The Invitation

We all get one, the invitation, but it is not always received. Sometimes we miss it. Sometimes we think that we were left off of the list, purposefully or forgotten. Sometimes it sits in a pile of things, waiting to be opened and responded to, but it is always there. Available, sent with intention.

The invitation is from God. He sends it with pristine clarity like the morning light glistening through the trees. It is gentle and soft and golden. He is there and He waits like a gift longs to be opened. AND we wait in eager expectation
to see Him,
to know Him,
to be with Him,
to hear from Him,
to be moved by Him,
to see His fingerprint all around us.

The invitation from God is
to be welcomed in,
to approach the throne of grace blameless because Jesus endured the separation from God on our behalf that we may go close,
to be loved unconditionally,
to receive grace and to offer it freely to others,
to forgive and to walk in freedom.

It is to admit our wrongdoings and turn from them; towards Him.
It is to embrace our own undoing so that we can be less and less for Him to be more and more.
It is to share with others in the midst of the undoing, rather than waiting for a digital retouch to put our best foot forward with all the ducks in the row behind it in their fuzzy perfection and straight line.
It is to say "I'm not in control of most things, but I'm tight with the ONE who is sovereign over all things." 
It is to beckon the unexpected, sometimes the illogical, and often the unforeseeable because God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours.
It is to welcome the prompting of a voice inside, the Holy Spirit, to guide us to action with just a piece of a puzzle that quite possibly makes no sense to us, but for someone else is an oh-so-personal response that lets them know that God says, "I see you and I know the details."
It is to die a thousand deaths to self, but to live alive in the fullest measure of God's abundant love.

The invitation.