As I sit here and write, my lack of taste is evident. I have been dreaming about a pazooki since my husband brought home vanilla ice cream midweek but my lack of taste makes it all irrelevant. What is a gooey, half baked chocolate chip cookie, topped with melting ice cream, when you cannot taste it? Colds are the current state of our home. We started the week prior with the stomach flu and moved on to colds this past week but God has been so merciful throughout it all. We have been resting and resting and waiting for our health to return, which is just what God has been teaching each new day.

Taste is a vast part of life. It is an experience that weaves itself in to memories. A warm cherry pie may take you back to childhood and the kitchen of your grandmother or a summer picnic. Taste may drive you to fill your full tummy with yet another sweet delight or an extra scoop of mashed potatoes. Foods are longed for because of their saltiness or sweetness. But when taste buds are out of sorts, the same desired food means nothing despite its appealing lure.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8

Have you tasted God's goodness? Truly savored the forgiving grace of God? The insurmountable blessings all around you? The joy. The peace. The love. The patience. The kindness. The faithfulness. The gentleness. The self control. Have you undeniably experienced God?

When you experience the goodness of God, you are not the same. Tasting God is more than an alter call or hand raise or prayer. It is a change of heart and true forgiveness to those who have wronged you. It is an act of faith and quieting of yourself. It is learning to trust. It is waiting and resting and restoration. It involves sacrifice. It touches every part of your body, healing as it moves.

For some, God reveals himself in dramatic ways and meets you with blinding bright lights and for others it is a one on one encounter. From there, you are left with an experience you cannot deny but may not know what to do with. And you go about your day as usual.

To begin to acknowledge the goodness of God is similar to healing from a cold. It does not happen overnight. It takes time. It requires waiting. Resting is essential and listening to the advice of those who have ears that hear.

Praying that your senses would be opened to experiencing God and that the goodness would overflow to others, as well. Praying that you would quiet your heart and schedule to truly bask in the presence of God because busy and overcommitted ears are hardly open to hear.

Praying that if you have made a commitment to follow Christ that it would be more than a decision but an ongoing relationship, ever growing.

Here's to tasting and seeing. 

An amazing friend recently moved to another state and purchased a home. The first home her family has owned. She had been there just a few short days and I asked for some pictures of the place. I know what you are thinking but I had only seen pictures of the backyard and I cannot help it if I am a visual person. She responded saying it was a total zone but she would try to send some decent ones. I responded that it was just proof of her progress.

After sending the message, God whispered, yes enjoy the process of your life. Enjoy the messy and what I am making out of it. 

I have found myself liking the final outcome of projects more so than the process. Making something is fun but when it is finished it is even better. Life tends to be like that, too. I don't know anyone who likes to share their mess. Who likes to share the disaster that is in their living room or hiding in their closets or their hearts. No one wants to share those parts. But in reality, that is the beauty. It is proof of where you came from. Proof of where God has intervened on your behalf and extended grace and love and mercy. Your mess is God's masterpiece. He puts it back together in a way only he can do so. The sharing of your mess allows others to see how God has changed and transformed and made you in to who he has made you to be.

Scripture says that if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is the process. This is the change. This is unpacking the boxes and rearranging and moving your life.  Unfortunately, there is not a switch that is turned and all of your bad habits and selfishness and pride are washed away when you believe in Jesus but there is a new life. A new life in Jesus. A new life for God to show you his path. You have to choose to see the beauty. You have to chose to share the story. Choose to open the past and let grace flow in to the present. Choose to be transparent and ready for God to shine through you. 

Here's to more beauty in the messy and seeing God move in the process. Here's to more glimpses of his glory in your life and less shame in your journey.

Our pastor gave a sermon a while back explaining how our journey IS the destination. He was referring to our lives being the destination as opposed to focusing on heaven being our final destination. The lives we are living now are important.

While brushing my toddler's teeth, trying ever so hard to get some brushing on the teeth themselves, as she wiggled and moved and grabbed at the tooth brush, God whispered this to me again as I wished she would just sit still for surely that would make the task easier and we clearly do not want cavities. The journey is the destination. It is the tooth brush dance that matters as opposed to getting her to bed. If I get angry here, no one wins and cavities just might pop up to taunt me.

It's in the way we are getting ready as we head out the door. It's in the way we respond when we are trying to get things done  There is joy and beauty in the chaos of these little moments when you are trying to grab keys and snacks and buckle car seats. It is up to you have to find it and choose joy. God is always faithful to give it.

It is all about perspective, too. When she runs away from me when I grab her jacket, she might just need some extra tickles to get it on. And when she gets up for the 134th time to use the bathroom at bedtime she might just need to know I am there and there are no monsters approaching her door.

It's the way I am reacting to these things that she is learning. She is surrounded by my reactions and short comings as I wrangle her to get her teeth brushed or shoes put on or ask her to listen in the grocery store. These are the journeys of everyday life that are building her character and molding her in to the person she will become.

Most days are good but I'm still learning patience. Thankfully, she learns my good habits, too. And thankfully God gives me grace.