When we lived in our Katie Ln. house in Phillips, I got a wall vinyl with the verse Psalm 139: 13-14a…
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully wonderfully made.”
I placed it on the hallway wall in our kitchen and put large pictures of Dylon and Tyler on each side. Once Dylon was married, I changed his to a wedding picture of him and Katelynn. Each day I looked at those pictures, knowing full well that each of my children were a blessing and an answer to prayer.
I learned that verse years before and I applied it to how God felt about me when I was made. For years, that verse has been about the blessing of having a child and how God intended each of us with purpose.
As I walk out each morning to my apartment living room do my devotions, I gaze over the city of Dallas and am in awe that this is now where I call home. A blanket of darkness covers the early morning sky and I hear the sounds of garbage trucks and car alarms and watch the lights of a city that holds millions of people getting ready to face a new day. Eight months ago I knew I was not going back to my job in Gilman. Gabe and I both felt a calling to sell our house and prepare for what God had in store, but we had no idea what that was going to be. We simply decided to obey and see what the Lord had in store. We would have never imagined we would be moving to Dallas and become one if its over 1.3 million residents.
The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, also known as “The Metroplex” has a population of approximately 8 million people and spans nearly 9000 square miles, across more than 200 cities, making it larger in land area than several U.S. states combined (such as Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island) (according to https://kiddieacademy.com/franchising/blog/dallas-fort-worth-everythings-big-in-texas/)
YET, God knows me and my inmost being. Chew on that for a minute.
~~~~
For my entire life I have struggled with having daily devotions with God. I find myself talking to God, praying, going to church, being a “good Christian”, etc., but sitting down to have a private moment with God has always been a struggle. I’m not sure why, but just sitting down and putting Him first, with no other distractions has always been a struggle for me. Just ask my brothers. That is how I got the nickname from them when I was in high school…”High Queen, Lord of the Bathroom!” Rather than sitting at the table as Mom read our daily devos, or we listened to cassettes (yes, cassettes) of the Fruits of the Spirit audio, I would stand in the bathroom, getting ready for school. I had excuses like, we only have one bathroom, I need to get ready first and so on.
Life took a drastic turn last September when one of my God-created blessings went to live with Him forever in Heaven. Losing Tyler was something I never imagined and knowing how he was prayed for really hit hard when thinking about being created with intention by God. I knew God had a plan and a purpose for each of my children, but I had no idea the impact Tyler’s life and his death would have on the world. For the past 11 months we have heard story after story and have learned of people across the globe that have been affected by “Smiles” and his joy in life. It was not until his death that one of our newest friends, Zach, even met Tyler. To be honest, he never did know Tyler. He came across “Smiles’” video at a time when he was struggling with some issues and felt called to drive across the country from New York to pay his respects to Tyler. We met him in a time that just floored us, that he would come across the 17 hours to meet us and let us know the impact Smiles’ videos had on him. Over the past year, we have had the honor of having Zach come back to visit several times and are learning more about how “Smiles” helped connect him to God when he was at a low in his life. He never met Tyler or Smiles in person but some day will meet him in Heaven.
So whether across the millions or billions of people on the internet, or the millions of people outside my window, I am reading this week about finding intimacy with God. My audiobook lessons have a devotional and a set of verses that go along with each day and my 9-day devo on Intimacy with God began with a reading of Psalm 139:13-14a. It caught me off guard as these verses always talked about babies. But, as I began each morning and the same verses were read and connected to the different sublessons:
Day 1: We Are Created For Intimacy
Day 2: We Are Created For Intimacy with God
Day 3: A Neglected Relationship
Day 4: Debunking Intimacy: Scepticism
Day 5: Debunking Intimacy: Inadequacy
Day 6: Debunking Intimacy: Suffering
Day 7: Building Intimacy: The Word
Day 8: Building Intimacy: Prayer
Day 9: Nurturing Intimacy with God: A Marathon, Not a Sprint
I learned that,
Psalm 139: 13-14a…
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully wonderfully made.”
means much more than just how we begin as babies, but how we live our lives in intimacy WITH God.
I still struggle to have daily devotions with God. I find myself actually still in the bathroom, getting ready for work and I have to follow the advice of a visiting pastor at a church in Dallas that told us, “Early or First”. If you truly want to make sure you have a DAILY connection with God, and don’t want to run out of time at the end of the day, put your time with Him EARLY, or FIRST.
I have started getting up 10 minutes earlier each day and walking to my living room, where I begin by looking over the southern view of Dallas from our campus apartment. I sit down and begin my devotional and oftentimes find myself longing to spend MORE time with God and I spend LESS time as the High Queen. (won’t my brothers be shocked!)
I learned this week, about how intimacy with God changes our innermost thoughts and how God created us for this intimate relationship with Him.
As I face tomorrow, October 28, 2026, the day Tyler would have turned 22, I know I can face it because what God had planned for Tyler was far above and beyond what I could have ever imagined when I hung the verse on my kitchen wall and placed the pictures of my children next to it. How much more true is it that the intimacy he has planned for me and the future I will face with Him by spending time in the Word is going to be even more wonderful!
My time with God is still a process. I am tempted to spend more time getting ready for work than I do with God. It can be easy to get sidetracked and set a timer for God but not myself, but each day that I put him “EARLY or FIRST” helps me feel more connected and teaches me more than I could ever imagine. It is now an hour longer than I had planned to spend with God and I do need to head to the bathroom to get ready, but as I spend more time in his Word than in the bathroom, I am finding my kingdom is changing from being “High Queen, Lord of the Bathroom” to a humble servant of the Most High! He knows me so intimately and He longs for me to know him more. The more I read and listen to lessons about Him, I know that…
Psalm 139: 13-14a…
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully wonderfully made.”
Happy Tuesday, October 27, 2026. May today bring you closer to Him and into a deeper intimacy with our High King.
~Kelly
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