I’m so excited to share this!

Today, I was surprised to discover — halfway through the day — that it’s my spiritual birthday!  All day long I’ve felt spoiled 😉  It’s been such an incredible day, to the point where I kept asking God what He was up to because He’s been speaking so much to me — via His Word and others — the last 24 hours.  It’s been very unusual!

Then it hit me.  March 18th, 2002.  Eight years ago.  That morning in my bedroom.

The weeks leading up to that day, I’d been reading God’s Word for hours a day, ravenous for anything to give me hope again.  It was that day when I decided — You know, I should probably surrender.  So I did.

As anticlimatic as my “life turnover” was, much more dramatic events had led me to that point.

As a toddler, around 3 years old, I first opened my heart to the Lord, kneeling bedside with my parents one night.  Then as a young girl, I sought to know Him but was led astray by the world.  I told myself over and over again that God was for my 20’s, when I was done living on my terms and ready for a family.  For me, youth meant “Fun!” and following an invisible Man was anything but.  Let’s just say I don’t recommend this road!

It was in 2001, as a freshman in college, that my life changed forever.  I turned to Him finally, not out of humility but out of desperation.  Learning about Jesus from a young age (thanks to my incredible parents and teachers!), I knew where to turn in my darkest hour.  I knew He was the answer to putting me back together, and He proved to be the only thing that made me feel whole again after my life was torn apart.

Although today is unofficially my spiritual b-day, it marks the day I gave myself fully to Him, when I took the plunge and realized how life with Him should be — in His hands, not my own, because this world had made a wreck of it.

So happy birthday to me! 🙂 His kindnesses to me are manifold, more than I could express.  All day long He’s lavished incredible surprises on me that are far more than I could’ve expected or asked for.  Mind-blowing!  Yet today’s most amazing gift has been His nearness, which has been tangible.  He’s whispered things to my heart that’ve rocked my world and sent person after person to give me incredible words of encouragement.  I can’t even begin to describe it.

In my excitement, with my heart on fire, I wrote a poem. I think God was giving me the words… interlaced with my own thoughts and understanding of how He works in our lives.

I hope it blesses you!  And I hope it gives you a glimpse of God’s heart for us, that He doesn’t take us through hardship for no purpose.

xoxox Summer

I’m here to clean
To make anew
To wash those feet
of their worldly dew
For you still have traces of the world on you

Hard times come
like a vinegar wash
To purify you
so all’s not lost

But joy arrives
when you see with My eyes
And as My work I finish
you’ll see pain diminish

I created you
with the end in mind
Now life’s your journey
to seek and find!

Discovery’s the game
My Son, the aim
Til the shadow you cast
is but in your past!

Taste and see
that I, your Lord, am good!
When you come before Me
I’ll stand where you should

If you simply endure,
Obey and rejoice
I’ll give you a new name
I’ll lend you My voice

Forever I promise
I’ll make you shine
Til you radiate light
Til they know you’re Mine

So beloved one
though it’s not always fun
I must clean and renew
Til there’s no trace of the world left on you