[Tweet “You make known to me the #path of #life; filling me w/Your #joyful presence, Your glory- my delight!”]

Life is quite a trip!  Where can you visit the mountain tops and the pits in the same day?

I love me, my mountaintops. The caves and valleys- not so much. 🙂

Between company, family, ear tube surgery for Bethany, taking down Christmas, etc. – I haven’t had time to tell you about the beginning of the New Year and the fun we had making goals and choosing verses.  My verse for the year was this beauty:

Of course I love the first part- you know- where our year is going to be “crowned with goodness!”  but it’s the 2nd part that has captured my imaginations.

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I went to bed last week, with that promise in my mind.  When I woke up, I heard the verse replay itself as I saw a picture in my mid of a beautiful golden path.  It glittered and sparkled and wound here and there, up and down, as far as my eye could see.  It was pulsing with life and joy.

To the left and to the right of the path was shadowy and gray. It was chilling. Barren. Void and empty. It held no promise or welcome.

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I tried and googled and searched- but the only picture I could come up with that somewhat showed my golden path dream was something like the pic below- but my dream was much cooler 🙂

I KNEW I wanted to stay on the golden path.  I didn’t ever want to go to the left or the right.  That path was dripping with abundance. I KNEW the glittery, sparkling path was the Path of the Lord- His beautiful “straight and narrow way”!  I KNEW the Lord was showing me the verse- God would crown our years with goodness as we walk in His path.

[Tweet “Jesus said, I’ve come that you might have #life and have it dripping with abundance” “]

Isn’t that just a wonderful way to start the New Year????

And then life happened. And when you have a big family, it happens in a big way. 🙂

Let’s see- there’s 21 of us in our immediate family.

It’s quite “clearing of my throat”– “interesting”?  “ludicrous”?  “dreadful”?  —- to watch the flu unfold 21 times to 21 people over a course of 10 days. We all feel sorry for (and pray for) the one who gets it, but we pray equally hard and hope we won’t get it.

I’m not sure where or who it started with, but it reared it’s ugly head in 3 different locations at the same time.  Just about the time you thought it might be over, it would jump lines and go to another family and then back to visit the 1st family, disabling a different member.

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I thought I might escape it’s nasty visit, when it walked in and laid me flat without even an apology.

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And flat on my back I thought back to my dream of that golden, glittery path- that Path of Life, dripping with abundance and the sweet presence of the Lord.

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I looked around:  the mountain of laundry that could be days before it was folded, cans of soup and 7-up and trash bags full of kleenex and grossness. It didn’t look to glittery or abundant to me…..

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And the Lord whispered, “You’re still on my golden path- the Path of Life. I AM with you every step. Every twist, turn, uphill, downhill-  I’m still crowning your life with good things.  My mercy and loving kindness are new for each and every one of yours.  Rejoice.  This flu is temporary- but my Goodness and Love and Mercy and Faithfulness- is forever.”

And I relaxed.  I remembered.  I rejoiced.

Problems and sickness and grossness are scattered on every path in this life.

But the precious gold of our life path, is the presence of the Lord.

And He – our Great and Glorious God

– not the path itself-

Our God is the One who drips with abundance.

May we walk in His increasing glory and goodness this year!

[Tweet “When we #walk with the #Lord, He anoints us with His #abundant life. #glory”]

Surprising Treasure:  In His presence is fullness of joy and in His right hand are pleasures forever more.

Psalm 16:11