There is a hint of fresh air being blown around as I see God's hand at work. He is always at work whether we see His work or not, but there is life breathed into me when I am allowed to see what He is doing up close and personal. I see that today in 2 friend's lives. One is experiencing a newness in her relationship with God, and seeing that He is not the God of the "box" that she grew up believing in. She knows He is much much bigger than that. She has been broken... and she has been healed. There is a beauty and freshness about her now that is new. She is herself, not what other people wanted her to be. She is walking out her life - with her God. In another friends life, He is cutting deeply and gently taking his hand and pulling up to the surface past pain. She is broken. She is spilled out. She is learning to be vulnerable. She sat with me over coffee last week and we talked... I listened... she let tears fall from her big brown eyes. God is working in her... healing her. She knows that - and she is listening and walking with Him. Her hands are open and turned upward. She knows this is what she needs. I love the gift of walking with her. I know where she is right now. I know the hurt. I have cried those tears. I have felt the relief of letting the hurt out through the tears. I know the hope of tomorrow. I know the hope that is in Jesus... and His touch. Whether God is using me or not, I embrace this journey of hiking with her. I have done this before. I know that in the end there is a real-ness that shines through the spirit of those that have let their Maker break them... and put them back together. You are never the same. You have embraced the pain, and you have seen the cleansing power of tears and you have felt the healing power of your God. It is so well with your soul.