Photo 365 12.31.10

Last photo of 2010. Sare at Walmart vascillating over a decision with her $10 gift card.

50 Year End Questions:

What are your resolutions for the next year?
We've already covered this topic... although I do see some additions needed. You can find them here.

What happened in your life that you never expected to happen?
We moved to San Antonio. (deep in the heart of Texas) And no, the Alamo doesn't have a basement. We checked.

What is one thing you did that you have never done before?
Painted our house.

What were your biggest achievements?
The first five courses of Berean. In fact, I just tested out on the fifth one this evening.

What were your biggest challenges?
Leaving Baytown. Living apart for 7 weeks. Squeezing into a 2 bedroom condo. 5 courses in Berean. Returning to the workforce. Re-establishing my photography business. (wow, it's been a challenging year)

What is your biggest regret?
Not valuing people the way God does.

When were you happiest?
Learning new things in my courses. Spending time with my family. Youth group is always awesome.

Who was your best friend?
The same three people really hold me together. I miss talking to Lori all the time, work has interfered a lot with that. Rob and I have had a lot of incredible conversations this year, with school and job transitions.

Who surprised you this year? In what way?
My family, with my convertible. I will always be grateful.

Who did you admire most this year?
I feel a little out of mentor this year. I feel like, with the whole Berean and not knowing where God is leading me with photography and ministry, like I'm paving my own course right now. And that's a little wierd and a lot scary. But then I remember that God is leading me down that road.

Who were you in love with?
Always Rob. He holds my heart and my hand and my attention. I am so thankful for him in my life.

What was the most important lesson you learned?
That the Holy Spirit can and will empower me to do anything God calls me to do.

What was your favorite TV show?
the Office, because I will never outgrow it. We also enjoy Community, and most recently have added Chase to our short list of awesome tv shows.

What was your favorite film?
Voyage of the Dawn Treader was pretty epic. So much poetic scripture played out in the film. Took my breath away.

What was your favorite book?
Unlikely Disciple was pretty good, but can't remember if I even read that this year. I also really enjoyed Crazy Love even though the audio version is pretty dry. And another dry but life changing book is 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. loved it. Wow, I just listed all non-fiction books. God has grown me!!

What was your favorite food?
We had a wedding dinner at Maggiano's at the Rim. Oh my goodness, four courses of wonder. I dream about that meal.

What was your favorite song?
This is my official top-down song with the kids. We just love this whole album!!

What were your favorite phrases?
might could. It just works.

What did you do for your Birthday?
not good. Moved into our new place. sick. prefer to forget it. perhaps I'm still only 30?

Which was your favorite holiday?
Christmas was awesome. Very low key, lots of chill time. I loved it.

What was the best gift you gave?
new tv for the bedroom to my sweet husband.

What was the best gift you received?
permission to buy an iPad. oh my, I love it so.

What did someone say to you that surprised you?
can't think of anything off hand.

What was your hobby?
hobbies indicate free time. I still like to scrapbook, but it's few and far between. I love photography and remain pretty committed to that. I'm pretty addicted to Facebook. And my personal quiet time. And this year I've enjoyed taking drives with the top down when the weather's nice, that's pretty fun.

What new discoveries did you make?
the iPad in all it's glory. LOVE it.

What was your guilty pleasure for the year?
pretzel bites from Pretzelmaker. They are amazing.

What did you do on an average day?
work out, shower, bible study, Berean classes, photo shoots, reception at church, pick up/drop off kids at school, remind them to brush their teeth, pay bills, plan meals, texted and of course, FB.

What was your fashion like?
skinny jeans. lots of scarves. Toms. flashier earrings. Big sunglasses (never leave home without them) heels. tons of big flowers on my left shoulder.

What was your career/job like?
photography is making a reappearance and I love that. 3 days a week receptionist/secretary at church, also loving that. Lots of bulletin making/ monthly calendar producing, scheming with Rob on youth events.

Did you make more/less/same amount than the previous year?
not sure. we'll see what year end numbers say.

What new skills did you learn this year?
managing my HUGE Nikon. Publisher (a lot better than before). Honed my study skills.

What do you think was your most valuable contribution?
lots of hard work. and some great photos. :)

What lesson(s) did you learn about yourself?
God's grace is enough for me. His Holy Spirit enables. I can depend on Him to show up, and He will.

What were the most significant events of the past year?
relocating to San Antonio. Selling our house. Grandma Ann passing. Becoming a two car family.

What were you afraid of?
failure.

What was your most memorable journey?
driving from Bemidji, MN to San Antonio, TX.

Which did you do more of? Smile or cry?
cry? nah, more smiling, but definitely did some crying this year.

Did you make any new friends?
oodles. We've fit in really fast at ct and I praise God for it.

Did you lose any old friends?
That stinking defriend button on FB annoys me! I refuse to use it!

Did you have any births/deaths in your family?
Yes, my grandma passed. And my dear friend Kim welcomed a baby girl. Can't wait to meet her!!

Did you fall in love/out of love?
more in love with Jesus.

What is your newest tech item?
my d300.

What was your most extravagant purchase?
iPad. Man, it made a lot of questions this year.

What should you have done more of?
prayer. I need to remember to pray without ceasing! It's much more productive than worrying!

What should you have done less of?
moping.

What made the biggest difference in your life?
the infilling of the Holy Spirit. life changing.

What gave you joy?
my sweet family. photography. worship. quiet times with my savior. receiving my prayer language. completing classes. driving my car with the wind in my hair.

What made you sad?
lost and hurting people.

What is your motto for the year?
Jesus saved me, He's saving me, and He will save me.

Photo 365 12.30.10

So I tried a long exposure today... It was pretty fun but didn't quite turn out like I'd hoped. Oh well, didn't have time to pursue anything different. This is me in my kitchen, starting dinner. I was hoping it would look like Superwoman, moving too fast for the shutter. :) I was on the phone while I was doing this, and truly making dinner. Nothing like a little multi-tasking.

Reflection

Well, I suppose you can tell from my multiple postings this week that I've had a bit more time on my hands than usual. And I've been loving it. Tomorrow I'm hoping to slip back into get-er-done mode to accomplish some projects, but it has been great being restful (not lazy, I've still kept up with the house-ish) for a change. I've watched some tv this week, got a lot of schoolwork done, taken some photos, cooked 3 meals and it's only Wednesday!! It's been really nice to live like normal people for a little bit. :)

But I'm thinking it's time for my big year wrap-up post. I've spent the last couple days mentally wrapping up 2010 and preparing to unpack 2011. I guess I'm a sentimental person, I treasure memories (and photos, obviously) and I like to mentally go back over things. 2010 had it's ups and downs, but overall it's been one of the best years of my life. Even typing that kind of surprises me, for a lot of reasons, but being 31 is right up there at the top of that list. :)

But really, we had some major challenges this year. We had walk through the Hayes retirement. Oh, that was a hard season. We love the Hayes and so enjoyed our season working with them. We bore the burden of knowing that for months before it happened, and I am grateful for that knowledge, we had a full season to pray and mull it over and seek God's will for our lives. We had every intention of staying at Trinity until God very clearly showed us He had other plans. So then there was that difficult season, having to announce and carry through actually leaving a place where our hearts were sown so deep. We loved our 3 years at Trinity and will always look back with fond memories and a deep appreciation for the people. I cried so hard over that decision. Our last Sunday was one of my most difficult Sundays thus far as a pastor's wife. And if those two difficult seasons weren't hard enough, the toughest one was around the corner. Rob and I living in seperate cities for 7 weeks. That was about enough to push me over the edge. Although, looking back, I can see where I wasn't exactly 'emotionally fit' for that transition because of the stress leading up to it.

But God is God. And He had me exactly where He wanted me. I was so desperate in that hour of need. I felt like my marriage was falling apart, being outside of ministry, my purpose was muddy, not having a church family to lean in to, or an immediate family to cry to... All of those things led to the perfect storm of dependence on God. In my darkest hours I cried to Him, and after fourteen years of seeking, He filled me with His Holy Spirit in a moment. My life has been set on fire ever since.

[Just to back step a moment, I felt like my marriage was falling apart, it wasn't. The thing about feelings is that they often lie to you, and satan will use this to his advantage. God's promises hadn't changed. Rob hadn't stopped loving me. I just felt like I was purposeless, useless. I know better.]

I'd like to tell you that everything was hunky dory from that moment of infilling. It wasn't. But the difference was that I now had the power to handle it. There is a definite difference in a spirit-filled life, I know because I spent the first 30 years of my life without it.

So we sold our house this year. That was another difficult transition, moving into a small condo while we got our feet wet here in San Antonio. But event that was miraculous in such a terrible housing market. In fact, being asked to come to ct|church was an incredible experience in itself. We had never been persued to the extent that we were here. We have been so accepted and loved and allowed to really jump right into an incredible youth ministry here. What a blessing!!

This summer we went to camp with our new students (less new to Rob than I after our 7 week commute) and of course it's camp and it's awesome... but then on Thursday night God revealed to me the next step in His plan for my life, and it scared the daylights out of me! So much so that it really took me 24 hours to process it before I spoke to Rob about it. The call into ministry was so strong, and has only become stronger with the passing of time. So we got home from camp and I registered with Global University for Berean courses. These courses have been challenging, enraging, encouraging, overwhelming, and edifying. As much as I've wanted to throw a book across the room, I have loved the challenge and accomplishment of it.

This summer with my grandma passing, it was again a reminder of the frailty of life, and the importance of each soul. It presses me to reach the people within my grasp for Jesus, to let my light shine strong and consider every soul worth my effort. Compelled by His love, her passing prepared my heart (like a meat tenderizing hammer to a steak) to receive the lessons in my Evangelism in the Local Church coursework. And her legacy of leaving her convertible to me was another tangible reminder of God's grace, even in our consitent unworthiness.

The trip to Minnesota was bittersweet. Actually, I don't think I have ever cried so much as I have this past year. But I notice as I become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, I experience emotion much deeper than before.. I spent so much time talking to God about the loss of my grandmother. And the roadtrip home, all 1500 miles, well, it was an exercise in healing. I was so incredibly blessed by time with my mom, and then time with Lori, and then time with my Aunt as I worked my way emotionally and spiritually back to Texas, back to home. I was surprised at the sigh of relief when I crossed the state line, and I realized more solidly than ever before, that my home is where Rob is, and even beyond that, where ever God has called me to serve Him.

Returning to working outside the home this year has been an adjustment, but I've loved it. I love my job, I love serving pastors. Today someone in the office was joking with Pastor Doug and said that he could see why Pastor kept me around, because I respect his authority. And it's true, I love serving our pastoral staff. I acknowledge the call on their life and the sacrifice they've all made to serve God full-time. I love being in the office, answering the phone, praying for needs, participating in brainstorming and planning, and being at Rob's disposal. I feel like we are more the team now in ministry than we have ever been before.

And of course, photography has been a journey this year. I mourned over leaving Baytown for many reasons, but high on my list was leaving my clients. I had cultivated many relationships in two years of professional photography, and it was disheartening to start over. And it was a slow start here in San Antonio. But slowly, God is restoring my business, only at a pace that I can handle with all my other responsibilities. And I am grateful that I still have opportunities to shoot. I was so thrilled and humbled by the purchase of my dream camera body at the end of this year. It felt like quite an accomplishment, especially to have gotten there financially in a way that honored God.

We've grown a lot in the area of financial responsiblity this year, too. And that has been a slow and steady journey for us. I feel like we've reached the tipping point, not out of debt yet, but at least having a definite plan and living well within our means.

So I think you can see where it's been a good year. A year of stretching and growing and learning, which is uncomfortable but for our best interests. A year of big ups and downs, but mostly a year where I can consistently see the hand of God on our life. I'm sad to see it finish, but I'm excited for 2011. I'm probably most excited to finish the first level of credentialing, but pretty thrilled about where ATP is going as well. God is good and I trust Him. In 2011 I plan to put Him first and do the right things consistently. I don't think we can fail with a plan like that.

Photo 365 12.29.10

This photo is a bit celebratory... even though it may not look it. I just finished up the final questions on my Unit 4 exam in "Evangelism in the Local Church" which is my 5th course towards credentialing. Five of nine completed, I'll take my test tomorrow and then have pushed myself over the half way mark towards the first level of card-carrying A/G preacher. I'm amazed at how far God has brought me in just six months. I am also insanely grateful to be finishing a full ten days before my next class begins. I've accomplished my personal goal of 'catching up' with the classes I missed with the district, since they began in May and God called me in June. His grace and strength are my refuge. I could not have made it even half this far without His Holy Spirit empowerment. Feeling very blessed and encouraged right now. Of course, I haven't checked to see what that next course will be...

Beautiful Things

this song has been stuck in my head for the past two days. Now it's in yours. :)

A Social Network Christmas

Rob showed this video at our shift Christmas party. It was very powerful, kind of a what if Jesus was born today kind of thing...

Photo 365 12.28.10

I found this jewel at Family Christian Store a few weeks back. We had one just like it when I was growing up. Thought it would be a great way to sow scripture into the hearts of Eli and Sarah.

Photo 365 12.27.10

trying out my new year's resolutions early... We went to the Alamo today. Took a few photos. Loved this one the most. :)

2011 Resolutions.

It's that time of year...

Thinking about New Year's resolutions. I love that opportunity to start fresh. I need to check back to last years, but I'm feeling like I've made a lot of headway in 2010. It's about time. :)

So this year...

1.) Get a gym membership of my own. I've been mooching off of my friends with gym memberships long enough. Tomorrow I'm setting out to become one of those people with a gym membership. :) Ths resolution includes USING the gym 4 times a week, which I was actually doing really well with until Janet fell and broke her heel. Man, I've missed my gym buddy!

2.) Quiet time before Facebook. Been pretty great about my quiet time this past year, but now I want to work on priorities. So if you don't see me on FB you'll know I haven't done my quiet time for the day yet. I've actually already tried to implement this...

3.) Photo a Day. I tried this last year, but life got pretty hectic pretty fast and I quickly abandoned this when everything started to get crazy with the move and all.

4.) Finishing my first level of Berean and attaining credentials with the Assemblies of God. I'm just over half way down with this process. I need to finish 4 classes and then make my way through the interviews and (gulp) test on the 16 Fundamental Truths.

5.) Build my photography business. Usually I'm not this vague with a goal, and personally it's a bit more specific than that, but for the sake of the public, we'll just leave it at this. Relocating was a hard hit for ATP but we began to pull out in the 4th quarter this year. I'm believing for a strong 2011, with two weddings and a special project on the dockett already. Pretty excited about this.

6.) Paying off our Saturn! We are slowly but surely getting there, and this is our major financial goal this year.

So, that's it for the time being. I've got some other things brewing.. Cause it's me. :) Have you thought about what you'd like for the new you in 2011? And can you believe it's almost here? I thought we'd be flying cars by now. LOL.

Blessed Beyond Measure

We have had a beautiful Christmas. We both worked right up until the last minute. Even Christmas Eve itself was kind of stressful, but by the time service was over, we were ready to really chill and enjoy our family. We love going out of town to be with extended family too, but every other year or so it's really nice to stay home and enjoy our own traditions. This year we did some new things;

1) the Riverwalk. Oh my, that was beautiful. We went down on a night when it was almost 80 degrees! It was lit up fantastically and we got some really neat photos.

2.) Fiesta Texas. No photos this year, but we did really enjoy riding rides as a family, and especially the "Night of Miracles" performance. Incredible.

3.) The Bethlehem experience in Burnet. Wow, this was totally worth the 2+ hour drive up there. We went with several families from church. It felt like we stepped back in time and experienced the world the way it was when Jesus gifted us with His presence.

We also visited the Walkway of a Million Lights on the way home from Burnet. That was amazing too!

4.) Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3D. Not so hot on the 3d, from a photography perspective it really kills sharpness, which is of utmost importance to me. But LOVED the story. We took the youth group, and our own kiddos. What a special night and shared experience. LOVE when our work makes us better parents.

4.) Christmas lunch at IHOP. Yep, you read that right. Sarah had the idea of going out for pancakes on Christmas Day. I was totally cool with this, I love to cook, but I hate that my family is not generally excited about a traditional Christmas meal. This was a perfect alternative. And it was yummy.

And of course, we still did the usual things, like the Children's musical. Eli was a wiseman and Sarah was an angel and it was fantastic, of course.

It wouldn't be Christmas without candlelight service, so that was pretty special too.

And now we have almost the entire week off. No church this evening, we've been compelled to 'spend times with our families' and I am so cool with that! Rob's talking to his dad now, but we are halfway through the new Robin Hood and I'm pretty sucked in. It's so nice to just lay around the house and chill. Last night I watched 3 episodes of House back to back. That never happens in my world. My number one goal this week is to relax. My number two is to finish up 'Evangelism in the Local Church' - I have one unit left. My number three goal is to organize the condo a bit, and number four is to prep our papers and numbers for taxes. If three and four don't get accomplished, I'm not going to get too worked up about it.

We are still hoping to drag the kids out of bed late one night, shove cups of hot cocoa in their hands and run around and look at Christmas lights. (that's on my list) And we may try to head back to Six Flags for a few more rollercoasters. But really, we are planning on just enjoying each other's company this week. And feeling really blessed to have that priviledge.

So Happy to be Home.

even if it means being sick to be here. :) I came down with a sinus thing yesterday, and today it's been lots worse, I'm hoping to get lots of rest tonight and be back on my game tomorrow. I have a family session that I'm EXTREMELY looking forward to, and then shooting the dress rehearsal for the children's musical tomorrow night.

I recently invested (fancy word for ca-ching) in a new-to-me d300 and WOW, I am loving it. I shot Eli's choir singalong today and it performed beautifully! I feel so blessed to have been able to work myself up to this level of camera, both financially and skill-wise. I look back at my growth as a photographer the past 3 years and it's really exciting. But I can also see where I have a long ways to go.

I love..

how when you suddenly realize you feel far from God, that all you have to do is carve out some time for just you and Him. Wow, what a difference maker in your day.

I'm still doing my quiet times, but with this season, they've been rushed. This morning I set aside a full half an hour, and even then it didn't seem like enough. What a tremendous improvement in my outlook.

I am so thankful for a Father in heaven who always has time to sit and chat a while.

(Christmas busy-ness is here, take time to celebrate the true reason for the season, He's waiting.)

amazing quote

just read an amazing quote by John Wesley in my Herm class - which I'm almost through, praise Jesus!!

"I was saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved". John Wesley

pretty profound, very true. I love Jesus so much. :-)

Mid-life Crisis?

so, I was thinking about it this morning. In the last 4 months I've started driving a convertible, going to the gym 4 times a week, and just bought a crazy new high end camera. Am I going through a mid-life crisis? Nah. :) But I am really enjoying life!! The convertible continues to be such a blessing. Every time I get in it I say a little prayer of thanksgiving for it, having two cars has made our life so much easier!! And the gym just makes me feel so much better! I had a great workout this morning, did the treadmill for about 25 minutes, and then made my way around the weight machines for about 25 more minutes, and then topped it off with my crunch routine... cause I'm still looking for that 6-pack somewhere. LOL.

I have been debating a new camera for a long time, and had a buyer for my d40x, which I have had since I first started shooting professionally back in 2008. I found a super deal on Craigslist, and as soon as I go get the right card adapter (the store opens at 9:30am) I'll be playing. I can't wait!! I've looked over the body pretty carefully, familiarized myself with everything on it. I've taken a few demo photos, but haven't really played just yet.

Everything else is pretty good. We are struggling a bit with Eli and his grades. Met with his teacher yesterday, and it's really just a matter or being inconsistent. He needs to learn to be a hard worker, so we'll be hitting that pretty hard in the next few weeks, building his level of responsibility at school and home. Needs to happen anyway, can you believe he'll be TEN in just about 6 weeks? I can't.

Sare's got some struggles of her own. She's in a peer pressure battle right now and I'm really praying for her to rely on the value system she knows, rather than the ones being pushed on her by this other girl in her class. If you think about her, would you pray for her? She's such a sweet kiddo, but she needs to learn that being sneaky is not a quality she wants in her life.

Church is awesome. Youth Convention went really well, we took a ton of people (I honestly can't even remember how many). Now we are gearing up for our Christmas festivities. We've got some teenagers speaking this week, so that will be really interesting to hear their hearts. And next week is Rob's Christmas message. The week after that we are seeing Narnia as a group, and also our White Elephant exchange.

We are really looking forward to Christmas at home this year. I love to travel and see family, but some years it's really nice for it to just be us 4. We've got a lot of plans for things to see and do, starting with a trip to ancient Bethlehem at the end of this week. :)

Ok, back to work. I, of course, have a huge list today... grocery store, quiet time, editing, scrubbing the kitchen/living room floor, and CAMERA STORE, obviously. Hope you have an awesome Tuesday!

Saturday's Devotional

(our senior pastor's wife, Janet, fell and broke her heel while we were decorating the church about ten days ago. she asked me to share tomorrow morning at the women's section Christmas breakfast. Let me know what you think!)

God’s Great Gift: Progressive Revelation

Janet, my friend, my mentor, and senior pastor’s wife, asked me to share this morning in her stead. When I asked if she had something in mind, she encouraged me to share whatever God puts on my heart.

I’m currently taking my fourth Berean Bible class. That being said, God’s pressing a lot on my heart these days. J Seriously, if you ever want to really grow in your relationship with Jesus, take a few Bible courses, it will blow your mind!

Last week I was reading about Progressive Revelation in my Hermeneutics class. The more I got to thinking about it, the more in awe of God I became. So much so that I had to stop reading and just worship Him for a few moments. I quickly came to the realization that Progressive Revelation is one of God’s most awesome gifts to humankind. My textbook defines Progressive Revelation as God revealing truths over a long period of time, according to humanity’s requirements, and at a pace slow enough that people were capable of understanding them.

So basically, Progressive Revelation is God’s divine plan to not overwhelm us with His presence, rather to reveal Himself to the human race in bite sized portions that His people can understand. Such a gracious God we serve! In His infinite wisdom He knew that confronting us full-on with His glory and majesty and righteousness would be heart-attack inducing. So instead, He formed a plan from the beginning of the Old Testament to slowly reveal Himself; His love and His perfect plan in a way that we could grasp.

1 Corinthians 13:12 frames it perfectly “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Think about it. Old Testament believers had the law, and other than brief encounters with a few select people, that was their understanding of God. He performed some incredible miracles along the way, but they did not have any idea of the capacity of His love. They did not understand that the law was motivated by love. Love sets boundaries to protect us.

Then, when Jesus came to earth, as a tiny precious baby boy, more of God’s love was revealed. That He would send His only son!! To a filthy stable!! Incredible.

His love was even more greatly magnified when Jesus went to Calvary. We get a deeper look into the heart of God when we revel at the pain He must have endured in the dark hours on the cross.

But then, after the joyous resurrection, when the Holy Spirit came and filled us with power from on high; divine truth and light living right here inside us, oh what love He has for us!! The Holy Spirit dwelling in us is such a precious gift! And the amazing thing about the Holy Spirit is that it continually reveals more of God to us within our own lives.

Which brings me to the other side of the coin that is progressive revelation. An interesting character trait that I’ve noticed about God is that He has a deep appreciation of systems, and when He finds a good working system, He seems to enjoy re-implementing it in another area of creation.

You see, progressive revelation works so well on a humanity-wide level, for the good of all mankind, that God decided to duplicate within us as well. How so?

It’s probably best explained with an example. My six year old, Sarah, knows that God is good. She knows He loves her and has a plan for her life. But her capacity for understanding is so small still. Pouring God’s full revelation of love on her life right now would be similar to holding out a Diet Coke can and expecting it to hold the Pacific Ocean. God understands this, and so He reveals Himself to Sarah in ways that she can grasp. And as she grows and trusts and leans on Him, her capacity for understanding will increase simultaneously. And by the time she’s my age, and has been serving Jesus for most of her life, she’ll have a greater understanding of the character of God.

I know this because that’s exactly how it worked in my life. I understand His heart so much more now that I’ve spent a few decades walking with Him. But still, studying these Berean courses, I keep throwing my hands in the air and saying “the more I study and learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know!!”

In the same thought, our sweet saints of the church are so full of God’s glory because they have been walking with Him for so many years. I say that with great respect, I am so looking forward to being a saint of the church!

Can you see how progressive revelation works within our own intimate relationship with God?

So how does this tie in with Christmas? Well, take a moment and to thank God for His gift of progressive revelation, a gift that began in the garden, and was so beautifully unwrapped in the manger 2000 years ago, that grew to take the place of our shame on the cross, and when the gift returned to heaven, He replaced Himself with His Spirit, living in our hearts.

How can we thank Him for this gift? We can use what He has given to walk in His love and by His grace every day. We can use our prayer language often and earnestly seek revival in our own hearts, and then pray that it will spread to our families, our friends, our churches, our neighborhoods, our nation.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find’ knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

And God, in His infinite wisdom, will reward us with more a greater understanding of Him. Because He’s found a system that works in progressive revelation.