one word

So... here's a tiny bit more about my blog name :) It was inspired by something that the Lord recently spoke to me. I had been searching for answers from Him, especially concerning the direction He has for my life. For several weeks, I began feeling so overwhelmed and clueless as to what His call for my life is and what He wants me to do in this next season. Do you ever suddenly feel that way, as if it's your job to figure out every detail of the rest of your life? Well I sure do! So anyway, one night as I was crying out to Him, pleading that He would speak something to me, He put the one simple word "abide" on my heart. I felt as if He was saying, "Abide, my daughter. Abide." and He lifted the huge weight that had been on my shoulders. Although it was just one word that He spoke to me, it was more profound than a 1000 words could've ever been.

The very next morning I was reading in John chapter 15, where Jesus tells of how He is the vine and we are the branches. As soon as I hit verse 4, my eyes were practically filled with tears. He says, "Abide in me, and I in you". And throughout the rest of the chapter, Jesus continues to talk about what it means to abide in Him and how only then a believer can bear fruit. I was so amazed, humbled and blessed (yet not surprised) that the Lord would want to line up everything at this moment to be able to speak to me. It's a daily battle to keep abiding in Him and clinging to Him with all of my strength, but I am so overjoyed to be on this journey with Jesus! His saving grace in my life completely astounds me because I'm so unworthy, yet He is so holy and blameless.

I love how God-stories work, because they're always perfect! The Lord really used the weeks leading up to that night to bring me to a place of utter brokenness. I was so depleted of my own strength, so frustrated, feeling so lost and directionless. BUT God. Don't you love those two simple words that so often appear in His Word? BUT God knew it all. BUT God had the perfect plan. BUT God intervened. BUT God spoke. BUT God saved. BUT God healed. Although the story I shared above is a very simple example, it points to the power and intimacy of our Savior. He cares so immeasurably about every detail of our lives. And my one desire is to love Him back by learning to abide in Him every second of every day.

hello!

Hi!

This is my first-ever blog post and I'm very excited :)

Wow, I can honestly say that it's been a long time coming since I first wanted to start a blog. So I'm extremely happy that I finally have one now!

I am a writer at heart and I love that God has given us the sweet gift of writing. So often my writing ends up being more like journaling to the Lord, simply talking to Him or of Him. But it's so cleansing to my soul and refreshing to put things down on a page (or in this case, a blog).

Anyway, I figure that I should first explain the name of my blog a bit. Sometimes I find that the title of something I write can be the hardest thing to come up with because it defines the rest of what's written. Likewise, the name of my blog really defines my life and my walk with the Lord, especially during this season. I am simply learning to abide in Him more each day, to know Him more intimately, to trust Him more faithfully, to LOVE Him more deeply. And how can I help but do anything else when He is so deserving of all of my praise? Thank you Jesus!
I'll explain more in my next blog, but the Lord placed this very simple phrase (learning to abide) on my heart a few weeks ago and I'm so excited for this journey as I truly learn to ABIDE in Him step-by-step in this life.

That's all for now :)