Wedding Dresses, Checks, and God's goodness

i'm in st. louis now for the holidays, and i've only been here for a couple of days so far, although it's felt longer than that. not because it's been bad, but just because it's been packed with lots of great things!

yesterday was a looong day. i went wedding dress shopping with my cousin. it was fun... but sort of an intense few hours. i was really, really glad i got to go... and it was just a sweet thing to be there the moment she found the dress she'll be wearing at the moment she commits to her husband (who i am a big fan of!). so that was pretty cool, but exhausting. then i came home, chilled with the parentals, then spent some time with one of my favorite people in the world... my best friend sarah. of course, by this time i was completely tired and out of it and about to drop. sorry, sarah. but it was great to see her.

then i went to church today, which was atypical, for a few reasons. the first reason is that next sunday will be the last sunday my home church, the church i attended since i was 5 years old, will have open doors. this church has been slowly dwindling and dying for a long time, and they've decided to call it quits. kind of bittersweet. it's not a church where i am incredibly spiritually fed... but there are people there who love me very deeply and who have known me since i was a young brat. the other reason that today was strange was that the church gave me a quite sizeable donation for helping me to pay off school loans. it was unexpected, sweet, and nothing short of God reminding me of His love and provision for me.

so that's what i've done so far over my break, but i feel God doing something great in me right now, something that is hard to articulate. I've been attempting to really be committed to prayer, and asking God to put in me a spirit of awe of His presence. I also feel like God is reminding me that He is desiring a greater level intimacy with me-that He longs to be more than just a provider, or a back-up plan. He longs to dance with me and to be the closest thing to me. I was reading the book of Hosea last week, and was hit hard with this message of intimacy with God, and have been pondering a lot about what this means. it's been good.

it's been one of those weeks where God is reminding me gently and clearly that He is faithful, that He is real, that He is quite active.

blessings to all who may come upon this for an incredible Christmas day! may you know the heighth and depth and breadth of Christ's love for you today!