simply be

This past weekend I went on a trip to one of my favorite places with one of my favorite people. Since I was a little girl I have been going to Hendersonville, NC and now my mother has a cottage in a charming little community there. My cousin Sarah and I planned this weekend as a spiritual retreat just the two of us...wow...what a divine appointment.

I realized just how divine an appointment when I called home to let Jer know I had made it safely and he tells me that Zoe (my 2 1/2 year old) was sick and throwing up (I had been sick several days earlier). I knew at that moment that the Lord wanted me just where I was because had Zoe gotten sick the day before I totally would have cancelled the trip to be home with her. It got worse: Jeremy ended up sick and Zoe ended up in the hospital needing iv fluids. All the while leaving me with this knowing that I was right where I was supposed to be and there was nothing I could do otherwise.

Long story short, the 48 hours I spent with my cousin were filled with sweet words of encouragement, inspiration, instruction and excitement. Sarah Ott is not only my cousin but my sweet sister and kindred in our Lord. There is such ease in being with someone who speaks your language, someone with whom no explanation is necessary. Such a sweetness and restfulness of no expectations and yet a mutual expectation from the One who can fulfill every dream and thought of the heart.

We met with HIM and HIS words are still coming to me in reflection. Perhaps the most crucial truth I took away with me is this: it is not "how" but "why." not "how" but "who." In Christianity it is so easy to get caught up in the "how" of things, the formulas to being this way or that or becoming more Christlike. In the midst of all of those well-meaning activities do we miss the point or should I say Person?

As Sarah and I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway I had a vision. As clear as day I just saw me, arms outstretched reaching towards sunlight, just me. Maggie. Stripped of all the "hows" all the "doing"; just me, desiring Him. I was truly happy in the simplicity of His call to me. "LOVE ME, KNOW ME, MAKE ME KNOWN." No formula. No mile long to-do list. Simple. The who. Jesus. A person. A reality.

Thank you Lord for this weekend. You are forever faithful to simplify my life and to radically shake things up at the same time.