Everlasting Love

There's a pile of laundry sitting on my bed, a stack of homework at my side, and an apartment begging to be cleaned as I type this. But that's all okay, that can wait. There have been so many words tangled up inside of my head that somehow, someway, need to be spilled out. A list of posts that need to be typed up have been shoved aside for this...

God loves me.

Some days, the certainty of this feels like the kiss of sunshine on my face, a tune in my head, and that calm assurance that Someone cares for me more than imaginable. Or like this cloudy morning, as I piece together little snacks to gift to those I live with, there is a sweet happiness that just seeps out. Both tears and a smile threaten to break loose at any given moment.  







Isn't God's love amazing? Even when I royally mess up, when I find myself flat on my face time and again, He reaches down with compassion and by the hand, lifts this terrified child up to place me back on my feet. "Now, My beloved daughter, follow Me. I gave everything for you because I love you." It is because of that love of His that I can surrender to the promise and pleading of, "Trust Me."

Just as a little kid pieces together some fine craft of glue, construction paper, and crayon creations, and has great affection for the "masterpiece", so I can imagine on a far greater scale, my LORD, as He wove together every fiber and thread of my being. No doubt, He smiles down at His creation as He whispers the first words an ear within the womb might hear, "I love you, a cherished one already!"

The love of God sustains, it provides, it brushes us off when we've stumbled, it forgives, holds nothing against us, it protects, comforts, heals, and gives a song to sing along our uncertain way. This insane love keeps back what we aren't to know while directing us still. It answers prayer, gives us more grace, and while the entire world turns black and quakes, this love places us in the never-moving hands of a Saviour Who has promised to be a "refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble!"

I cannot explain or describe it, there are no other words than "Amazing love, how can it be?"
Isn't it sweet? Isn't He good?

Shoes

"Don't find fault with the man that limps or stumbles 'long life's road.
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears or struggled 'neath his load.
There may be rocks within his shoes, hidden out of view.
And the burden he bears placed on your back...
Might cause you to stumble too."

- Author Unknown

Whispers

At this current moment, my feet are propped up on a big rock next to a pleasant little fire that is cackling away. The only sound I hear is the distant hum of the highway muffled by the sound of crickets. Glancing up from my seat, the brightest moon I've ever seen is gleaming down at me through the dusky fall leaves. And tonight...I'm thankful. A bit melancholy and thoughtful too, but still, thankful.

Sometimes I breeze through life with days that jumble together like a puzzle that's been dumped from its box. None of the pieces really appear to fit and I just push on through the assignments that are due, the trivial issues my position here at the school presents, and the business. All the while those quiet wishes and hopes I have are bunkered down until those couple of moments when I whisper them to my Saviour before falling asleep each night. Only, those few painfully honest prayers before bed are left behind as soon as the sun rises each morning and the cycle begins again.

But tonight, I'm sitting here in the quiet of this absolutely gorgeous night and I mull through all those thoughts that I have no time for during most days. It's nice sometimes, to just calm down and have a heart-to-heart with the Lord and realize that all along He has just been waiting for me to share it with Him. He sits here beside me and comforts, "Oh, child, have I not promised, come unto Me, and I will give you rest?" So, I gather all the emotions, questions, misunderstanding, and more, and hand them over to His capable hands. It's these kind of moments I sit back and realize, "Hey...I'm alright." Not because of me, I only tend to muddle things up all the more, but because of a God who does all things well.

The realization of these thoughts and promises brings sweet hymns and verses to mind and I smile as they are hummed here in the darkness. I like these quiet times with Him, they ease all of the anxiousness for whatever it is I'm waiting for and leave a contentment only He can bring.

Nights like these whisper with the calm assurance of the promise that God is so good. And that makes nights like these precious.