sacred september

a word first on the MHG: 

I'm so encouraged that ya'll seemed to love the monthly home goodness (MHG) so much! I'm already praying and designing for October and super thrilled about how the Lord is going to use these images in our homes. If you haven't downloaded the monthly calendar, weekly planner, and free print - do it! This is the last month they'll be free! And for those that asked if I'll offer a subscription, this answer is SORT OF. I think I'm going to start my own ghetto-yet-efficient-subscription service where I paypal invoice people each month before they get the download info. But standard subscription services are too expensive and I don't want to charge more just to use them. NOW, onto the good stuff. 

I just wanted to tell ya'll my heart behind the sacred september theme. 

Have you ever been in a fight and just felt plain, old, worn out towards the end? Maybe you're even scared to say you're nearing the end? A hard season, a hard relationship, a hard year? You believe that you believe that the Lord will bring the sun out soon, but it's just so dark and giving up feels so nearby? Or maybe you've just forgot you're even in a fight and you wonder if there is anything worth fighting for? 

I've felt both of those so intensely lately. I'm nearing what I believe to be the end of a hard season. It's been a long, hot summer and the air is getting cooler, but it's hard to believe the Wind will ever blow afresh. And some days, I'm just too tired and overcome with life to think about the seasons. To care. Because the days just keep coming and the laundry keeps piling up and woosh, maybe I think too much anyhow. 

And I found myself looking up the Lord, wordlessly. Where did He fit into this life? What was He doing? What did He want me to do? And I feel like He answered me back with first peter two nine. 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 

Read that a few times if you need to. 

You - in the fight of your life. In the fight for your marriage. For your faith. For your child. For your joy. For your future. You - in the mundane. Surrounded by projects and meaningless work and laundry and dirty dishes. You - coasting, scared of the intensity that would come with intentionality, but tired of the the hopelessness that a normal life has to offer. 

This verse is for you. 

If you know Him, if you're seeking Him, if you're one of His! 

You are a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 

The good news is aplenty: He is the marvelous one doing all the work, so we can stop striving. We can recount the amazing things He's done for us, the calling us out of darkness, the glory of the marvelous light that we walk in. And we're His. A chosen race, a royal priesthood. Amen & Amen. 

How can I live as if these days are sacred? Set aside for His glory, just like I am? 

How can you? 

I'm reading this passage daily, maybe multiple times daily, and praying for you as much as I'm praying for me. 

love you ladies.