Surface

I always knew Leigh was a gifted artist. I had not seen many of her projects but I knew that she at one time was an art student. I visited her house in February and was blown away by her art pieces that she showed me. Standing in her room that day, I felt as if I had only known a part of Leigh all these years, because I never knew about this brilliant part of her life.

I was looking through pictures the other day from my vacation to Texas. I came across a picture of my sister Jenna and couldn't stop staring. I realized how stunning my sister is. Her blonde hair shining in the sun light, green eyes, and perfect teeth captivated me. This is a girl I have known for 22 years, I always knew she was pretty but in that moment I realized I never fully stop to recognize how gorgeous she truly is.

Driving home from church yesterday I began to think about the Lord. When asking people to describe God in one word, we could get a hundred different answers. There is many different characteristics of God. Hearing people talk about God and their different experiences with Him, I want to learn about that characteristic of God if I have not yet experienced it.

My mother speaks of the Lord as her best friend and husband, I hope to experience that part of Him fully.
My friend Rebecca speaks of the Lord as her provider and healer, I hope to take full advantage of that part of Him.
Johnny Cash sings about an "all personal Jesus" I hope to let Him be my personal Jesus not just one that I speak to in the morning and at night but one I let in on everything that I do. I am reminded of a word my best friend received a few months ago to "involve HIM in everything" I hope to do that in my life and let Him be my all personal Jesus.

I feel as if I have been in the same room as God for 23 years, some days I ask Him questions, some days we sit in silence, other days we converse, and some days I just sit speechless, amazed that I can even be in the same room as Him. But I realize that there is still so much I do not know about Him. You would think after 23 years I would have some sort of grasp on who God is. But I have to admit I don't, I feel as if every day I learned something completely new about His character. This is the beauty in serving Him though, I follow and love a mysterious God. How can I ever say I am bored in my faith? I should never be bored in my faith if I am continually seeking Him.

I love in Exodus 34 it says the Lord stood with Moses and proclaimed His name. The way I imagine it is that He is literally reminding Moses who He is.
5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

Today I need a reminder of who the Lord is, He is...
COMPASSIONATE
GRACIOUS
SLOW TO ANGER
ABOUNDING IN LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS
ONE WHO MAINTAINS LOVE TO THOUSANDS
ONE WHO FORGIVES WICKEDNESS, REBELLION and SIN
ONE WHO PUNISHES SIN