Thank you, God, for your good purposes which have drawn me to this day.
Because You have anointed me,
because You have been grooming me for Your business without me knowing it,
because you have forgiven me much,
I can now give back to You the fruit of what has grown in my heart.

This is what I was made for!

Extravagant love in the secret place
will overflow into the meeting place.

"Perfect love casts out all fear."

I have had a lot of fear lately. Fears from my past. Fears about my present situation. Fears for the future.

So I have been looking up Scripture to help me fight these fears. The Greek word translated as "perfect" in 1 John 4:18 doesn't mean without blemish or mistakes. It means love that has reached its goal, love that has matured, love that has fulfilled its purpose.

It is ok that I'm not complete yet. I just have to start to love.

Today I start by choosing not to be anxious about anything. Instead I will pray. I will take my worries and make them prayers. I will present my requests to God. I trust that His peace will come to me, transcending my understanding, guarding my heart and my mind (based on Philippians 4:6-7 NIV).

Somehow I had a baby, and then another baby, and then the years flew by and I forgot about this blog. I have been writing "in my closet" for the last two years on a manuscript that changed from a book into a series of messages meant to be shared in person with corresponding devotional booklets.

After sharing a few devotionals in a group format, I am convinced that this is the beginning of the second half of my life. It is a small and humble place to start, and yet, I can look behind me and see how God has prepared me for this moment over years of time, and throughout moments of triumph and heartache. As so many relatives and friends have confirmed after hearing me talk about it, "This makes so much sense!"

In my heart was a dream. In God's dream was my heart.