So I've been reading this book by Paula Rinehart entitled "Better Than My Dreams". Its been fantastic but as most books do, it stirs up my heart, makes me think A LOT, and pushes me to meditate on what Christ would have me learning through it. So basically I get all quiet and emotional :)

So this morning I woke up late and decided to grab my copy of Utmost for His Highest and see what Chambers had to say today, You can read it below:

What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? "For He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ " ( Hebrews 13:5-6 ).

"I will never leave you . . ."— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again.

"I will never . . . forsake you." Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

What encouraged me about this writing was the last two paragraphs. Not so much that I think or feel as though God has forsaken me, but I do catch myself in that mindset of "is this all there is?" when the drudgery of my job or living in Annapolis away from community gets to me. The times where I have experienced Christ the most have been times, such as Chambers mentions above, where there was a difficulty to overcome, a vision from God, or something wonderful and beautiful spurring my spirit on. So when the everyday life lacks those things that have previously brought me to the foot of the cross, discouragement seeps in...

But its encouraging to be reminded that God is in the small places in life, that while there are different chapters and some may seem "bigger" than others, God is the same throughout. He may have had specific ways in which he desired to grow me when times were in the valley or on the mountain; but I know that God is good and that he has plans for my growth at all points in my life, I simply need to seek His face and allow Him to continue to shape me and mold me into the woman he wants me to be.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm trying to see Him in the seemingly mundane aspects of my life, in those places I least expect to experience Him (my job, my living situation, my lack geographically close community) and realize that even in what seems like the drudgery of everyday life, the Lord is apparent and ever present, longing to grow me more.