"for i know the plans i have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and i will listen to you. you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. i will be found by you," declares the Lord," and will bring you back from captivity. jeremiah 29:11-13

this was a letter to the hebrew exiles, but i cannot help but believe that this is a letter to all God's children through the ages. more and more, i know God is saying these words to me. more and more, i realize how little this world has to give. how sweet it is to be intimate with God. to know him and to be known by him. then, to realize that his plans, my hope, and my future were made possible only by the death of Christ on a cross places a most beautiful paradox in the underpinnings of my heart. at once, i am sad and joyful for what Christ did that day. soli deo gloria...