Author: evetureknaturephotography@gmail.com

Posted on

I Do

Here I am, Lord; it is I, Lord. Over and over, the same questions, the same questions…

You don’t expect Pete to ask you to marry him every day or every few days. You settled that with one yes and your later I do. You do expect to hear and say, I love you. Don’t confuse the two in your relationship with Me. Settle in your heart the promises I have made you—to bless you, to prosper your business, to give your body health and strength, to bless you and Pete, to bring you encounters in the wild, to open doors to share about Me and about your life in Me with a greater audience. All of that is like the “I do.”

I want you to think again of seven, of seven days, of seven years, as Sabbath and Jubilee years. These are years that celebrate such overwhelming abundance, you actually reap, eat and enjoy the fruit of past labors and coast on the breeze of My favor. Let Me lavish you, that is what Sabbath means. You think it means a fast—it means a feast. The ultimate Sabbath will be the Feast of the Bridegroom and oh! What rejoicing and revelry then! I want you to shed once and for all time your poverty model. I want you to go forth, rejoicing. You need to let your heart love what it loves.

Posted on

Mapping the Journey

Lord, can You help color in the picture of my life, Eve’s life, being of maximum effect for You? For Your kingdom? I keep coming back in my thought to all You’ve said. I feel a little like a kid playing with the box and not seeing what the amazing thing inside can do!

At least you are playing, you’re engaged—that’s a start. Once play is more comfortable, more of an automatic response, more possibilities will occur to you.

Oh. Oh, okay.

You’ve had such narrow thoughts about ministry. Those thoughts have been very much like playing with the box. They’ve boxed you in and now You are hearing Me calling you to “live outside the box.” What I really mean by that is, take the essence of what once was for you within the box, and live it in the world. Remember your old lyric: “I want to tell all the people I know that they can touch You, Lord.” That’s what I want, too, for you, for your life.

Lord, sometimes I think I’m missing the point and sometimes I think, is this it, this life I live, this is the point. Then I feel this weird combination of feelings, a cross or a mix between relief (it’s ok, I’m doing ok, I’m not disappointing You) and disappointment with myself because this life seems of such little effect compared to

Whoa. Stop right there. “Compared to.” That phrase causes so much trouble for you humans. I don’t want you to compare to or compare with. No one else’s life or experience is to be your mirror. I Am holding your believing mirror. Let Me fill in the map, not of where you have already been, but where you are going. I do want you to have a sense of what, and when. I want you to have Joy in the Journey, and part of that is anticipation. Vision Quests are meant to give vision! I’m not asking you to live in fog. I Am asking you to look to Me and My words to you for your path, your clear path. So let’s define for your life what “maximum effect” is. You’ve been trying to match that to pieces of others’ lives, like a puzzle. I’m going to give you a brand new picture, a brand new map, for your life. Keywords are Joy, and Connection, and Loving-Kindness—all of which bring Peace, as a result.

Posted on

Trust

Lord, You said that one way You speak to me is by providing an image in the now, an image meant for a message. So what is the message that goes with the reflections on the Sound?

The more still you are, the more accurately and completely will your life reflect Who I Am. The more agitated you are, the less true is My Reflection through your life because My words are being distorted by fear or doubt or close-mindedness.

I get You saying fear or doubt, but close-minded? I thought I was pretty open-minded.

You still have many shuttered windows and locked doors when it comes to My blessings. You can’t see out, and you say, not possible. Your lack of vision freezes your steps. You want to see a clear path before you take a step.

Isn’t that wisdom?

Not if I’ve spoken to your heart to move.

But how can I know?

Little One, how do you know anything? By trust. You trust the information presented to you, or you trust the one speaking or you prove it true in your experience.

But you can’t just trust everybody!

No, of course not. But I Am not asking you to trust everybody, am I? I’m asking you to trust Me.

Posted on

Advent

Lord, it’s a busy time, before Christmas. What would You say here, now, to my heart?

Look for My Coming. The Shepherds had to look—they had to go and see. The Wise Men had to look, to seek, in order to find. And what they found was totally unexpected.

So…?

So I want you to look for Me—and for your life’s purpose, your right-now-today, in-this-chapter, in-the-moment purpose. I want you to find the settledness and assurance and confidence that comes from the “I know”, as in, “I know God is leading me.” I sent angels to the shepherds, a guiding star to the wise men. They didn’t stumble around in the night. I don’t want you to stumble around in the night of wondering, wondering if you are on track, on the right path. I want you to walk confidently in knowing, in the wonder of assurance. So look for Signs of My coming—to you. Through you and your life. That is the Advent I want you to seek. Then I want you to receive gifts, the gifts of My Presence with you, the same gifts given to Me:

Gold—Business and financial prosperity. And yes, stellar recognition for your own work.

Frankincense—The sweet anointing of My Presence and Spirit on all you do.

Myrrh—My comfort for any sorrow.

Posted on

Sow seeds of Love

I keep thinking about that story, where a monk goes to his superior and says, I do my little alms and make my little prayers, and what more can I do, and the superior answers, why not pray to be turned into flame? That story has always gotten to me and I’m not sure why. What does that even mean? I think the story isn’t about martyrdom, it is more about zeal, about being all-in. So what does that mean, in 2017, here, now? Why does the story affect me at all?

Because you always think you are not doing enough. You always fear you are falling short of some impossibly high standard I have set for you.

Well, yeah—perfection. Be ye perfect, right? Straight A life, right?

This is the common interpretation, God as School-master, ready to grade performance and knowledge, every day an exam, every hour a pop-quiz. No wonder you, so many humans, are so stressed. A better understanding of perfect would be complete or whole. Scripture also says, perfect love casts out fear. Imagine a container, full to the brim with water, full even to the point of overflowing. There is no room for anything else in that container. A life lived in perfect love, a soul made perfect in love, would have no space for fear or any of fear’s outworkings, like greed (which is fear of lack) or jealousy (which is fear over position or opportunity) or hatred (which is fear of being less-than, of being ignored, of being taken for granted). Take away fear, all fear, and replace that with love, genuine love, and look what happens to your day and in your life. You treat others well and you treat yourself well. Your gifts and talents are fully developed and used to bless others, blessing yourself in the process. You have no lack. And if everyone around you is living from the same mindset, no one else has any lack either. Perfect love is the answer to every one of earth’s ills.

But, Lord, we don’t love like that. And some live the opposite—they are so full of fear they have little or no room for love at all!

It is tempting to look around and try to grade others. That is why I said, “don’t judge.” Be concerned with your own vessel, with your own heart, your own life. Fill yourself up with My Love.

How do I do that with folks whose values are so different than mine? How do I love those who do terrible things, who show no love at all?

(Gently) Little One, they need love most of all. The only way you can show love to such as these is to pray to see with My eyes, with My heart. Pray for a crack in the dark to let the light in. Pray for the tiniest crack in their bedrock of fear to let the water of Love seep in. Pray for Love to increase. Pray for seeds of Love to flourish and grow in the unlikeliest of places, in the most arid and polluted of circumstances.

The Sower sowed seed everywhere, in all kinds of soil, remember? Do you think the Sower was stupid? Or wasteful? No, the Sower is a parable of Hope! You be the good soil that brings forth a multiplication of seeds—and then dare to be a sower who scatters seeds of love everywhere, trusting that some will sprout, some will grow, and will transform the desert into a garden. That is the promise, about rivers in the desert and dry places holding a well. You grow in Love, and sow in Hope, and know, no seed of Love sown is ever truly wasted.

Posted on

The Mirror of God’s Love

Lord, I am reading something You said just last week. You said when I show up, You show up. That wondrous things can happen when I show up—which I take to mean, when I am present. When I am willing. That in those times, You are present, and that is what makes the difference.

First of all, I Am always present, though often unseen, unheard and unfelt. People all over the planet breathe in air, multiple times a minute, and most don’t give it any thought. You think about your breath when you are short of it, when the air is thick with smoke or foul, or your lungs are not clear, and it is hard to take a breath. You think about your breath in certain forms of fitness or meditation, when you concentrate on your breathing as a spiritual or physical practice. Mothers-to-be practice breathing as part of childbirth. But then the practice is over, the baby is born, the air clears or the lungs fill again and once more, the breath fades into the background of conscious thought. People pray or reach out to Me in times of great trouble, when they cannot get their breath physically or financially or in their health or their relationships; people sometimes pray out of gratitude for blessings received; but then the moments pass, the crisis resolves, the hourly service concludes, and I fade into the background as busy lives move front and center.

So how can I live, how can we all live, more conscious of Your presence? What kind of relationship are You asking us to have, or inviting us into?

Think how many times every day you think of Pete, how often he crosses your mind. You factor his opinion into almost all of your decisions. You certainly talk with him about major changes to your day or to your life. You can’t wait to share good news with him, and when you are worried or anxious, you look to him for reassurance. Sometimes you forget how much he loves you, and you imagine that something you have said or done displeases him—and you react in that same way with Me, don’t you?

But I need you to realize that nothing you do or think or say creates a rift between us that My Love cannot bridge. Couples grow apart when they begin hiding their true selves from one another, when what they keep hidden inside is much more than what they reveal. You don’t have to fear revealing yourself to Me. Lean into Me as a plant grows toward the sunshine. Let My Spirit oil any worn, weary or rusty parts of your soul, your character. When you are most tempted to draw back, from fear or weariness or impatience or frustration or downright anger, come closer. Let My Love be the Mirror you look deeply into. Remember Who I Am and Who I Am in you. That is how ordinary days and ordinary circumstances and ordinary people become extraordinary. Remember Who I Am and Whose you are. Remember our connection. Don’t hide your fears or your flaws or what you think of as your failings. I see all, regardless. But if you can be willing to bring them all to Me, I can heal and restore and fix. There is nothing broken—not a body, not a spirit, not a heart, not a relationship, not a family, not a community, not a country—that My Love cannot heal. You can be one of those agents of healing—if you keep coming to Me to be made whole yourself.

Posted on

Breathe In The Positive

Lord, I am scrolling through old journals, as You said I could, and I stop, astounded. I am reading entries from three years ago, and You said then words that are so fitting for today. Again and again I read something You said before the situation, preparing me for what was to come. And here You go. You have done it again. So I am going to share this, Lord. It is so timely, I am going to trust it will be as timely for someone else reading in the moment.

Every step of growth—personal and professional—is a leap. You feel unready and unprepared; that is what learning is for. I Am not asking you to be, yet. I Am asking you to become. To be, come. To Be, Come. Come, follow Me. Come with Me. Come, and see.

Today, Come to the Sea. Come to the Leaves. Come Outside to go Within. That is your personal paradox, the distinct definition of your calling. Outside to go Within. Then you fill the well to pour out, outside in your larger world, rippling beyond your circle. That is the breathe in, breathe out, of your life. Go out/breathe in; go in/breathe out. That’s the rhythm of it. Go out, take a deep breath; hold it in; release it out, transformed to nourish the very place you were nourished by. Take in the spiritual oxygen you need and trust that the carbon dioxide you release is exactly what you are meant to give.

You’ve been trying to do this backwards, to live as a tree: to take in the carbon dioxide and put out the oxygen. To absorb in your body the negative and push out the positive. I say to you, take in, be filled with the positive and you will release the negative, and your release of the negative will in turn create the transformation of negative-to-positive, just as the trees do. But you do your part by staying positive, absorbing the good, being on the lookout for the purest oxygen possible. Breathe that. Immerse in that. Let every word, every thought, every breath, be Love. You can change your world one breath at a time. Your love is changing the people around you. Don’t focus on change—just focus on staying in the flow of My Yes to you. Yes to opportunity. Yes to safety. Yes to health. Yes to peace. Yes to joy. Yes to love. Go outside and Be, Come—more of who you are.

Posted on

Renewal

God, if I could sit down and have a conversation with You, one thing I would ask You about is renewal. That whole church time. And what You think about all that.

What did renewal mean to you? What did that time do for you? Never mind anyone else’s experience. What was your experience?

Well, You talked to me. That was the huge thing. I’d be there, and we’d talk. I loved that—and before those services, I longed for that connection, to hear You in my heart. It didn’t happen often before that, the whole meditative prayer thing.

And I began with my friend our ministry to the Blackfoot right before that, but we definitely felt led and empowered to go. That was huge. I received physical and emotional strength to care for Mom and Dad in their illness. Over and over I felt, well, renewed. I had new energy to continue in a difficult situation. That was huge.

 And You healed so much earlier emotional brokenness, and that healing opened the possibility of my allowing myself to love someone again—Pete—and to remarry. That was Huge, huge, huge.

So you received healing, and strength, and encouragement, and joy. You connected more deeply with Me, and you were guided by that connection in all sorts of decisions. You felt empowered to speak about Me, and especially to speak about reconciliation, peace, and unity.

Yes.

What makes you think you are not living in renewal right now? You connect with Me here, and in your heart, everyday. You received supernatural strength and miracles when Pete was sick before. Your connection with family up north is a renewal miracle. You speak about Me in a way that encourages reconciliation, peace, and unity, all the time. You are walking, living, breathing a renewed life every day, all the time!

Oh, wow! Thank You, Lord! Wow, that’s great! I can feel You smiling, giving me a hug. I love You, Lord.

Posted on

Expansion

A little glimmer, a little shimmer, a little puff of wind. The day stretches and yawns into itself. I am quiet. Kaylee is scratching, restless. Lord, what would You say?

People think of expansion in many different ways. Your crop could yield more seeds, that is one way. The size of your fields could increase. You could have more outlets for your crop, so you waste less and store less. You could be more efficient in both planting and harvest.

Yes?

Another way to think about expansion is to diversify. You have fields AND an orchard. And you raise sheep for wool, say. In order to diversify, where the land produces a year-round, expanded offering, you need more help—help which I will provide. You are close to the limit of what you can provide in terms of cranking out product. The next big piece is the writing piece, and the workshop/speaking/teaching piece. Each will have a different audience and a bit of a different purpose, but it is all your land, all your territory. I do want you to dream again, and dream on paper. Dream on the page.

Lord, I write that down and I lean back. I lift my pen off the page. Why? What’s up with that, what’s up with me?

You think the very idea of having dreams and expressing them is selfish, self-centered, prideful. You forget about my planting seeds in you, seeds that sprout as your gifts and talents, as your inclinations and preferences, as your longings. All of these are My planting within you. So let’s examine those seeds, shall we?

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Rain Within

Lord, I want kindness to prevail over cruelty and mercy to overtake”justice” if justice is just shorthand for revenge, for punishment. Please, please, what would You say?

Little One, you are seeing the world—My world—as it is, while simultaneously holding the vision I have of the world—My world—as it could be. As it should be. As it will be. Heaven is the church you seek, where all truly Love One Another. You are doing your part to build My Kingdom where it really counts, which is out in the middle of My messy world.

You want to find a gathering space of folks whose tenets are inclusive, welcoming, peace-centered, and when it comes to Me and My Presence, relational and experiential. You want My Presence manifest like you want air, like you want water. You are dry and thirsty without it. You are like a land in drought, spending your precious tears crying for rain when Rain is within you. You have My Spirit within you. Be church. Continue to minister. Continue to stand in love. Make your gratitude lists—and share them.