On How Declarations of Wonder Are All Around You...

A #OneWord365 progress post on how "Wonder" is showing up so far...

Here we are, one month in.  January has come and gone and with it, many lessons and revelations.  If last month is any indication, this year is going to be full!

I know many of you are snowed in, storms - both literal and spiritual - are coming hurling at you, one after another... for some, this Winter is cold and long and dragging on slowly in other ways. Some of you, somehow --you love Winter!

For us, well-- I've written about it a few times already, but for us, we've been fogged in for what feels like forever... no sun in sight. With all the mist and fog hanging low for weeks, romance gives way to darkness and it can start to feel heavy, even if we know it is just an illusion.  

And it is... it IS just an illusion!

Wonder has made itself visible to me already this year. It is not that it's newly arrived, but that God is opening my eyes to actually see it! 

Something about Seek and Ye Shall Find...

I am finding that gloriously, wonder and grace are related! We are in need of them both, in the grand scheme of things, as well as in our every day lives!  

I am finding it everywhere I look... from what I read, to what I listen to, to what I wear... yep - even what I wear!  I won a necklace from Krafty Kashoan for my OneWord, and oh my goodness... lookie:

Check out her Etsy shop and just look and see her gorgeous work! (She does custom orders, too! FYI!) 

Wonder has shown up in laughter and tears, in faith rising and questions lingering, in the comfort of what is known and in the discomfort of being pushed out into wider open spaces of the unknown.  

Wonder has caught my breath, stopped me in my tracks, and caused audacious giggles to escape my lips unaware. 

Giddy... that is what Wonder can do to you.  
Childlike comes to mind.

Wonder is meant to stir us up and make us contagious... make HIM contagious... 

In all my gathering up of Wonder... of songs and quotes and scriptures, this one...

Well --I just can't get over it!

I mean, ...can you even?  So Much Yes and Amen!  And while I love the fog and have found a bit of Glory in it, this is why it was weighing heavy on my heart... for I wanted to SEE... I needed the fog to lift, and my eyes to focus on the visibility of His wondrous works. But more than just see... I needed the reminder to declare that His Name is Near.

In nature, of course... we see His wondrous works in nature all around us...

However, Wonder shows  up in testimonies and in trials, too... in the whole "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it" parts... the "trust in the Lord, for He is good" parts... the parts of our every day lives where the fog is not yet lifting, but His Name is Near just the same!

Wonder, like Grace --like His Presence, is here, right where you are, right now... you just need to ask Him to show you how to see it! (And then let His wondrous works DECLARE that His Name is Near!)

After weeks of fog, yesterday - I remembered something!  I live in a Valley.  As in literally... we are surrounded by hills.  Sometimes I forget that we live in a Valley and sometimes the thick fog and cloud covering is only resting down on us.

From below, in the midst of it... it feels like it's all of heaven that is closed up and blocking our view. But, as I drove up just a little, I began to see differently. I began to remember... I began to Wonder... 

You see, we can rise above it!  

We can go up and over and see things from a different perspective... from Heaven's perspective (because we are seated in heavenly places and all of that!) and oh my goodness... a change in perspective --a bit of clarity and clear thinking and expanded vision does wonders!

Sometimes it requires a bit of a climb... it takes work to seek Him out.  It may take a bit of alone time... pressing in and up and over, but oh the rewards... the wonder of it all...

Look what I found:

           

"We thank you, God, we thank you—

    your Name is our favorite word;
    your mighty works are all we talk about."

                                                                ~ Psalm 75:1 The Message

             

P.S.  I'm linking up with these lovely writers:

Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory

Holley Gerth for #CoffeeforYourHeart

Meredith Bernard for #Woman2WomanWednesday

How has 2015 began unfolding for you? 

Do you have OneWord that you are focusing on? If so, where and how are you finding it? I'd love to hear in the comments below!