"Oh, Good! You're Exactly Where I Want You to Be."

This morning, I rock in my old rocking chair as I read a verse from Colossians 2 about having "all the fullness" of God inside of me. I'm thinking about any empty place and the promise that I'm actually full.

I'm just rocking and thinking, tapping my chin, and I hear my youngest calling out to me. "Where are you? Mama, where are you?"

"I'm right here," I say.

She peers around the corner and cries out, "Oh, good! You're exactly where I want you to be."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to be here playing, and I want to be where you are." She's talking about the little doll tea party she's set up in the living room, right in front of the rocking chair. She starts playing. She's not even talking to me or looking at me. She's just playing in front of me, wanting me to be there.

So we're there together, and I feel very full inside. It feels like God is saying to me, "Oh, good! You're exactly where I want you to be." I rock some more and read. I'm bursting with fullness.

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Do you feel full today?

Hold Unswervingly

The word "unswervingly" occurs only once in the whole Bible. It's in Hebrews 10:23, my theme verse for my new birthday journal.

I write this on the first page: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."

I chose this verse because of all the ways I have swerved and do swerve. I chose this verse to remind me to hold unswervingly to Jesus, even when everything about my life asks me to swerve away.

To swerve means to change directly abruptly. Usually, one swerves to avoid calamity. One swerves to get out of the way to find a better course. Oh, how my daily life asks me to swerve to find a better course than Jesus! Oh, how the ideas I hear and the words I read challenge me to swerve from the life of faith!

I find myself swerving away from a rich life of faith whenever calamity strikes. I find myself swerving to get out of the way of ideological controversies and debates at the university. Sometimes it seems easier to just agree with the dominate worldview--to swerve--to avoid the pain and confusion of debate, conflict, and hurt feelings. I'll just swerve on over to a comfortable and less controversial spot. I'll just swerve away from the hope I know is true.

No! No!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." That's my prayer for this new age I'm facing.

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Do you have a theme verse for your year?

"You Told Me Once, and I Took Note."

This morning, a friend delivers a little birthday gift to me relating to the small details. She remembered the particular kind of coffee I love, the fun kind of socks I wear, the bright nail polish I put on my toes, and even the kind of pen I love to use best of all when grading papers and writing in my journal. 

Yes, she knew about the pens. She added them into the mix that made up a big package waiting for me in my kitchen.

She knew about the pens!

The kind of pen? It's the Pilot G-2 0.38 Premium Gel Roller in blue ink. She knows I'm a pen snob. It has to be the G-2. It has to be the 0.38 ultra fine pen. She wrapped them up in tissue paper, and I laugh so hard when I open them.

Small things. Tiny details. Oh, how loved I felt.

Living with flair means you remember things about your friends. You remember that they only use the Pilot G-2 0.38 Premium Gel Roller in blue ink. I asked her how in the world she knew about those pens. She said, "You told me once, and I took note."

So there you have it. I want to take note of those small things, those tiny details, in others.

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What's a small thing--a tiny detail--about you and your particular loves?