It\u2019s morning. Daylight is a soft promise pressing between the drapes. I push the covers back and head for the kitchen. Time to get the coffee going.<\/p>\n
Time for my time with the Lord.<\/p>\n
The perk of my morning fuel is gentle and slow. But I\u2019m patient, and before long I fill my cup. The house is silent. Still. The frantic of the day is unborn.<\/p>\n
I move back to the bedroom for my Bible, and it\u2019s then that I catch a glimpse of morning-me in the mirror in the hall.<\/p>\n
Here I am. Disheveled. I\u2019m wearing my favorite frayed robe (the one with the deep pockets that hold everything from scissors to Band-Aids to a Spider Man action figure\u2026magic pockets, the boys say).<\/p>\n
My eyes are swollen. It\u2019s easy to tell that Isaiah had a tummy ache, and I was up half the night. I look at my hair. It\u2019s wild mess of tangles and tufts. My only makeup is a shadow of mascara from yesterday. No foundation to cover freckles or smooth out whisper lines of age.<\/p>\n
I am clearly a mess. Not at my best. Definitely not looking like a princess daughter about to present herself to the Father King.<\/p>\n
But as I stand in there in the hall, I understand that this is okay. In fact, it\u2019s dear because it\u2019s the way God receives us. He welcomes us in our imperfection. He opens His arms to our mess. He invites us to come to Him as we are. Weary and worn. Tattered in our humanness.<\/p>\n
Our gracious God loves us and beckons us in our natural state. He doesn\u2019t wait for us to be fixed up. It\u2019s not His desire for us to look good enough. He doesn\u2019t wait to commune with us until we are cleaned up. Dressed up. Pinned and painted and pressed looking the worthy of the part.<\/p>\n
He takes me as I am.<\/p>\n
This is the powerful and precious truth of His grace.<\/p>\n
I know I need to get moving. These morning moments are numbered. I\u2019m anxious to listen to the Lord as He speaks into my life through His sharper-than- a-sword, living Word.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m needing the blessing of sharing my heart, too. To speak my praises and pleas. To hear and be heard. To be stirred by His presence and the intimacy of our love.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no time to be standing, smiling in the mirror.<\/p>\n
But the gladness of grace fills me as I continue down the hall.<\/p>\n
Thank you, Lord, for your plan of salvation through your son Jesus Christ. Thank you that you take us as we are\u2013messy and stained with sin.<\/em><\/p>\n Then you color us clean with grace!<\/em><\/p>\n Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s morning. Daylight is a soft promise pressing between the drapes. I push the covers back and head for the kitchen. Time to get the coffee going. Time for my time with the Lord. The perk of my morning fuel is gentle and slow. But I\u2019m patient, and before long I fill my cup. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":31084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[248,14,72],"ppma_author":[491],"class_list":["post-24895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayers-for-stronger-faith","tag-scripture","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-stories-of-faith"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n