He's in the details.

She and I have spent hours and hours building trust. Quality time that only the God of us both could have orchestrated. I adore her. Well, she's a talker. I adore that about her. She ALWAYS has a story or two or three about anything and everything. When you sit down with her you quickly realize that she is a rare find. A jewel.

She sent me the following email this morning. I didn't ask her permission to share it before I am with you. It actually makes me giddy for her to open up her her direct email of this blog. She will freak out, but not because I am giving you her words exactly as written, but because she's humble to the core. I have read and listened to perhaps millions of her words and I'm telling you, if you read all of the ones below, you will be blessed and I pray that you will hunger for a God of the details.

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As I grew up, my mom would tell me I had a vivid imagination. Today, I really appreciate that the Lord put that in me...as I read the Bible or any book of interest, I can picture the scene in my mind. I can see a young Solomon, sitting with David, 'tender and the only one in the sight of his mother, being taught by dad.' David telling Solomon all about things of God. To love the Lord, to trust Him, to acknowledge Him in all his ways, and his path will be directed. As David was close to death he would tell his son,..you have wisdom, and know what to do. I see the love in so many of these people as I read. Jonathan and David had such a closeness, a bond that was not broken even through death.

How about King Hezekiah having a relationship with the prophet Isaiah. In the past I thought of these major prophets kind of behind the scenes,...not really someone to go talk to. It's just cool for me to know that when Hezekiah needed a prayer, a word in due season, he came to Isaiah. I bet they had great godly chats.

I can picture a very young Josiah begin to seek God. Jeremiah was very young also, when he was called to be a prophet. Now envision Josiah and Jeremiah kind of growing in the Lord together. To see great things the Lord is doing, to give Him the glory,..I can picture them walking side by side making melody in their hearts. Josephus the historian, says that the prophet Jeremiah sang a song at Josiah's funeral, that was sung for the next 100 years. I believe they had a great relationship, and it must have been very hard when Josiah died.

What about Amos, another prophet. Taken from a book written in 1909..." He was not rich. His family had no distinction. He had to work hard. He lived in the country, had no training for public speech, and had no influential friends"..(that we know of). "Now he was to go into a hostile kingdom and there, in the face of ridicule, opposition and fierce threats, he had his say and made men hear...then he quietly went back home to his sheep and sycamore trees. As for training, it did come, in the form of time alone with the Spirit of God." Can you see all of this in your mind? The writer goes into more then likely he had a wife, a Mrs. Amos. Maybe she was thinking,..she should have married Amaziah! After all, if something happened to Amos, then what will happen to her and the kids. Sure, I can see the whole picture.

For me, I also love details. When I learn that someone is reading the Bible, or just got saved, I want to know the details! What are you reading? Is it exciting for you?? What happened to you, that made you turn to the living God 'for reals'! You can ask my brother-in-law, and he may tell you I'm a stalker in that way. It's too exciting to just 'just stand back'.. I want to hear the story behind it. I want to hear the things God has done in your life.

All of this is fresh in my mind, because I have been reading Acts. Paul was in Corinth. When Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. Gallio didn't want to concern himself with the matter. Sosthenes had been chosen to be the ruler of the synagogue so he would have been the one to present the case against Paul to Gallio. When Gallio let the matter go, the Greeks grabbed Sosthenes and beat him.

It hurt my heart for him, knowing he was beaten. I just didn't understand. As I looked more into this, in a couple of different study Bibles, and the commentaries, it says this same 'Sosthenes' may be the one who was with Paul in Corinthians 1:1..'Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother.' All I could think of was..his story. When he was beaten, was that when he had enough of that past life? When Paul had preached, was Sosthenes in the crowd, and the still small voice of God making Himself known? I would love to be the stalker right now, and hear his story. If I am going to be obsessed, I'm glad it's this.

And when she's done talking I usually end up in my brain condensing down all those wonderful thoughts into a sentence that barely does all her words justice, but the beauty of the body of Christ is that it takes all of us to learn and grow. We can't do it alone. I for one am happy Deanna majors in details.. just like God.