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.

In the break of morning, as sunlight falls gently on flowers not yet opened, know that I fall softly, too. I am the light that covers all the land. Some flowers stretch their stems high to be covered by the light. Some are tangled in weeds that block the light from reaching their faces. And darkness is what covers.

But light filters through all darkness, child.

I am the Vine of Life. I bear fruit—the fruit of my Father. My Spirit dwells in you that you may bear my fruit, too. To bear fruit, you trust the pruning and grafting of branches by the Gardener. 

To bear fruit you must trust—trust that good will come, that you are cared for, my darling.

You are so beautifully cared for.

I lead, you follow.

There is a time for leading—following Me. And there is a time for listening, trusting my voice in you and waiting on it

Know that I speak.

Darkness, my child, is only temporary. The light inside you illuminates the darkness. You carry the lamp. I keep it lit. You bear within you the flame my breath of life ignites. It is the light that guides your feet, that marks your path, that casts away shadows. You, my darling, are a light bearer—a truth teller. You mark the way of truth with the path you walk, in light.

Walk in my light, child.

I am the beginning, my love. I am your beginning. There is nowhere else you need to look. There is nothing else you need to chase down. I speak to your heart—in whispers, in moments. This moment now, my dear.

This moment now.

My daughter, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Whoever knows Me will not perish but have eternal life. I am the gatherer, the one who comes and brings hope and keeps you close to Me. You may move away from Me, but I still remain.

Let nothing separate us.

I rescue you from mediocrity, from hesitation, from doubt and stunted curiosity. Imagine Me, looking at you, before you, clearing the way to rescue, so that you can rescue.

I rescue you so that, with Me, you can rescue.

I stand with you, daughter. You are not out there on your own. Pause and see Me. Look for Me. Heed Me. Desire Me. I care less about what you do than about your seeing and heeding Me.

Holy daughter, stand and claim your place, the one I’ve saved just for you. You are the rescued one, the redeemed and beautiful one. 

Oh, how I delight in you.

Daughter, I pour my light into you. I guide you and do not leave you. I have good plans for your life. I love when you step toward Me to realize them. 

My daughter, I see you. So beautiful. 

Daughter, you are so beautiful. 

I know you feel distracted by many things, but I call you to something greater. It is greater not because of the size of it or because it will give you security or fame. 

Let Me create something new within you today. I plant seeds of hope within you, and I promise to bring you joy. 

Do you believe I can and I will? Truly, do you believe?

Do you now ask what it will require, this planting? 

Do you wonder what you have to give to receive gifts of hope?

The beginning is such a good place to be, my darling. There is much in store. But there is acknowledgment of what came before the beginning to mark this moment as a beginning. And in that place I was there, too. But let’s start where beginning is—the union of Me and you, the awakening of your heart, bit by bit, to Me.