coming back from berkeley, the beautiful sunset was breathtakingly inspiring. the hues of the setting sun bleeding red, yellow, orange into the increasingly-dark blue sky, set against the backdrop of rolling hills, low-hanging clouds in the sky and deep blue water lapping at the shore just under the bridge as we crossed.

the sunset stole my breath away.

the fingerprints of God so evident all over it, His signature so obvious. There and then, I heard Him whisper, "For you, my love".

and I just wanted to break down there and then.

the last few days, He has really been so gracious, so good. the little things, the big things. the small and the large. i know He has me here, at this time, for a purpose and a reason. perhaps, hopefully, for a season of healing.

even as I think about His sacrifice and all He has done for me, and of the glorious victory of Christ's power and His gift of salvation during this period, He is telling me, there is indeed so much more to a life fully steeped in Him, a life that can only truly be fulfilled and satisfied in Him.

truly, this is what it means to be held. and the promise is that He'll never let go through it all.

"this is what it means to be held
how it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
and you survive
this is what it is to be loved and to know
that the promise was when everything fell
we'd be held

this hand is bitterness
we want to taste it and
let the hatred numb our sorrows
the wise hand opens slowly
to lilies of the valley and tomorrow"
- held by natalie grant.