Forgiveness, Peace and Overwhelming Joy.....

It's funny sometimes.  God does something in our lives and then tells us to hold on to it.  I guess He is telling me that now is the time to share...  :)

Last year, our spring proffered up a kaleidoscope of color!  It was the most stunning, most cataclysmic display I have EVER been witness too.  "Amazing" just doesn't cut it. I've longed for that this year.  With lack of rain, our Hill Country has suffered greatly.  Along with photographers :(  Sometime again soon I hope, VERY soon is my prayer.

I was out shooting one crisp, fresh, cool afternoon (these are a dime a dozen out here!) while waiting for my daughter's meeting to finish before I picked her up from school.  I was blessed to have another "photog walk with God".  I love those.  I miss them.  I need to go again.

I had been struggling with some serious, heart-wrenching, life-breaking, tear-weeping issues for the last year and didn't know how I was going to pull through.  I had lost my best friend.  Not through literal death mind you, but through the lies and pain the enemy plots to inflict upon those that love the Lord.  We were intertwined she and I.  Inseparable.  Sisters.  Even our families had seemed to morph into one.  What a joy it was to be together!  All the time.  I know now that God used this to prepare both of us, well.... all of us for what was to come.  Different paths.  Different directions.  But the pain, the horrible, gut-wrenching, bawl-your-eyes-out, devastating pain... was almost too much to bear.

That day, on the side of the road, God loved me.  He showed me His glory.  He wrapped His arms around me and LITERALLY with a whirlwind of His breath, took all the pain.  The hurt, the unforgiveness... gone.  Poof... just like that!!!  I mean it!  As His breath (through a funnel of wind) twirled around me, I felt it all throughout my body!  The adrenaline rushed through my veins, my heart started to pound, my ears started to tingle and goose bumps broke out all over my arms and legs.  It was GONE!  The heaviness, the excruciating weight of it all.... gone.  My heart cried out and He answered.  He even let me capture it on film so I would forever be reminded that He is in control.  He heals, He orchestrates, He loves, and I can do all things through Him that gives me strength!  Praise be His Name FOREVER!