O Lord, how I love You! I am so thankful for Your grace, Your mercy, Your abiding presence that soothes my restless thoughts.
My soul longs to know You more, to love You deeper.
I want to grow in the knowledge of You, but mostly I long to be Your friend.
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Lord, You are the Song in my night, the light in my darkness. You are the hope in my brokenness and my quiet in the chaos.
Teach me to seek after the quiet — to understand the treasures of solitude.
Solitude feels elusive, Lord, unattainable in this busy, noisy season of Christmas.
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Lord, in Your infinite mercy You draw us to Yourself — You pursue us with Your love. Bless You, Lord! Thank You for Your faithfulness and Your mercies that are new every morning.
You are a great God.
We desire to know You more.
We desire to experience the fullness of who You are.
But it’s so crazy busy right now for everyone! We desire to be with You, but the demands are louder. The very One whose birth we celebrate becomes second place, pushed to a shelf or to the bottom of the to-do list.
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Just took a brisk walk with Blue up to the meadow and back. It’s bitter cold outside today. Wind howling. Millions of tiny snowflakes swirling.
Discouragement tried to take over my thoughts the past few days. It showed in my hunched-over shoulders as I pressed into the wind.
A loved one is very sick. Finances, in the natural, will never be able to stretch enough to cover Christmas, a Christmas wedding, and medical expenses. (Even though I know that I know God has never failed us, sometimes the flesh kicks in with worry.)
And my daughter’s healing from knee surgery seems to be going backwards for some reason …
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“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten …” ~ Joel...
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I’m learning a lot about thanksgiving — maintaining a thankful heart in spite of very difficult circumstances, understanding the importance of a thankful heart, recognizing how a thankful heart is a gift and tool from the Lord to lift us above the difficult places.
This type of thanksgiving runs deep through our veins bringing life to our weary bones.
It swaddles me at night when I close my eyes for much needed sleep and say, “Thank You, Lord. It is well with my soul.”
And mean it.
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Lord, I’m restless and worn — weary from the journey. But, You O Lord, are faithful. You are with me and in me. You are for me.
I am not alone.
Quiet me with Your love.
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The aged apple tree stretched toward the heavens with its thin, finger-like branches. It grew on the forest’s edge surrounded by pine, oak and hemlocks.
It grew in spite of its conditions, quite obviously a happenstance, a surprise to its forest shadows.
[Tweet “The aged apple tree stretched toward the heavens with its thin, finger-like branches. @NanJonesAuthor #amwriting #FindingGodsPresence”]
I watched this tree throughout the seasons — its burst of fresh green in the spring, blossoms like delicate voile against the rough and aged bark. Summer delivered apples red embellishing the forest’s edge with ornamental color and fed the deer grazing below.
And now, as autumn has its last hoorah before winter’s chill, my eye saw something new …
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Lord, I love You and I praise Your holy Name, for You are good. Always. Even when life is hard, You are good and merciful and kind.
Many of Your children are suffering relentless assaults from the enemy and we are tired. We need rest. The wonderful thing is knowing that YOU know this — You are El Roi — the God who sees and knows all about it. You are not aloof and far off. You, Lord, are right here
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The days had been long. The nights even longer. Deep in my spirit I heard His delicate whisper calling me to come, to be still and remember that He is God.
My heart longed for peace.
My body, weary from a fibromyalgia flare, yearned for strength and energy.
I sat beneath the soft lamplight in the stillness of morning, my Bible in hand. Flipping through its worn pages I found myself drawn to the Psalms. Oh my goodness! What comfort we find in these words of David — his authentic faith wrought with fiery trials, yet proclaiming the faithful promises of God.
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Lord, I love You. You are the great God — the One True God — and I belong to You. Yes! Because of Jesus, I belong to You and You belong to me.
How can it be? Such amazing love.
Thank You, Lord for Your love that carries me across troubled waters, that picks me up when I stumble. Thank You for Your grace that sustains and wraps me in the knowledge that You are near.
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I wander in my foggy thoughts, weary steps follow weary steps. I press on, but the mountain is steep. The trail is brutal at times.
Life has been very difficult for a few years now — I know many that have experienced the same. But in the midst of our struggles, God has remained. His faithfulness has been a bulwark against the work of the enemy. His grace has sustained and His mercy has held us as hurting, frightened children in the arms of our Father.
What have we done to deserve love like this?
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Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference
Learn to be fully aware of the Lord's presence in your life with my new resource,