Month: April 2019

A woman inspired me the other day. It was evening time and the preschoolers were playing outside in the hot sun when she opened the fence. Her toddler son with pale blond hair like dried wheat in the sun was by her side. She came to pick up her daughter.

Unlike most parents who came and went in a rush, this woman allowed her son and daughter the leisure of enjoying a few more minutes on the playground. It was her bright smile that immediately warmed me to her. She stood by me and struck up a relaxing conversation. While we conversed I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was. Not beautiful the way the world paints beauty–our media romanticizes physical beauty and glamor (which are both pretty shallow in comparison to the real thing). She had deep beauty that came from her soul. She was sturdy, sweet and she had dark brown hair with hazel strands which she tied back. She was dressed comfortably in beige shorts, a white top and tennis shoes. Large sunglasses were tucked behind her ears.

When her daughter (who is so lovable and has what I like to call an “Australian tan”) was hurt playing with a friend she sat her girl on her lap and calmly soothed and explained, “your friend didn’t mean to hurt you.” As they left I noticed she wasn’t driving a car. Instead she had a bike with a built in wagon in the back. She fixed her children in it and fastened helmets on their heads. She too put on one and spread a blanket by her kids feet. They waved and then rode off. As she left I realized afresh that it wasn’t the people with a million possessions that struck me as rich. It was the people who had opened their heart to a million other hearts. It was those like her who could ride a bike and be full of joy and resting in peaceful contentment. Sometimes little can be so much more than a lot–especially when it is strewn together with love. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”-1 Timothy 6:6

~I wanted you to know that you have a beauty that is refreshing, unique and blossoms into visibility as you rest in the comfort of your divine design. Your soul is meant to receive the abundance of God’s love and acceptance for you. I pray you stand under the waterfall of His affirmations and sweet love toward you. I pray you become soaked in the waters of His grace and that the beauty that He has placed in you shines forth effortlessly as you rest in His unconditional love.

~A reflection of Fall 2015

I laid by the fire and listened to the soft humming and crackling it made. I had never noticed how peaceful the sound of wood burning was before. Only moments ago I had come back from a leisure evening stroll in the late October nippy air.

Wet rain clouds loomed over my head promising the blessing of rain. The sun rose brightly above purple misty mountains illuminating the ruby red leaves on the deciduous trees. Autumn was in the air and with it the early scents of harvest.

I gingerly enveloped the cup of hot tea in my hands and closed my eyes to commune with my heart and the Lord and Lover of it.

“Thank You Jesus,” I breathed calmly as my soul relaxed, “for moments like this…where the world is still and I can rest in Your arms again. You are my everything.”

A scripture verse came to my mind, I am my beloved’s and his desire is toward me. My eyes went wet with tears…his desire is toward me. It blessed my heart afresh and illuminated my soul like a sauna of fragrances.

“Your desire is toward me,” I said happily back to Him and felt His pleasure for me.

I knew this was only the beginning of the blessings He had for my life, and the blessed life I would live.

Song of Solomon 7:10 <3

Written by: Danielle Sanders

I Corinthians 15:40-41 (NKJV) – [There are] also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another. [There is] one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for [one] star differs from [another] star in glory.

Have you ever compared yourself to another and found yourself lacking? When I was a middle school teacher, I observed on many occasions the behavior of girls who felt threatened by other, “prettier” girls. No matter how uniquely beautiful each girl was, when the superstar walked in, it was as though she had sucked all of the pretty out of the room, leaving the others feeling bereft and ugly.

As a singer, I used to have a similar reaction when I heard someone sing with what I considered to be better technique or a “prettier” tonal quality than mine. I would become like my middle schoolers: despondent and extremely critical of myself. This all changed one day as I was preparing to go onstage to sing. The Lord whispered to me, “You have a glory all your own, so sing with all your glory.” In an instant, I understood a truth that set me free forever: Every created thing has its own glory, and there’s no such thing as bad glory!

A lion ruling the Serengeti has one glory; a great white shark dominating the deep has another. No one would say the glory of the Monarch butterfly is inferior to that of the Sunsprite rose. Each has its own glory— different in type, but not in quality. It’s the same for humankind. We are unique individuals created by God with different functions, gifts, and callings, and not one is superior or inferior to the other. Yet how many times have we compared ourselves to others and walked away feeling disadvantaged, not recognizing that each of us is a unique reflection of God’s very own glorious image? How silly it is to admire God’s glory in another person while disparaging His glory in oneself.

As the scripture says, there is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon. Likewise, there is one glory of me and another of you. And all the glory is of God!

The more time I spend with God, the more He purifies me, and the more my love for Him grows deeper. He has filled me with a heavenly joy and love. I am soaked in His presence and I literally feel as if I am dripping with the presence of His Holy Spirit. My heart is rich with peace. May I surrender my all to the One who loves me the most, all the days of my life.

~This short snippet was taken from my book Visions of Celestial Love (An Invitation into Healing Intimacy). To purchase the ebook or physical copy, click here.

In Him we live and move and have our being. —Acts 17:28 NIV

My heart relies on You, God. What can I eat of but Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

Fill my soul like water pours from a waterfall.

I eat of You.

I drink of You.

I bathe in You.

I sleep in You.

I breathe in You.

I walk in You.

I sing in You.

You are everything.

I live in your atmosphere.

I cannot be taken away.

I yearn to eat and drink of what is good.

And You say, “Taste and see that I am good.”

~This short snippet was taken from my book Visions of Celestial Love (An Invitation into Healing Intimacy). To purchase the ebook or physical copy, click here.