Greetings, Dear Friends!

Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. Each month I give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. For the months of March AND April I will give away away a gift card and a couple of copies of my new book, "Growing Grateful Kids" so leave a post, share an insight, bless lots of people, and just maybe you'll win a fun treat this month!

A Quick Note:

I am thrilled to announce the release of my next book: Growing Grateful Kids: Teaching Them to Appreciate an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Places." Let me tell you, I am excited about the message in this book. If you have children at home (or grandchildren you want to influence spiritually), order a copy today. I do believe this book will equip you to parent from a spiritual perspective (but it's loaded with lots of practical application). You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll be inspired and encouraged (that was my goal, anyway). :) 

Now, on to my topic...

If you've heard me speak before, you've no doubt heard me joke about what it's like being married to a giant. Okay, I know he's not that huge, but his 6'3" frame looms large over my 5' 2" frame. I'm as big as his leg. We laugh a lot about it now but when we first got married we had a lot of adjusting to do. When Kevin moved to put his arm around me, he'd often accidentally clock me in the face with his elbow. Instantly my nose turned red and my eyes filled with pools of water. Awkward moment = one, Romantic interlude = zero.

Here is another scenario that happened a number of times: I'd be in bed with a nice cup of tea and a good book. My husband would sweetly and innocently pull back the covers. Well, uh, sweetly and innocently to him that is. To me, he'd create a minor earthquake by whipping the sheets back with such force that my cup of tea would go flying in one direction and my book, the other. With that sweet deer-in-the-headlights look he'd simply say, "Oops. Sorry." 

My husband buys things in proportion to his size. He drives a big truck, loves his big lawn mower and owns a sizable snow blower. He uses a mixing bowl for cereal and he takes up most of the space on our bed. But let me say this, in all of the ways that matter to me, my husband is a gentle, strong, and protective giant of a man. He is gentle with my fears and lovingly protects my hopes and dreams. He is kind and loving and true.

He simply moves in proportion to his size. 

One day I pondered the whole concept of moving in proportion to your size - in light of our majestic God. He is unfathomably mighty and immeasurably powerful. There is no match to His greatness. He moves and the earth shakes. Read how the earth responds to His power: 

Fire goes before Him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth the heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory (Psalm 97: 3-6). 

Sheer power goes before Him and surrounds Him on every side. With that in mind, isn't it amazing that we can even get near the Living God? If we get too close to the sun, we will burn up. However, we can draw very near to the Creator of the sun without being consumed by this formidable power!

Because of Christ's finished work on the Cross, we can do more than simply draw near, we can come boldly into the Lord's presence, and, be assured of His glad welcome! We can enjoy an intimate, engaged, and loving dialogue with the Creator of Heaven and earth. 

Why are we allowed such an incredible privilege? Because of Jesus Christ's finished work on the Cross!

Read this verse (it overwhelmed me this week):

But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love - WE-ARE-NOT-CONSUMED - His compassions they never fail; His mercies are new every morning; and His faithfulness is great (Lamentation 3:21-22).

We are safe in God's presence because of His incredible love for us. We can wrap ourselves up in His love because He has boundless compassion for our weakness and our humanity. We can live with NO condemnation because His mercies are fresh and new every single morning. We are free.

As you ponder the days leading up to Easter, fully embrace the idea that your hopes and your dreams are safe with God. Your mistakes and missteps don't shake Him in the least. He's already made provision for your weaknesses. Just draw near and cherish the idea that you can draw near.

Have a blessed and beautiful Easter celebration. 

Until next week~