I was walking home from the river with the boys and was suddenly caught off guard by the beauty of my everyday ordinary. As they ran ahead, majesty unfolded right there in front of me on the dirt trail covered in layers of pine straw. The sun made its way through the tall trees and I felt a brush of holy across my heart.

I stood still and could feel the beating of my chest. There was no mistaking His presence. You see, God doesn’t wait to meet us in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings, He builds a sanctuary within us and meets us wherever we are. We are His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16).

He desires to walk with us in the exciting miraculous and carry us when our load feels heavy but He also wants to linger with us on these dirt trails of the routine and familiar. And sometimes our greatest miracles lay hidden in our most traveled paths, stepped over and missed in the rush rush of the day to day.

And just like that, our October theme was born. This month we’ll pause to discover the holy in our simple ordinary. I hope you’ll join in the conversation.

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September is my birthday month; however, October reminds me of another reason to celebrate. This month marks eleven years cancer free, but it also reminds me of the new work God began doing in the deepest parts of me during some of my hardest days.

An inner transformation. A drawing nearer. An awakening. A newness of vision. A greater awareness of His presence.

In our most pressing days, we are sometimes broken. And in our brokenness, in the place of vast emotion where our hearts and souls are wide open, laid bare and vulnerable, we are also in the midst of a great discovery if we dare.

If we dare to see God in the suffocating sorrow. If we dare to trust Him when it doesn’t make sense. If we dare to look for Him as hidden treasure in a dry and blistering land. If we dare to pause to hear His voice in the center of busy and loud and bad news.

If we dare to look for Him in all places, our eyes will open in wonder at His ever-present holiness.

Because when we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29).

When we pause to see Him through the aching and the crushing, our soul can find refuge in His presence.

During this hard season in my life in 2004, my eyes began to open anew. My heart became tender at even a hint of His nearness. My survival depended on being with Him. The more I looked for Him, the more I saw Him. And the more I saw Him, the more I wanted to look for Him.

My heart expanded in gratitude at the smallest of things. I woke up with joy at the gift of another day with my family. I began to celebrate the little moments and look for Him in every moment.

Our perspective is shaped by the object of our focus. We get to choose what we see. What we see determines how we see and how we live.

Seeing Him changed me.

I’m still looking and I’m still discovering.

I’m still being changed.

I hope you’ll join me.