I shared in a previous post that God speaks to me in images a lot and that, for a period of several months, he and I carried the image of a red glass that eventually transformed into a chalice. The glass and chalice represented the way God and I were learning to live together inside my soul. He was -- and still is -- teaching me communion.

I carried the image of the chalice with me for a few weeks, until a new image began to emerge in my prayer life. It was the image of a woods. God and I were standing on a dirt pathway leading into the woods, and he was putting his arm around my shoulder and inviting me to walk into the woods with him.

When I first received that image, I knew that the time in the woods with God was meant to be a time for just him and me. I knew that it was his intention to bring me apart from everything else so that he could have my full and undivided attention. I knew that he had some words for me to hear, some secrets for me to receive, some things for me to learn.

"Come away with me . . . "

This image of going into and through the woods with God has become hugely significant in this season of my life. It has become a major touchpoint in my prayer life and in the way I notice and appropriate my daily life. It frames my understanding of the season I inhabit in my life right now, and it gives way to some understanding of the next season awaiting me up ahead, once I'm ready.

I will share some facets of this walk with God in the woods with you in upcoming posts. But for now, I'm just introducing the image and sharing this song by Norah Jones. It's a song that runs through my mind quite often these days. Every time I think about where I am with God in the woods right now, this is the song that speaks that truth.