the goodness.

What was the last thing you believed was good?

Really, deeply, throw-your-head-back-and-laugh kind of good?

I find goodness in wonderful stories, strong coffee, and deep friendships.  But before all those things were created, there was a Creator.  And He was good.  In His being, in His center, in His very character.

When I think about all of the things in my life that are good, sometimes I forget fleetingly, that it is His goodness that's behind it.  All of the good things in my life are just a paper-thin trace, an echo of Him.

When I think about good things, though, I don't include myself.  He couldn't have made me good, too.  That's just not possible.  And so I write off my value as some sort of accident, my dreams as some sort of mistake, and my life as some sort of crazy mess when none of that is true.

good.

The same good that I believe God infused into other things.

He infused it in me and you.

And He wants me to live.

He wants me to love other people deeply.  He wants me to stand in the mountains and feel small.  He wants me to open my suitcase and trust Him.  He wants me to write and run and explore and feel wonder.  He wants me to stand by the ocean and know grace because

His plans for me are good. 

Today I took a minute to just sit in the stillness.  In the knowledge that God's plans for me are good not because of what they are but simply because He alone is good.  That thought fills me with more wonder, more excitement, and more joy than I have ever known.

He is good.  With the sunrise and with the sunset.  With an excitement that leaves me breathless.  With a love that never fails to find me.  With the same awe that wells up in my chest on a night fills with stars.  Oh, friend.  In the same things that you find goodness, I hope you find Him, too.