Surf on Faith

Lord, I am definitely in one of my phases of, what you think about you bring about. I know, I have folks in my life who would pooh-pooh this sort of thing, or call it mumbo jumbo, or call it crazy, or call it new age and dismiss it for that reason…and all I can think of in response is that verse from Proverbs, as a person thinks from his heart, so is he. I really think that is true. I have lived it enough in both directions–focusing on negative versus focusing on gratitude and on positive–to know by experience it is true. So Lord, if it is true, and if there is such ample evidence, why aren’t more people paying attention? Can we really shift our life circumstances by shifting our thoughts?

You can do more than shift your own life circumstances. You can literally move mountains. You can change the world within you and then change the world around you. There is more at stake here than humans realize. If everyone in the world, at the same moment, focused on and committed to Love, to simply and sincerely Loving Thy Neighbor as you love yourself, there would be Peace. There would be Plenty. There would be Health. Everyone would be in right relationship to each other, and to each’s own best self, and to Me. Everyone would be in right relationship to the planet that is your collective home, at least for the present.

Then what is wrong with us, God? What is wrong? Why aren’t we that attuned? Why am I not in tune, all the time? Why do we forget? Why do we falter? What is our problem?

Your problem is the same problem Peter had, walking on the water. Every minute you have a choice, to live in faith or live in fear. You live divided, most of you. You live in a certain amount of faith–faith in the earth’s rotation, faith in the sun’s rising (even behind the rain clouds), so lack of faith isn’t the issue, not really. The issue is that the Voice of Fear seems louder than the Voice of Faith. Fear often masquerades as Reason. It seems reasonable and practical to worry and fret and fear. Anxiety becomes a badge of being aware and hyper vigilant. But I would ask, aware of what? When you are most aware of Me and My Presence with you, you are your calmest. Your fears subside and your faith soars. You know the verse, a double-minded person is unstable in all his ways. Read it this way–someone who is double-minded, who is holding to both fear and faith, cannot walk steadily. That person will inevitably stumble and may even fall. What kind of fall? you ask. Perhaps a fall into depression. Perhaps a fall into greed or pride. Perhaps a fall into selfishness out of a misplaced concern for safety or security. None of these need be fatal falls, and even fatal falls are seen so only on the human side, not from My Perspective. For My Love triumphs in the end and at the last over all, including all missteps, including all falling short.

The issue is, how will you live your earthly life? Strive to live so that the voice of fear diminishes and the voice of faith increases. Try to walk more steadily in assurance and confidence and stumble less over worries and anxieties. Peter’s problem was not gravity, it was the gravitas of the situation he began to imagine himself in. He lost sight of My Presence and My Promise, and that is when he began to sink. And what happened? He called out and Here I Am.

Surfers love the waves, you know. So don’t fear them. Ride them, skim them, soar over them, surf them forward. Let their energy be propulsion for you.

Touch and Go

Julia Cameron says we should write in the morning, and for the past 16 years, I have done just that. I like starting the day with a clean slate, remembering who I am, who You are. I like setting my inner compass for the day, and I definitely feel more centered and less rushed when I take that morning time. But I have to admit, thanks to this blog, I am liking my times of writing in the evening, too. I haven’t sat to write at night like this for years and years, maybe 30 or more. There is something about ending the day with a clean slate, too. But I don’t always find time to do both. Sometimes, especially if I missed the morning pages for some reason, I find myself rushing here at night, and rushing is not my best pace, where these pages are concerned. I do better to amble on paper than dash.

You do better to amble through life than dash, too — but sometimes, dashing is necessary, and dashing here is better than not coming here at all.

Sometimes I feel like a pilot practicing touch-and-go’s; I am not really seeing the scenery, and I am not fully landing!

But practice for the sake of practice can be beneficial, too, and that is one lesson you are learning now. Sometimes it is enough to, as you say, “just show up.” What have you learned by just showing up?

I have learned that You are always, always here. I get afraid I will be met with silence. I get afraid that our connection is lost, that I have lost it, like the cliche about losing the thread of the conversation. I am afraid my end will unravel. But Yours never does. Sometimes You pick up where I left off weeks or months or years before, and suddenly what You said then clicks into place, and it all makes sense!

That is one advantage of writing these musings instead of merely thinking them. Memory as you know can be elusive, or fickle. You may not always remember when you need to. Details, important nuances, can be lost. But if you take the time to write it all down, as you have been doing these past 16 years, then you have a record to go back to.

It’s really helpful, Lord. It boosts my faith, too, to see or read rather, what You said in the past, and see it unfold later as my future. Well, when it unfolds it is my present, but You know what I mean.

Since I Am Timeless, I inhabit all time at one time. All is one to Me and in Me. That is why I can talk to you about the future. I Am already there. I can guide you from that perspective into your best possible choices, if you continue to let Me. If you continue to practice, to stay connected, there is much you can learn, much you can discern, and moreover, you can walk in much more faith, which by default means much less fear. It’s a good trade, don’t you think? A few minutes in the morning, a few minutes at night, and your faith and trust increase while your worry and stress and fear decrease.

Yes, Lord, a very good trade! Thank You. But back to “touch and go.” When we say that, it is usually a negative connotation. It means, can go either way, like someone in a medical emergency, and you don’t know the outcome. You seem to be implying something different.

The keyword is “touch” not “go.” As you go, touch. Think of touchstone. These pages are like a touchstone for you. Here, you touch Me. You touch My Heart. You touch your own here, too, and you see right away when you are off course, or off center. You touch, and then you are empowered to go, to go into your day. Think of how you often dash out the door in the morning, think of this morning–what was the last thing you did?

Well, dash is the word for today, and the last thing I did before I stepped out the front door was give Pete a kiss goodby, and tell our Sheltie to be a good girl and I would be home tonight, and then on the front porch I said the same to the kitty. Then I just about trotted to the car!

You see? You took time to touch, and then go. In Me, even touch and go can be a very good thing.

Easter Vigil Blue Moon

Lord, thank You so much for today. An over-the-top day, in what is really, spiritually speaking, an over-the-top season, an over-the-top weekend. I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head, things I need to be sure I don’t forget, things I need to tell staff, things I need to arrange, things I need to do. Last month when we were in Philly, I said then, that my need-to’s fill my thoughts, but You fill my heart. That is so true. And You said to me then, I Am as close as your breath.

Hope and faith are like a bridge. Sometimes that bridge crosses turbulent water; you have had your share of that. But bridges are not a place to stop and camp, certainly not a place to build a permanent residence.

I don’t understand. Isn’t faith and hope where we are supposed to be living?

Remember how Scripture says, Hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? I want you to live in Sight. I want you to live in Hearing. I want you to live in Assurance. I want you to live by Experience. I want you to Know My Presence. I want you to understand beyond knowledge, and to Love beyond understanding. I want you to cross the bridge, use the bridge for what it is designed for–to lead you into My Presence, not at the end of your life’s journey, but NOW. I want you to come into a fuller experience of My Presence with you, NOW. I want the now of your days to expand into moment after moment after moment after moment.

Tonight, when the moon rose, what happened?

Well, I couldn’t see it at all on the horizon. It looked clear but there must have been clouds or haze on the horizon. It finally peeked through briefly after about 10 or 15 minutes and then went behind the haze again. Then after another few minutes it rose above that layer, clear. Perfectly clear and full, the second blue moon of the year.

So here is My second promise to you for the year: Just as the full moon appeared after what seemed a brief interlude of waiting, of having faith, of hoping in its appearance, so all you have worked for and hoped for and had faith for shall appear in your reality, bright and round and full like the moon tonight. I have seen your efforts and your labor, and I declare to you, they are not in vain. And more–they are not vanity on your part, either. This life you are living is My Gift to you, and through you, to the larger world. The second full moon of March, appearing right at the end of the season of Lent, right on the cusp of Easter and your own commitment-day, signals an important shift for you. Did the moon struggle to rise, or did it merely move in its circuit, as it was created to do? Did the clouds really have power over the moon, or was the moon’s reflected sunlight brighter than the clouds? And did the intensity of that reflected light not color the waves below? So shall your own life in Me be. Prepare for a full, rounded, reflected, bright-shining life. You watched the waves dance upward in their meeting with the pier pilings. Life shall be less a struggle and more a dance for you. The more you play, the more you sing, the more you breathe, the more life will dance for you. The more creation will sing to you, the more the plants themselves will breathe for you, the more at home you will feel in the Garden, remade and replanted, right where you live.

Tonight is Moonrise. Tonight also, at midnight, just minutes from now, many in the church will celebrate SonRise. Others will celebrate at dawn. Celebrate every day, every morning, every evening. Cross the bridge. Live as if My Kingdom IS come–in you and for you and through you. Extend My Kingdom by your love and your gentleness and your generosity, to everyone you encounter. Rise Up in My Rising, with a new assurance of My blessing and My Presence with you.

Prepare for a larger life. You think, I am bursting at the seams already! How can I hold more? There will be more crops for you to reap and more to sow, more to plant and more to share, more to sell and more to give away. That is the message of this full blue moon for you: More. And don’t forget, we have a play-date tomorrow!

I haven’t forgotten, God. I am actually really excited about it!

Me, too. Now sleep well. Tomorrow is a Big Day. You’ll see!

Stone of Seeing

I’m gong on a journey, and…that is what another move feels like. That combination of excitement, some fatigue, a little apprehension. Every day a journey, and I think that sums up how I approach every day, actually. And when I say it that way, I see “a little apprehension” as a disconnect. A feeling of but-what-if that is peering ahead at possible negatives. So, God, what is a better response? Not foolhardiness, obviously. Not neglecting wisdom or discernment.

A better response? How about faith. Faith says, “I don’t know the future but I have confidence that…” So, how would you complete the sentence?

Me? Now? Well, I have confidence that You are with me, and that You are guiding me, guiding us. I am still making choices but I can choose from a position of being guided–and that guidance, it’s based on values more than on specific outcomes, I just realized.

Yes, if you are leading with Love and following Love, then you are on a good path. Faith reminds you also that you are not alone, you do have companions.

So…Faith doesn’t guarantee a specific outcome?

Faith guarantees an ultimate outcome but leaves room for life. And that sentence can be read in so many ways! Some read it to mean, a future bliss and plenty of trouble and suffering now. Some read it to mean, God is interested only in the hereafter but the here and now is all up to us and our own effort. What I Am trying to help you understand is this: Faith is not a magic wand. It is more like a Seeing Stone. Faith can help you pick out a path based on the direction you want to walk. You have chosen to walk in Love, now. In Peace, now. And you long to walk in Joy, now. You have chosen to walk Connected, now. Leaving room for life means that you retain the power of choice–and that you remain open to the surprises you like to call serendipity or synchronicity. Faith does not demand a lockstep, predetermined, predestined pace or path. Faith is more interested in relationships than anything else.

So what is the ultimate outcome? Heaven?

The ultimate outcome is full union with Me, yes, as Love Eternal, Love Incarnate, Love Undying. And the ultimate outcome is My Will, manifest. That is true Manifest Destiny. Everyone is destined to be loved completely, sooner or later, here or in eternity. Blessed are the ones who can embrace this reality now. Their lives are easier, not because nothing hard ever happens to them, but because they are companioned through everything.

So, Lord, when I say, I am led by You, what does that mean, exactly? From Your perspective?

It means I view you as a seeker, a seeker of good, a seeker of the highest, best, most loving life for yourself and for those your life touches, however briefly or long. And since those who seek, find–that is spiritual law–it means that your searching is neither empty nor in vain. It means that when you consider multiple paths and multiple outcomes, you will feel nudges and promptings in just the same way you sometimes sense that there is a photograph waiting, a moment waiting for your presence. So you go, and in fact, there is. You tend to ask out of a heart that seeks to find its place in the larger world, amidst all the other hearts asking or vying for their own spots. You don’t begrudge others their paths; you seek to be true to yourself and find the path most in line with your values and your longings to give.

That’s true.

So that kind of commitment inevitably draws to itself the appropriate match, in circumstances, in opportunities, in people. What you have to give matches what the larger world needs in very specific ways and times and circumstances, like the pieces of a puzzle fit together. It doesn’t have to be hard. Your peace and your discernment tell you when something is not a good match or no longer fits.

That is true, too. 

So that is what being led is like. I see and hear and observe and feel your heart. Sometimes I sense when your thought is out of line with your heart. It is those times when you feel most disconnected from yourself, from life, from others, from Me. You think I have withdrawn but I Am actually drawing even closer, in human terms, in those moments, at the ready when you turn and seek once again with your heart. That is why Faith is like a Seeing Stone. You seek, and then you see. And that prompts deeper and wider seeking and seeing.

Thank You Lord. I think I understand a little bit.

Don’t worry too much about “understanding.” True faith like true peace is beyond the understanding. Just go with what you feel and what you know. Don’t worry about pitfalls or rockslides. Your discernment will let you know when it is time to change course.

Like this move, Lord! Talk about synchronicity and serendipity! I say, it seems as if we are being led…and it is true, I felt it. I sensed it. And then I heard it, in my heart. And then the door opened in circumstance. And then literally!

You can trust your feelings. There is an entire body of teaching in the church that says you cannot, that your feelings are unreliable at best or evil at worst. I gave humanity feeling and emotion. It is a GIFT, not a curse. Use this gift as you would use any other gift, in the service of Love, and you will never regret your choices.

Foundations

Lord, You know we are in the middle of a nor’easter–an odd nor’easter in that we have no rain, but high surf from offshore winds. States to the north are getting pounded with flooding, and watching at the pier today made me think of what You said about building on sand. Our whole island is built on sand!

Do you know what the difference is between building on sand and building on rock?

Yes, the houses built on sand fall in and the ones on rock stand. That is what the parable says. And the building on rock is shorthand for building on You, on Your Word. On what You say.

Step back a minute. A tsunami wave broadside would shatter even a house built on rock. The key is in the foundation. A nor’easter can pull a sand foundation out from under a house, no matter how well built the house itself is. Its sandy foundation is subject to erosion, whereas a rock foundation is more secure. That is the literal meaning of the parable. People assume the parable means that building your life on principles of faith mean that no tragedy, no hardship, will hit the house. But what it really means is that, no matter what waves come, the foundation–the relationship of a life lived in union with Me, based on My Love–is secure. So let Me ask you a hard question. When Pete was first diagnosed back in 2011, did you blame Me?

No, of course not! I mean, I didn’t believe then, and I don’t believe now, that You caused that.

And you are right. I did not. But was I present to you, to both of you, in and through that?

Yes, you were. That was hard. Losing Patrick, that was in some ways harder, certainly harder on Pete. But You, You were always there. And we had each other.

So the highest waves you two have faced together did not topple your love for one another or your certainty of My Love for you and My Presence with you. You are built on solid rock. You built your lives together on Love, My Love, and your love for each other. Your grief and fear were very real, and you will feel elements of both of those as long as you live together. So it can be said that your house shook, your emotions shook, when those waves came, but your foundation never eroded.

No, and in some odd ways, all of that just made our foundation stronger. I guess because we faced that together. Separately, in that those situations had different effects on each of us, but we still faced it all together. We walked through it separately, together. If that makes sense.

So here is what I want you to remember. There is no wave, no storm, no situation that will pull your foundation out from under you. Not from you, as an individual. Not from you two as a couple. Take that to heart. Really take that in. That will give you peace.

 

I Heart…

In less than an hour, it’s my birthday. Although, if I am being precise, I really turn 61 somewhere around 8 a.m., not at midnight. Last year was the landmark/decade birthday, but I can’t help wondering about the year ahead. In Narnia Aslan told Lucy, no one can know about what will happen, but—

That is not what I said.

What?

As Aslan, in Narnia. That is not what I said. What Aslan actually said was, no one is told what would have happened if…And then what did Aslan say? Anyone can find out what will happen…

Oh, yes. Right, by taking action, by moving forward. Part of me wishes I could look ahead, have some foreknowledge, and part of me is afraid to ask for even a glimpse.

Here is all you really need to know. You will love the love of your life, for all of your life. And he will love you. When the road gets bumpier, you will have the ability and the circumstances to slow down, so the bumps don’t cause you to crash, emotionally, spiritually or financially. Instead of racing over or through the bumpy parts, you will walk hand in hand, each of you leaning on the other, and each of you both giving and receiving strength and comfort. At some point, I will call everyone on the planet Home. You will live through many Homegoings before you hear Me calling your name, and when I do, the joy that will rise up inside you will be so great, so powerful, your human body will not be able to contain it. In that moment, which you have labeled “death” you will become fully and eternally Alive and forever united to My Love and Life. It is hard for you to fully appreciate the joy, completely understand the risen life that awaits all of you on the other side of the veil you call Time.

When the day inevitably comes for Pete to come Home, although you cannot envision this now, you both will know, and you both will rejoice; he will rejoice because Joy itself will come for him, and you will rejoice, because you will realize that not even death can separate those who love one another.

You have asked in your heart a question that doubters asked Me, although your puzzlement comes not out of doubt but out of a sadness born from an anticipated loneliness. On earth, Pete has loved both Pat and you. So in heaven, whom will he love? And the answer is Love is All. Love is All encompassing, Love is All surrounding, Love is All infilling. In heaven, Love. There will be no more need for rank-ordering. When the glass is always full, there is no need for measurement. You will fully love, then, and you will be fully loved. Here, you cannot live without air, without breath. Then, you cannot live without Love. So much love, so much joy, so much peace, awaits you. And even those words are inadequate, for much invites a comparison to less-than-much, to little. That is why I so often Name Myself simply Am. Being. Love. Peace. These are synonymous in eternity.

So what does your 61st year hold? Wonder. Blessing. Strength. Resilience. Joy. Opportunity. Tenderness. What will be your part, your response? Gratitude. Peace. Serenity. Faith. Hope. Compassion. And yes, Joy.

Rest easy, little one. You have chapters yet to live, chapters yet to write. And you and Pete have pages yet to live together. Determine to write on every single page, happily ever after—and live that assurance, starting now. Keep sowing seeds of love, keep reaping a crop of love. Your entire existence together has been a loving journey. That will never change between you—never fear that.

Thank You, Lord. That is the best present I could ask for, tender, loving days together, however many there are.

I have told you before, don’t grieve in advance; don’t mortgage today to try to prepare for tomorrow. Be Here Now. Love Now. That is all any of you can really do, anyway. So purpose in your heart to do that, every day, and this really will be the kind of year you are always asking for others, your best year yet, overflowing with blessings.

Evidence

So I had a great day, getting to walk Pea Island not once, but twice! Morning light was sweeter than afternoon but honestly it just felt great to be outside. So I was walking and praying and singing like I do, when I have the beach to myself, and You challenged me to believe You for something simple and specific. You asked me if I believe what I say, when I say, I am in the right place at the right time. And I said yes.

And then I asked you, why? Why are you able to say that and really mean it, really believe it?

Because I know it is true. It has been proven over and over to me, in my experience. I have evidence, lots of evidence.

And then I reminded you about the verse, Faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Yes. And I think I struggle with that, as I told You today. Because You said, to Thomas, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. So…which is it?

And I told you today, it is both. Sometimes, you are given the gift of faith to believe for something before that something is reality in your experience. But WHY can you believe? Because you have believed before! Because you have received before! Because you trust the process, or in this case, you trust the Person. Thomas needed the same evidence the rest of the disciples had already received–a personal encounter with Me, Risen. This was a huge leap, to believe after witnessing My Crucifixion that I was indeed alive. This required evidence. And what happened after the disciples received their evidence? They shook the world!

If you will consider carefully, any time I have asked you to stretch beyond your doubts, even your doubts about yourself, or your calling, or your gifts, or your hearing from Me, I am building on a framework of evidence you already have. It might be evidence from My speaking to you in the past. It might be testimony or affirmation you have received from someone close to you that you trust, sort of like corroborating evidence that yes, this is possible. Yes, you can do this. Yes, I Am Who I say I Am. Now you are becoming part of the body of evidence for others. Every experience you share of your life with Me, helps build not only your faith but the faith of those who look to you, who listen to you, who are wondering exactly how this connected life, this faith-life we have together actually works. So why don’t you go ahead and write down what it was I prompted you to believe for?

It sounds silly.

It didn’t sound so silly at the time.

No. No, it didn’t. I was walking, and looking for hearts, like I do, and picking up small ones, and You challenged me to believe for a large, white one, like a clam shell one.

And why did I challenge you to believe for that?

So that I could photograph it in a way that would show up in the picture, not straight down, but wide angle, showing the beach as well.

And why did you want to make a photograph like that?

I wanted to show how Your Love might seem small at times, when we are facing something so hard, so heavy, but it is really the central factor, the dominant piece, in the whole landscape of our lives. It anchors us, like an anchor point in a photograph. That is what was really in my thought, now that I have taken the time to put it into words. The shorthand I used with You on the beach was, the image I am meant to make today. 

And what happened?

Well, I found one! Not quite right, but it was there. And then another. And then You said, third time is a charm, and I took another couple of steps and there it was. Large, white, perfect. Just what I was looking for!

And didn’t I remind you then, now you have one more piece of evidence? Evidence that indeed we are connected, and that I Am interested in everything, no matter how seemingly small, how trivial, that touches your life?

Yes, yes You did.

And aren’t you forgetting one more thing?

Oh…yes. I moved the shell. I mean, I photographed it in place, and then picked it up to carry it down the beach to the tide pools, to make the image I had in my mind. Or in my heart, no pun intended.

And what did I tell you when you first had the thought?

You told me to follow that impulse, to create what I envisioned. I put a period there, but there wasn’t a period in real time, when we were talking on the beach, because (why is this so hard to write down, hard to share), because You said, follow my impulse, create the image, because I am an artist.

Indeed I did, and indeed you are. So now you have one more heart to share. One more tiny piece of the big puzzle that is My Love for everyone. I say big puzzle because a lot of folks view Me, view My Love, in that way. But that’s okay. At least they are viewing! At least they are questioning. At least they are searching–as I asked you to do, today, for your heart shells. Seek and you shall find. Seek and you shall find evidence! Evidence on which to build greater and greater faith, and a more deeply connected life.

A Time To Speak

Lord, how can I know when to speak and when to keep silent, when these words are meant only for me, and when they are meant for others, too? There are times I have shared in the past and then thought, I should have just kept my mouth shut.

You mean, should you have just kept My Mouth shut?

Here is a hard truth you know intellectually and biblically, but you are going to have to learn to live with it emotionally: not everyone receives. Not everyone hears. Not everyone wants glad tidings. Some much prefer judgment. Some much prefer hiding in their own darkness. And some—like feral cats—will hiss and even bite before they let themselves be loved.

You have to decide this work is worth rejection, that you are not in this to become popular, but to be a beacon of light in stormy times.

Lord, why wouldn’t everyone want the light to shine in a storm?

Almost everyone—unless someone is mentally ill—wants the light to shine in specific ways and specific places. My Light shines everywhere, on everyone. And that is a hard concept for some, who live by rank-ordering and who cannot conceive of a love, or favor, that is not based on merits. It seems unfair somehow to them.

Lord, like the parable of the workers hired late in the day?

Exactly.

 

 

Centering

Lord, I’m restless.

You feel like you are the clay on the wheel, spinning around and around. You need to let Me center you. Then I can shape you, shape your life, into the perfect form and the perfect size. But all begins with centering.

I’m seeing this wide bowl and Your Hands shaping it from inside. Expanding it from within. Increasing capacity.

Today is like the disciples fishing all night and rowing home, tired and discouraged. That is where you are—that is how you feel. You are doing all you know how to do, and you are giving it your best effort. And yet you still are coming up short. So I told them to go out, at the wrong time of day and put out their nets one more time. Let out your nets for a catch. And you know the result. 153 fish. So many fish that the nets broke. So many fish the two of them couldn’t haul them in; they needed help, they needed two more helpers.

So what do I do now, today?

Relax. Unwind. Go with the flow.

 

Peace Plays the Umpire

Lord, what is the watchword for today?

The watchword for today is Peace–the kind of peace that plays umpire over your thoughts, calling fair or foul, in or out of bounds. My Peace outruns even your best thinking and your deepest understanding. When you come to the limit of all you know or understand, when nothing “makes sense,” that is when you need My Peace the most, and that is where you will find My Peace waiting.

Out of bounds thoughts and “foul moods” go hand-in-hand. I Am talking about thoughts like envy or resentment, thoughts that label others in any way less-than-you, or that label you as less-than-them, or–and this is very important for you now–thoughts that whisper you must do this alone. No, you have a team of helpers and Me as both Coach and Umpire.

But life has thrown a curveball, I hear you say.

Are you going to hurl your bat in frustration and take a chance on hurting someone else, or are you going to come to Me for some extra, private, one-on-one batting practice? You can hit this curveball. You can hit it out of the park. You can run the bases and you can drive others home, Home, on the strength of your swing. Don’t walk away from the batter’s box. Let Me show you how to handle life’s curveballs so that your peace, My Peace in you, stays intact and all your swinging for the fences bears much fruit.

It doesn’t seem fair, this particular pitch.

I know you are afraid of grounding out, of losing everything you cherish most. What happens with a game-winning run? The whole stadium cheers! All of Heaven rejoices. Let this turn into a victory lap.

How do I do that?

This is how. Your set-apart times with Me will give you everything you need. You’ve trusted Me for so much; trust Me in this.