psalm ** : ** [ a song of annabelle ]

O Lord . 

You know where i've been , every deepest pit ;

every flickering fleeting hope.  You know because You were there , 

with me , for me .

You know my pain even more deeply than i do.  You are the giver of my joys . 

You forgive my selfishness and self pity .

You stoop down to meet me in my blind and brokenness . You sit with me 'til day break and then still , always will remain . 

in the pits of hell , body clutched , eyes locked shut as a steal trap door , 

You remain . You never never took , and never will take , Your Presence from me . 

When i refuse You , You are still there . 

When everyone else leaves me , You stay . 

stronger than any attempts to kill me , You sustain me . my very breathe . 

my very beating heart . 

my ability to see You or feel you does not change You . 

it does not shake You . 

You are the healer , and even more , You are the resurrector .

slowly , as understanding slips into the peripheral realm of my senses , i cling to the Promise ; to You , that one day and one day soon I will You fully and clearly . 

past . present . future . 

questions answered . 

doubts irrelevant . 

angels singing and demons destroyed . 

I am Yours , and You are mine . 

Jesus , hold me .  carry me out of the shadows away from the grip of death and into Your Glorious Light and Life . 

grip my wavering heart in Your unshakeable Grace .

You . my immovable fortress.

my lifeline .

my only Hope and desperate plea , 

not for what You do but only for who You are .

a pure love for You made possible in Your pure love for me . 

teach me . 

lead me . 

love me .

You , oh faithful , ever-present God ,

let me find You in hidden places . 

help me believe You are in the things unseen . 

honesty unlocks doors . we cannot get to the place that we are going if we do not [ cannot ] acknowledge and engage the place that we are in .

not so empty spaces .

how is it that classes only just began today ??  not to say in the least , that nothing has been happening in the mean time . if there is ever a gap in time you haven't heard from me , you may safely assume the reasons are in direct opposition to any thoughts you may have on the side of . .
i wonder if she's stopped writing / posting ?
hmm . . i guess nothing is happening right now . . 

i do whole heartedly appreciate and relish in your missing me , not to say that that is any drive behind the absences either but when a few of you starting popping up here and there wondering what's new , how i am doing , or anything of the like , it is something of a reminder of purpose . part of the why behind sharing this with you in the first place .

i envision it is something of an intricately woven masterpiece of abstract inspiration , color , faces , feelings , hopes , dreams , scars , giddiness filling voids of emptiness , and glory like a torrent washing over every broken place . . . how could i possibly keep it in ? why would i ever dare to try ?

i've said before , and i'll say it again . . i want to hear from you . this is just as much yours as it is mine . i'm learning to use my voice and am inviting you to do the same .
i'm trusting you . . . and asking you to trust me .

so those ' empty ' spaces between posts ? are in fact not empty at all .
they are the lingering of moments . the movement of The Lord in inexpressible ways and just as you wait in anticipation to receive the words , i wait in anticipation to share them .

when all seems quiet here , rest assured it is anything but . this year is my commitment to staying in every moment The Lord takes me in to . . however long , heavy , joyful or whatever paradoxical combination of the two may arise .

embrace the moments with me . claim them as your own . maybe i am wrestling and you need to rest . . . maybe it's the other way around . or maybe it's both .

all around us we observe a pregnant creation . the difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs . but it's not only around us ; it's within us . The Spirit of God is arousing us within . we're also feeling the birth pangs . these sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance . that is why waiting does not diminish us any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother . we are enlarged in the waiting . we , of course , don't see what is enlarging us but the longer we wait the longer we become , and the more joyful our expectancy . 
[[ romans 8 : 22 - 25 ]]

words penned by Paul some thousands of years and yet here i am today feeling the entirety of weight in every single one . 

indeed the Scriptures are alive , perhaps even more so every day .

and like Saul met on the road with his donkey to Damascus , The Lord finds me and meets me on little back roads in Clifton , Texas with horses and cows whispering , 

I see you Darling , I have brought you here , I will bring you out and I am forever with you in every moment of the in between . 
you will see where I was then . you will feel Me with you now and you will rise in the assurance that I am with you into the heights and depths of the forever more . 

something old something new .

so i had this huge revelation of this thing in my life that hasn't been a thing but from now on is definitely a thing . . in my life . 
it's something i've never really made a habit of , that now i am pursuing and practicing that it would become my new normal - natural . constant . innate . a ' thing ' as if it was never not a thing . 

waiting on The Lord :: 
intentionally asking and inviting Him in to specific details of my life . 
what does He think ? 
what does He say ? about me . . it . . them . . 
He is the huge uncontainable indefinable infinite God - - who sees , is in , and cares about every practicality . 

Lord , do i want to work out ? or do i want to take a nap . . do i want to go to grit ? or do i want to go to yoga . . do i want to watch aladdin or beauty and the beast ?
Lord , what do you want me to say or not say to this person . 
Jesus , i'm feeling rejected right now . . what do you say ?
God , that hurt and i'm angry . . i don't know what i need but you do . . speak to me . 
Holy Spirit , let's go on an adventure . . should i turn left or right here ? straight ? oh yeah , or that too . . 
Lord , so and so drives me nuts . . help me see them as you do , give me grace , and how can i make healthy boundaries with them , what do those look like ?
Should i buy a dog ? can i buy a dog ? what kind ? what should we name it ?!
God , i do **fill in the blank** and i know it's not good for me , i don't want to do it but i can't stop ! why ? what do i think it's accomplishing for me ? what am i not trusting or believing about You ?  what is the lie i'm believing about myself . . .

i get so excited about something , or afraid , or upset and i lay it before Him , spill it all , and ask//beg Him to show up , to rescue me , to move . . . i bring Him my frenzy [ which often tends to just multiply itself in the process ] and then forget to ask and wait for Him to respond so rather than 'leaving' with His Voice , with Peace , with His Heart . . . i 'leave' more burdened and distraught .
the real kicker is that then i become frustrated He 'isn't answering' . that nothing is changing . that i'm not free . when that is in fact , not at all the reality of what's going on . 

most of the time , we are talking at God . . when there is so much more available to us . . the invitation to - His desire  that we would - talk with Him .

there is so much Grace for this . it is a habit we have to practice , learn , instill in ourselves. it does not come naturally and so where i could turn that frustration on to myself and feel guilty and ashamed , instead , i accept the Grace and really , am giddy with excitement to now have realized such an 'oh duh' thing , giggle at myself , thank Him for the revelation . it is not a hindsight realization to be guilty about but a gateway into exponentially more freedom and intimacy . 
we all have to learn it . we all have to pursue it . forget how long it may have taken to get here . . i'm here now and am way more concerned with what it means for the rest of my life . just days in and everything is so different . so new . so alive . 

my own voice is so weak and powerless but when i come under His . . . we are unstoppable . 
if God is for us , who can be against us ? [ romans 8 : 31 ]
He's always been for us . . . for me . but to read the words is one thing . to know a fact is great . but to experience the reality personally ? fact becomes solidified and tangible truth no longer just floating around through your head but now deeply rooted , the very blood flowing , in your heart . 
hear-say is doubtable . 
first hand experience is inarguable . 

today is only day 3 of living in this new discipline and my entire life is completely different . i am completely different .  
i know discipline has a negative connotation and sounds overbearing but i could never even tell you fully or fairly or anywhere near completely , the Freedom i feel . the Peace . the Joy . the weightlessness .
all of the things i have begged , pleaded , and cried for . . wrestled and fought for only to come up anxious frustrated and confused as to why i didn't have them . 
living for The Spirit . craving His fruit [ galatians 5 : 22 - 23 ] . . yet feeling so empty handed and lacking .

we can lay our lives out before Him all day every day but the game changer is whether or not we leave it there . 

pillow talk

this trip has been adventure . it has been joy , laughter , and excitement . 
it has been new places and faces and incredible cups of coffee . 

i speak of it as though all of that is past tense , and while it is , it is also very much still happening and will continue to happen . 

i've lived here before , in this city with many of the same faces . 
but there is so much unknown , and even the known changes . 
i've changed . 

and if someone or something is only remnants of the same . . . is it really the same at all ? 
maybe . i don't have an answer . and maybe the answer is relevant . or irrelevant . 


so far , i have showcased the dreams and shelved the fears as far as you all are concerned but i'll let you in on a not so secret secret .


i am terrified . sometimes slightly , and other times overwhelmingly . 
typing away , i sit on my bed , hair a mess on top of my head and crocodile tears streaming down my face . 
part of me wants to run away . 
quit . change my mind . 
but it hasn't even started yet . 

i struggle with time and in betweens . i like variety but change is hard for me . 
i feel sick in every way and i am completely exhausted . 
each of the little things i am adjusting to bring me so much joy but when they're all thrown together and at me simultaneously , i am overwhelmed . 

i never want to write out of complaint or negativity but i also want to be fair , real , honest , and paint a whole picture . 
so i hope you don't walk away discouraged . 

as much as panic gets the best of me at times , and maybe at this particular time , if we don't acknowledge our emotions , we can't properly deal with them . 

i do not regret or wish to change any part of this . . . i am sick and tired . and a girl . 
i am a znachko girl . and i am me . . . which all boils down to this undeniable fact :: every emotion leads to tears . happy , sad , good , bad , indifferent . . . mix a bunch of those together and ?? get your lifeboats . danger of drowning . 

so cry , but don't forget to breathe . and with each tear clearing blink of your eyes , catch a clear ray of vision [ it's okay that your eyes are filling right back up . . . you'll blink again ] .

cumulatively , life is daunting but if you pick it apart for the little pieces that it is , it's really quite non-threatening . 

call out to Jesus . 
be at peace . 
get some sleep . 
when tomorrow comes , don't allow today to linger . 

oh and also ?? sometimes it's good to call your mom . 

what if . .

we believed God is all He said He is .
i mean like . . . every last letter of every last Word .
what if it pulsed through our bodies from the outward most point of those fly away hairs down and out through our tippiest toes .

maybe that's too much to ask . that's a lot of letters to bank on . maybe we could just hang on to doubting a few things . . .
hmm.
okay . so what if we acted like we believed He is all He says He is .

we've all had our fare share of practice at faking things , most of us are pretty good at it . we all have our areas of expertise . .

when we pray and we invite the Spirit to come , He never fails to take up the offer . He does not hesitate to take up full residence . and how much more so when we invite others to do the same on our behalves.
bull in a china shop .

i couldn't sleep last night and i won't carry on about it but sleep and i have been on rocky terms for over a decade now . sometimes it's nightmares that would put your finest horror films to shame . sometimes it's restlessness and anxieties . sometimes i have no idea what it is . and sometimes , it is deep and intimate communion with the Father .
i have a problem with keeping still for more than .2 seconds during the day so i think He takes full advantage of the opportunity . { personally i'm a fan of when He does so in dreams , meaning i get to also be sleeping - multitasking . but i'll go with sentence one and believe He knows what He's doing . }

i woke up with this convicting [ note** author did not say condemning **] whisper repeating through my mind

stop planning for ' incase I don't show up '

let it repeat itself a few times in your own head . really absorb it . a short phrase not so short on impact .

we have our things that are harder to fully surrender to God , the ones we kind of fake like we've given to Him but really our hands are want of circulation for the vice grip we continue to hold on with . ' here you go God ' . . .
we create ' plan B ' and make a fool of no one but ourselves .

there is no plan B . it's just not a thing . when plan B is put in place , plan A really just goes out the window .
He goes out the window and we rob ourselves of His power in our lives .

we act out of our expectations . and our expectations are born out of our beliefs .
( i wasn't meaning to make a reference but , this actually goes hand in hand with a podcast i listened to the other day by Russ Snyder )

The Lord is working very diligently in my life in specific areas . He is a God of detail and i am feeling extremely vulnerable , exposed , and were He anyone but Himself , i would be claiming all sorts of violation . [ john 15 : 2 ] but this is a blog , not a novel and most definitely not a double digits book long series
but .

here was my challenge , and i share it with you ::

trust me , greater than you fear your fears . 
face them . choose me .
jump . I have already caught you . 
I have healed you many times before , watch , I want to do it again . 
let me show off for you . 

no back up plans , no ' just in cases ' 
one day . give me one day just you and Me . 
risk expecting that I'll show up . . risk believing that I'm already there . 

I dare you . 

You'll be glad you did and forget what you ever even feared .