courtney, a pretty ordinary girl who thinks we've all been called to an extraordinary life and love story with God. I'm passionate about family, faith, motherhood, and the adventure of every day. I write lots of words, mostly because I can’t help it- and I think it's one of the things I was born to do. I hope that something I write encourages you, to walk in your own unique purpose and calling, set free to love and give it away, starting wherever you are today. That's what Courting the Extraordinary is all about. Finding the good all around you, and giving it away. Finding, too, the God of all goodness who wants to walk with you.
I love quiet mornings, coffee, prayer and “work” before sunrise. Quality time with my family is my jam. I can be found grinning ear to ear when we're out on an adventure. Whether that's in our own backyard or exploring someplace new all-together, I’ll for sure note something beautiful about nature aloud-and maybe repeatedly, ha!. Life is a beautiful, precious gift, and an adventurous path to travel! We might as well learn how to love.
Hey, I'm Courtney, a pretty ordinary girl who thinks we've all been called to an extraordinary life and love story with God. I'm passionate about family, faith, motherhood, and the adventure of every day. I write lots of words, mostly because I can’t help it- and I think it's one of the things I was born to do. I hope that something I write encourages you, to walk in your own unique purpose and calling, set free to love and give it away, starting wherever you are today. That's what Courting the Extraordinary is all about. Finding the good all around you, and giving it away. Finding, too, the God of all goodness who wants to walk with you.
I love quiet mornings, coffee, prayer and “work” before sunrise. Quality time with my family is my jam. I can be found grinning ear to ear when we're out on an adventure. Whether that's in our own backyard or exploring someplace new all-together, I’ll for sure note something beautiful about nature aloud-and maybe repeatedly, ha!. Life is a beautiful, precious gift, and an adventurous path to travel! We might as well learn how to love. 