You are made to remember Me . . . and forget Me, too. I gave you a mind to think and be influenced by many things. You hear this and feel that. What you read and see and hear—the experiences you have in this world—all shape you, influence how you view the world and how you choose to live in it. 

My daughter, you return with what you have. You lay yourself down, all of you, emptied. Because here, girl, in that posture, I make you clean. 

You return to be cleansed, to be renewed. A return makes the choice to come back to a place where you were before. But to return to Me—you are not going back to the same place because I have made you new. I have turned you around. I have touched your face with my hand, my other hand on your heart. 

And girl, you are not who you were before.

Daughter, I know. I know. It is not I who whispers, “You are alone.” It is not I who whispers, “No one sees you, cares about you, loves you.” Daughter, I do not delight to see you in pain, to see you suffering. Your heart cries out, in its weariness, in its grief, and oh, child, I pick it up. 

I lift you up, child.

I am here, even when you are tired. I am here, even when you think I’m not. I am here, not dependent upon your mood or your efforts. I am separate from circumstances, but in the middle of all moments, too.

Look for Me.

Expect Me.

Desire Me.

My daughter, hear the song in your heart for Me. Hear the song of longing, of beauty, of self-forgetfulness, for the sake of joy. 

Surrender and receive more joy.

What is it you need to surrender? What is it you need to believe more deeply about Me? What is it, child?

Oh, come be rescued.

Oh, come hear the thunder in the distance, the rolling of the beat, my own heart speaking your name.

Wait in the space where I am. Wait in expectation, listening with your mind clear, alert, open to all possibilities. Wait on Me.

My voice is in you. You hear the whisper of Me in the light, when fear is surrendered and I am your strength.

You hear Me in stillness—but stillness amidst clamor, too. But I quiet clamor within you. I still the storm and whisper, “I am here, my love. Keep your eyes on Me.”

Take that deep breath now. Slowly now. 

Daughter, you hear Me say it true: I begin a new thing in you. 

The past is behind you. I was there with you. I can show you where I was. 

Looking back is not bad, but staying there is not my plan. Let Me place my hand on the places of pain, where you feel alone, where you cry out for rescue.

My love, you know how I love to tell you, “breathe deep”? You know how I love to quiet you, remind you I am here?

What does it look like? What does it look like to have peace in your heart?

Picture open space and beauty and the sounds of life. There may be a breeze blowing. You may feel it on your skin. Or you see the space within you.

It is open space within you where I enter in.

Do you care more about what others think than about following Me? Do not try to please the world, my love. It does not bring you joy. Being present, with Me, brings you joy.

Do not judge success. What is success? Who is qualified to measure it?

You look for Me, daughter. But you don’t need to look far.

Oh, trust Me. Trust Me: when I say I am with you, nothing can separate you from my love. This is true.

Come deeper.

My daughter, when I came to dwell with you, it was before you ever knew. But I have known you and sought you out and loved being with you.

Do you know I love to sit with you? Do you know I love to study your face? This face I touched and touch, now, even still?

My darling, I am here. I am the whisper in your heart that says stay, that says run.

Stay with Me. . . . Run for more of Me.

Sometimes I just await your desire to be with Me, for that desire within you for more of Me, to awaken.

Awaken, child.

My daughter, do not run away. Do not run from my presence. Here, here, my love, is where your safety is. Here, here, my love, is where your fast beating heart will slow. Here, here, my love, is where you are captured, fully captured by my love and free, all at once.

My love, turn your face to mine. I take my hands underneath your chin and raise your eyes to meet mine.

Look.

In the distance, I am coming. From afar, I walk towards you, my eyes always on you. I bend my ear close to you, your breath sweet on my cheek. You delight Me, my darling.

Want to run away together, just you and Me?

You are loved.

You tell Me, “I love you.”

And I love you back.

You love from my first love, and I fold you in. Your first love is what excites you about beginning your day, what brings reassurance to your heart, what brings a measured step and exhilaration, too.

My love, do you hear that music, the one where we dance and your steps are light and you swing? 

You mother in the quiet places and in the moments when it is loud and it feels impossible to hear. You mother in the choices, the choices to love beyond yourself, the sacrifice that comes with friendship, the nurturing of an arm across a shoulder, the carrying of beauty within you, the permission for Me to care for you, to pour love into your heart so that the ripple of my love continues.

My darling, I know the road feels long, that the pace seems fast, that the future feels so uncertain. 

My darling, let’s just start here: I see you. I know you. Can we just pause . . . for just a moment?

There is a rhythm to our days together—a rhythm within you that I ask you to not ignore. I am looking at you. Right here.

I am for you. I am with you. I go before, knowing what is ahead. I stand behind, my hand on your shoulder, so close you can smell my presence. Yes, there is a fragrance of my Spirit. This is where I invite you to live—your truest self, stripped of all insecurities, all what-ifs, all doubts and fears and pain.

My darling, I am in places of fear. I go there to chase it away, trample it with my foot. Heading into new territory with Me is a beginning to trust Me more deeply. It is a forgetfulness of self, a reliance on Me, a looking to Me for strength.

Fear can’t stay when your eyes are on Me, when you seek Me. It must flee because you are willing to go where I go.

I am beauty—in all its dimensions, in all ways beauty is characterized. I am the foundation. 

Beauty is distorted when my heart is not heeded, when my heart in my children is silenced. I hold my hand below the heavens. It sweeps color like a brush—folding within the creation itself.