Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:5  (NIV)

What do we desire more than anything else? What is our heart’s desire? Most of us would probably say to love and be loved. We can be talented, attractive, intelligent and wealthy, but that’s not the same as receiving (or giving) the true love and fellowship that makes us all happy.

I just started reading a little booklet called “Is God Speaking to Me?”

It explains the five ‘D’s necessary to grow into a closer relationship with our heavenly Father. The first of those ‘D’s is DESIRE to truly want God above anything else in our lives.

Above  our spouse? Our children? Our parents? Our friends? What about our career? Our physical and mental attributes? Our financial security?

The answer is a resounding ‘YES’…remembering that He is a God of love. He IS love. He wants all of these things for His children! He creates opportunities for us to obtain and then savor the rewards of seeing our desires become realities.

Along with DESIRE, the other ‘D’s needed for growing closer to God are DISCIPLINE to always put Him first in our lives; DISCERNMENT to know the difference between our own thoughts and God’s voice; DIRECTION to know His will at every crossroad or decision in our lives; and  finally, a sheer DELIGHT in our relationship with God…not just a sense of duty.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4  (NIV)

God truly is our heart’s desire. It takes many of us a long time to come to that conclusion. For some, like myself…it takes the loss of something held dear…that we THOUGHT was our heart’s desire.

I THOUGHT my heart’s desire was to be the best wife, mom, friend, runner and business professional. After my Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), all of those desires needed to be altered to go with my new physical challenges. Some heart’s desires…running, for example, had to be eliminated. Others had to be reinvented to fit my new life circumstances.

That’s when God innately became my heart’s desire. I cried out to Him from a hospital bed when I thought things couldn’t get any worse. That began for me daily, (sometimes hourly) conversations with our God. I’m happy to report that much of my ‘crying out’ has been replaced with lots and lots of ‘Thank You’s.

Just like the title of my blog (Life Happens), especially as we get older… we can continue to expect corrections in our life direction. They could be good and positive. They could also be challenging and just plain tough.

I’ve found the best way to navigate any interruptions in our life is to stay hopeful and lean into our heart’s desire. Pay attention to the nudges He gives us when it’s time to make a course correction. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. WE WILL!

Mistakes are inevitable as we try to go forward with God’s plan. We need to rely on His grace to bring us to the place He wants us to be.

Dear Lord,

Please continually remind us to keep You first and foremost as our heat’s desire.

With You by our side, all things are possible.

Things may not happen exactly as we planned…but we are not You! Help us to trust that You have the very best in store for each of us. Let us trust Your lead on the best course for us to go.

With You as our heart’s desire…our other goals and desires become secondary…whether they come to pass or not.

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