give intimacy

[there will be a picture later. i figured i'd tell you that first because i know you're terribly worried that my wonderful photography skills would not be displayed here today...calm down]

My favorite line from this past week's sermon at church was

the greatest gift you can give the world is your intimacy with God

right? I think that's what it was, anyway.
That really spoke to me because it turns everything around. We so often spend time trying to DO things to make the world see that we love Jesus so that they in turn will love Him, too. I try and make myself seem like I'm always in love with Him and His decisions for my life instead of actually striving to BE in love with Him all the time. I try and show the world something; it's an outward expression. But what the world REALLY needs is for me to be genuine. If I want to speak to the people I come in contact with about God's love for me and my love for Him in return, I first need to really be close to Him and find intimacy with Him. After I establish that incredibly amazing relationship with Him, the world will HAVE to notice. Rather than working really hard to show the world something that may not be true, I simply have to be true to Christ and the world will see. There is far less pressure for me to be a certain type of person this way.
So I am about to embark on a small journey that I hope will increase my intimacy with the Lord and change me from the inside out. Rob and I are doing a little fast, so to speak. We're going without something in our relationship that should change us, both individually and together. We're making a sacrifice together that could really change us and draw us closer to God. And my favorite part about this is that it will be a struggle that I don't have to face alone because I have a brilliant man of God next to me and nothing to lose. There is only a deep, new intimacy with God to gain.