it's good to see you again.

I know it's been awhile. It's been a good while. The last two weeks of August and the first of September were really dear to me, and so I tried to not let anything steal moments from them. My husband started graduate school on Tuesday, and for the next 2 years life is going to be a lot more crazy. These last few moments of uninterrupted evenings and study free weekends were encased with my jealousy. Blogging fell to the wayside.

We went to Denver over labor day to visit some of the people we love. I will of course have many posts to share of our adventures. It was a sweet time - investing in the people I love. Covenant friends. It always rips open the heart and the aching for eternity arises from within. To live life running aside these people would deepen our joy, but in our absence and lonely run - and in the will of God - the worth of His beauty is declared.

We saw the mountains, we laughed with our friends, and we dazzled at the city. It was refreshing to be somewhere new.

After arriving home I got a whole new zeal for life, for love, for His kingdom. Sometimes all you need is a new place or an old face, one that reminds you of times past and seasons before, where Your heart was burning. It was the kindness of God to remember: remember prophetic promises, remember loves (even those that have grown cold or fallen away), remember what we are running for, Who we are running toward.

And it's not that I forgot the Lord. It's more I'd forgotten the whole story - the one He's been weaving since I felt His shining face as a young girl. And just because we are swimming in the mundane - doesn't mean it's not being written as I type. Even in my small apartment in disarray, even in the midst of a slumbering boy and bank accounts and homework assignments and utility bills. Even in the midst of walls to be decorated and vegetables to be cooked. Even in the midst, we are fighting the war and exhilarated by His goodness.

I thought it was time to simplify. Life can get complicated and entangled with a mess of things that aren't helping you propel forward. They aren't evil. They are just unnecessary. We run the race like an athlete going for the prize.

And so this is what I did: SIMPLIFY. Is it really necessary to update my life to others through 5 different medians? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Blogging. No, this is a complete waste of my minutes that lead to hours - precious hours that are calling for my attention and my heart. Therefore, I am streamlining and doing everything through this blog. Facebook and twitter will link to my Blog. Instagram has been pruned down to the dearest of friends - ones whose images I am eager to see and stories I feel are wrapped up in my own.

I know this seems silly. Practicalities are always so silly. But practicalities are the fuel behind a burning, furnace of a passion before God. If my practicalities aren't in order, I'm not in order.

Therefore apps were deleted - and I set out to use my useful apps (bible, ihop-kc, revelation, etc.).

At my sister-in-law's baby shower mother's were giving wisdom and one said, "Nap times aren't cleaning times." This set me free. I love a clean home. I love folded and put in place laundry. I love done dishes and organized cabinets. More than that, I love a burning heart - alive and resounding, "I delight in Your decrees; I do not neglect Your Word!"

Let's get these things in order.

And people. I invest time in reading the lives of random people - when there is so much to be done in investing in those the Lord has given me. Let's get this in order.

And so I feel him reminding me how to live. He's a good Father and a perfect leader. I am a weak sheep, but at the end of the day, I know His voice.

and His voice is reminding me how to live.