prayers for a new year...

I need that adventure, Its calling me...from the mountain top, side of the ocean, the dirt trail, the cool breeze, the deep drop, and the soft mist...a stillness comes and i know that this is what i was meant to do, a stillness of awe, a stillness where i can see Him...
- Emmanuil Morari

So E – a member of the team wrote this and I am stealing it cuz I read it and it just put me in a place where I remembered the moments where I have felt God asking me to do crazy things, and in the moment where I felt most overwhelmed, most doubtful…I just remember this peace falling over me and just having this moment with God where all I could feel and hear and think about was how close He felt and how I knew this was real and whatever He was saying at that moment – was going to happen, His way, and He would be there right next to me the whole way. ALIVE, for me, started in one of these moments
The first time I thought about ALIVE (well an art ministry) was one day during my quiet time in Argentina. I used to sit on this cement area leaning up against this like half wall. And He told me about the ministry one day. The idea for a ministry just came into my head and I just felt God say – that was me. Don’t brush it off – I am telling you to do this.
And it was just one of those moments and one of the first times I knew God was a real, close, personal God. SO close…
And another time was one I mentioned earlier – standing on the beach in Mar del Plata. And the quote above brought me back to that place…standing above the rocks, watching the waves crash and spray up, and just being above it all…and God asking me crazy things…but at the same time filling me with this powerful reassurance that I – shy, reserved, insecure, unmotivated me – could never have felt on my own when thinking that my future could look the way God was showing me at that moment.
and I can’t believe that I don’t think of those moments very often…they should be at the front of my mind ALL the time…close personal encounters with God…but they’re not. And that quote just reminded me of all that…

My prayer for this new year, for the team and for everyone…is that we will take the time to experience this. That we won’t just rush through things or try to get stuff done. But that we take the time to ask God what He wants, take time to listen and rest in the powerful life-changing stillness that comes with His presence. He wants to share…He wants us to follow…and He is willing to take the time to make sure we know His heart…but we have to listen.
I pray that this year is a year of new experiences…a year of finding out who God is and a year of God surprising us with His power, with His amazing love.
I pray that God romances you in a way you never imagined and that He gives you at least one of these moments…a moment in His presence…a moment of assurance…a moment of clarity, where the only thing that exists is you and Him…a moment of stillness of awe.
Blessings for 2010!