In March 2012, I am heading to New Zealand and Tahiti on my first mission trip!  It makes me think about how long it has taken to get here....

But I will save that long-winded story for another time--preferably before 1am in the morning..... I actually want to focus on the title of my first blog,  "With All My Heartbeat".

Back in 2006, I was blessed to see the birth of my first niece.  I fell in love with her immediately.  As she has gotten older, she has become a powerhouse of enthusiasm and is as tender and sweet as can be.  She is also incredibly verbal and expresses exactly what is on her mind.  In more recent years, I have become a traveler and have visited/lived in Alaska, California, and Ireland to name a few.  With this traveling, comes heart-wrenching moments of joy and tears.  Before I recently left home, again, my niece made a comment about how I was gone all the time.  If that didn't pull on my heart strings enough, the next comment drove it home when she said to me, "I love you with all my heartbeat." 

I began thinking a lot about how deeply those words affected me; to be loved with every beat of someone's heart.  It got me thinking about my Creator and the love story that begins in Genesis and continues into eternity.  God feels that way about me...about humanity....He wants not only for me to know His immense love for me, but literally He wants our heart(s) to beat together in intimate relationship...to abide in the secret place of His presence...and to overflow.  I don't feel like I truly know what that means yet, but I am excited to find out....