Lord, your love is an endless mountain. I climb higher and higher but I’ll never reach the top. Yet I won’t be frustrated because your love is not an achievement. It’s not an end goal. It’s all about the journey. I will wait on you and I will keep climbing higher and higher, finding light around the bend and joy at every corner. 

As I climb up the mountain, there is so much joy and love and peace. Yet this peace is not because of the place I’m in, but rather the presence I’m in. And I carry that presence with me everywhere I go. Your presence follows me down the mountain and along winding roads. Your presence follows me on city streets and under bright lights. Your presence is always in me, therefore I always have that mountaintop kind of peace inside of me. I need only to pause and rest in your presence to receive it. 

I will wait on you. I will keep seeking you and your love for as long as I live. I will wait on you. And as I wait, I will praise you. I will praise you for every moment in this blessed life that you’ve given me. I will praise you for your goodness. I will praise you for the challenges. I will praise you for your love and when I fall down, I will praise you for picking me back up again. 

Jesus, THANK YOU. Thank you for the waiting. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for this endless mountain of your love. May I never grow tired of climbing it.

There will be days when you’ll feel uninspired and unmotivated. Like your brain is running at a thousand miles an hour but it’s not going anywhere. Like all your thoughts are a jumbled mess and you can’t seem to make sense of any of it. Like the emotions are piled up inside but you can’t find the words to describe any of it. Like you know exactly what you need to do but you have absolutely no idea how to do it. 

There will be days when it feels like you’re walking in a dark forest, all alone. There will be days when you feel like giving up. There will be days when you would do anything just to escape. There will be days when you’re scared out of your mind for no reason at all. There will be days when you cry and cry and you can’t stop, and days that you need to cry but just can’t. There will be days when this world seems like the cruelest place and you can’t seem to find a single spark of good anywhere. 

It’s what you do on those days that matters most. 

Weep, mourn, grieve, destroy some paper, feel it all, do whatever you need to. Then walk it off, go on a run, lift some weights, and clear your head. Stop pushing it down and let that anger and frustration and confusion boil up inside of you. Then pour your heart out and release it all. Release the pressure. Release your need for perfection. Release control and simply BREATHE. Breathe in truth and breathe out light. Feel the peace that comes with surrender. Let your heart heal as you move on. 

And whatever you do, don’t give up. Keep going. Keep fighting. Come back stronger than before. Be fortified with the strength that comes from overcoming a challenge. Run forward with a renewed sense of passion and fervor for life. Learn to live and live to learn and love to learn and learn to love again. Again and again and again. 

And trust me, it will get better. Those dark days you face will soon be met by the rising sun. Hope will return. Joy will be renewed. Love will come back for you. You’re gonna be okay. 

You’re not alone. I’ve been there too. Things will get better and you will be okay. Trust me. In the meantime, I’m cheering you on. You got this. You TOTALLY got this.

Pour out your heart. Let the light in. Let him meet you where you are. 

And let his love transform the way you live. Share it with others. Give others the same grace you have received. Allow others the same freedom to breathe. Love well and love deeply and love without looking back. 

Cherish these moments. Pause to appreciate the little things. A bird on a tree. The gentle breeze. The afternoon sun. A cool morning run. The tiny grains of sand and the wrinkles in your hand. The chorus of the universe singing praises to the one who made it all. 

Let your gratitude change your mindset. Let challenges become opportunities. Let the awkward moments be what they are. Trust that this is all part of his plan. 

He has a purpose. His will is good. And he’s holding you in his hand. He loves you and he wants the best for you. 

So pour out your heart. Allow yourself to be filled up by his love and to overflow with grace and compassion. Speak gentle truths and bright encouragement. Let joy and peace be the song that you sing. 

And do this all for the glory of our king. To him who first poured his heart out for you. He loves you more than you will ever understand.

You placed the stars up in the sky
You raised the mountains way up high

You placed the ground under my feet
You listen to every heartbeat

You paint the colors of a sunset
You know the hairs on my head

You dug the depths of the ocean
You give freedom to emotion

You speak truth through a whisper
You shake the whole earth with thunder

You set the wildfires ablaze
You soften hearts with your gaze

You are solid as a rock
You are graceful as a hawk

You are gentle and you are kind
You are strong and you are wise

You are all these things
You are my everything

And still I can’t see
Why you choose to love me

I’ll never understand
The details of your plan

And I know I cannot earn
This grace I don’t deserve

Yet you pour your blessings out
I still don’t understand how

How your grace and love for me
Reaches far and wide and deep

It covers all my sin and shame
It takes away the pain and blame

You’ve washed me clean
In your eyes, I am free

Free to laugh and dance and cry
Free to marvel and wonder why

As I stand in utter awe
Of this beautiful love song

Your words are a melody
That makes my bitter heart sweet

For everything we’ve been through
All I can say is thank you

Thank you for loving, for choosing
For seeing and for proving

That your love for us
Is completely boundless

I could go on and on and on and on
And still I’d sing an empty song

For I can never do justice
To how much you love us

There are not enough words on a page
Not enough lights on a stage

To honor you the way you deserve
So instead, I promise to serve

Your purpose, your kingdom, your will, your way
I’ll let my actions and what I say

Be a chorus that praises your name
And tells the world of your fame

Be the light in me
And let others see

This joy, this peace, this love
Only comes from above

This life I live
Is the good you give

And I am only free
Because of Christ in me

Look up
Look up in the night sky
See the stars there? 
I see them too

They connect us
A beautiful reminder
Of the light above
That watches over us

You and me
Together or apart
Makes no difference to the light
It will shine just the same

Side by side
Or a million miles away
Light is still up there
Winking back at us

So trust
Trust that there is light out there
Besides us
But don’t trust in the stars
Trust the one who placed them in the sky
And knows each one by name
He knows you, too

He knows your name
He knows your scars
He knows your heart
He knows where you’ve fallen
And all those times you refused to give up
Always fighting
Fighting for light

So trust
Trust that he has a plan
His plans are good
And one day, you’ll see the beauty in it all

All the stars
All the sky
All the light
And all the night

Even darkness has a purpose
It allows the light to shine
The stars will remain
When morning takes their place
But the day that comes
Hides their light

Yet as the sun sets
And night arrives
Those same stars come out to greet us
If only we greet them too

So look up
Look up in the beautiful night sky
And trust
Trust in the one who made the stars
And the one who placed them there

He made your heart, too
He has a purpose and a plan
And he makes it all beautiful
According to heavenly time

Just wait for night to come
And you’ll see how light shines
A gentle reminder
Of all his goodness
Winking back
At me and you

It’s a dangerous invitation
That I’m holding out to you.
I display it like a rose
But really, underneath, it’s covered in thorns and dripping with my blood. 
I bear the scars from where this invitation has hurt me in the past. 
I’ve held this rose too tightly. 
I’ve been greedy. I’ve kept it to myself. 
I’ve crushed the petals because of my pride. 
I’ve stunted its growth and refused to allow it to be pruned. 
I can’t prune this rose myself. 
I can’t bring myself to cut what seems so beautiful in the moment. 
But it’s only through pruning that this rose will grow again. 

The pruning happens before the winter. Imagine what a rose must feel like in the middle of the winter—it’s cold, it’s bare, it’s raw, it’s open, and it’s vulnerable. Pruning must seem like the cruelest punishment for doing nothing wrong. 

But THEN, spring returns. LIFE begins to grow on and HOPE blooms aloud. 

And maybe, for once, I can let this rose go. Maybe I can finally share its beauty with someone else. Maybe I can share the thorns, too. Maybe I can trust that the pruning is necessary and even GOOD. Maybe I can believe that spring is just around the corner and love is blooming for me, too. 

The invitation to love and to receive love is a dangerous invitation. But maybe that’s exactly the step of faith God is calling me to. 

​
What “dangerous invitation” is God calling you to respond to with daring faith? 


I will step out boldly in faith. I will accept this dangerous invitation. I will walk forward with bold confidence. I will step out of the shadows with a renewed sense of hope. I will dance in the light with a joy that could only be heavenly. I will run and not grow weary. I will anchor on the shore and burn the ships, never looking back. I will forge ahead, even when the path seems unclear. I will be BOLD for the sake of the gospel and the kingdom coming. I will not fear for I know that my Father is not only watching, but he is with me. I will love and I will love and I will love and I will love again. 

God, I’m not ready for that. But that’s the mindset I want. Change my heart. Prune me. I’m asking for that. Asking for you to prune me is a dangerous invitation, too. And I'm ready to extend that. Your will be done.