Leaving a Legacy

Hello dear friend.

My favorite spot to write to you is in my soft recliner, wrapped up in a quilt. The fireplace is warm and toasty, I have a cup of hot coffee, and my sweet dog Baillie is lying at my feet. (Yes, the fireplace is on, because even though you’re reading this in June, I’m writing it in March, so here I am, cuddled inside by the fire!)

This is one of my “secret places”—you know, the place we set aside to be with the Lord. It’s the special place where we go to read the Word, His love letter to us, and to talk to Him, bring our needs to Him, and cry to Him. It’s the private place where we sing praises to His name and rejoice, just knowing He is there for us. It’s also a quiet place of reverence where we can be still and know that He is God.

Through the seasons of our lives, we will encounter different “moods” of the Holy Spirit as He visits us and we experience Him. Depending on where we are in our relationship with God and what we’re experiencing in the circumstances of our lives, these encounters may differ from one another, but because of His love and mercy for us, each will be precious and meaningful.

A Season of Stillness

I’ve experienced many moods of the Holy Spirit, and although I wouldn’t consider myself an expert on the subject, I can discern some of His subtle differences. I’ve been through seasons of joy where the Holy Spirit celebrated with me, and I’ve also known seasons of deep despair and grief when He comforted and encouraged me.

When I was a young mom, I spent a lot of time praying over long lists of requests during my quiet times with the Lord, but I didn’t have many long opportunities to be quiet, as duty often called…

But at this season of my life, with my children grown and on their own, I have more time to be still and wait on the Lord. Some of the striving I experienced in my younger days has ceased. There is more of a quiet confidence in who I am in Christ Jesus that has replaced that strife, and I’ve found that sitting at the Master’s feet is my most highly desired place:

One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. ~ Psalm 27:4

Lately I’ve been reading books written by some of the great saints of God, including Elisabeth Elliott’s book, Discipline: The Glad Surrender, about being a disciple of Christ, and Gail MacDonald’s book, High Call, High Privilege, about the role of women in leadership. These books are deep, challenging reads. The content takes time to consider, and I have to stop and pray as I read and the Holy Spirit teaches me.