This is What You Do, You Make Me Come Alive

Yesterday, I did one of my very FAVORITE things: I took a walk in the woods, on Putnam Trail.

And as I was walking I started to notice that the woods are kinda grody.  There are decayed leaves everywhere, bare trees, and a sort of lifeless brown color. 
It occurred to me that this was the state of my heart...
hard. bitter. selfish. brown and decaying. cold.

But then I noticed the green peaking through the dirt and death.  The buds forming on the tree branches.  The patches of bright grass taking over the brown.  The way the sun illuminated color.

The same thing Christ is doing with me. 

I love the way the woods are so representative of our hearts.  I love the life that God can breathe... the way we can never be the same when Christ dwells within us and peaks His life through ugly bitterness.
He is showing me what it means to be ALIVE.

My dead heart now is beating,
My deepest stains now clean
Your breath fills up my lungs,
Now I'm free, now I'm free!

My deepest hope is for you, too, to know what it means to be ALIVE and new, dear friend.