When I am talking to somebody there are always two conversations going on. The first is on the surface; it is about politics or music or whatever it is our mouths are saying. The other is beneath the surface, on the level of the heart, and my heart is either communicating that I like the person I am talking to or I don't. God wants both conversations to be true. That is, we are supposed to speak the truth in love. If both conversations are not true, God is not involved in the exchange, we are on our own, and on our own, we will lead people astray. The Bible says that if you talk to somebody with your mouth, and your heart does not love them, that you are like a person standing there smashing two cymbals together. You are only annoying everybody around you. I think that is very beautiful and true.

Now, when I go to meet somebody, I pray that God will help me feel His love for them. I ask God to make it so both conversations, the one from the mouth and the one from the heart, are true.         -- Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

And that's it. That's the truth that shames my struggle.

Help me remember this feeling, Father. Let it be so I am constantly reminded of your continued work through me, the most unlikely of all your servants.

Praise you for my water girls (!! - I guess I have to go to class now... tee hee), and for all the beauty revealed tonight. (My cheeks hurt.) I want to fit my arms around the world, too, Daddy. Just like you.