"He brought me into a spacious place, he rescued me because he delighted in me." - Psalm 18:19

July 22nd, 2024

📍Location: Crested Butte, Colorado, USA 🇺🇸

Dear friends,

For the remainder of the summer, I want to embrace a slower lifestyle, be present in the moment, take pauses to fully absorb all this season of transition has for me, and not race through it on auto-pilot. So we've planned a couple of long weekends for rest and play.

Summer is short in the high country, so wildflower bloom time is short, but July is usually the best time to spot our Master Artist's beauty on full display. Crested Butte is known as the wildflower capital of Colorado, and we made our annual trip there this past weekend.

My favorite part of the wildflower festival involves driving up the winding and narrow road to Paradise Divide (11,297 ft in elevation), which requires 4-wheel drive and specialty tires to access. Looking out over the vast expanse of mountain peaks and valleys as far as the eye can see, I am always humbled by how small I feel.

When we encounter a patch of wildflowers thriving in this extreme environment, where few people will ever see and appreciate them, I get this overwhelming feeling that God must have planted them there for the sheer pleasure of creating beauty. In Psalm 104:31, we read that They delight in Their works (God’s works of creation), which reveal YHWH’s glory.

I'm learning that living a spacious life includes making time and space to be in awe of God's glory displayed through flowers, sunsets, and forests—creation. In doing so, I delight in Them, and They delight in me. 

God delights in us as the pinnacle of Their creation, lovingly created to reveal Their glory. When we put our hope in that unfailing love, trusting in Their care and provision, God delights in (and favors) us with Their mercy and kindness. And when I take these intentional pauses to be present in Their creation, I can feel YHWH’s delight.

Psalm 147:11 AMP- "The Lord favors those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience]. Those who wait for His mercy and lovingkindness."

The Lord continues to rescue me from my hurried ways so I can live spaciously at Jesus’ pace of grace. I pray you, too, will find pauses to worship God in Their creation and receive an embodied sense of Their delight in you.

May God’s face shine upon you this week,

Jennifer

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