Ready to Find Love

I know I've been talking a lot about God's love lately, but there's just so much of it I can't resist! I read a verse recently that really made me think. I know sometimes I have off days and I'm not overly friendly to people and, sometime, I don't talk to them at all. That is such a big mistake. We all have our off days, but you never know how one simple gesture can influence someone, how it can bring them joy, peace and a sense of belonging.

"But if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." —1 John 4:12

None of us have ever seen God. We will all have our day but, until then, we have to be His love. We have to work hard to try to show others even a fraction of the love that God has shown us because, if we don't, they may never know God.

I have a lot of friends who are afraid of telling people about God and their faith, who are afraid to witness and share the great news. That's fine, it takes practice and confidence which I think everyone gains as they walk along and let God take over their life. Whether that's you or not, it is so easy to be genuinely friendly to someone. Smile at someone. Say hi to a stranger. Introduce yourself to a new person in class. Talk to an old friend.

... you never know who is feeling lost and lonely, and who desperately needs a friend and a healthy dose of love. God's love.

This Kind of Love

It always amazes me how much God speaks to me through music. Not just christian music, either. Actually, especially not christian music. I think I learn the most when I get something from a song that, to my knowledge, was written with no thoughts of God. There are some songs that move my heart like nothing else, and I am always left full of awe and amazement at how God will use anything and everything to make me fall more and more in love with Him. He surprises me daily, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My freshman year roommate was completely obsessed with Sister Hazel and she passed on all of their CDs to me. One song in particular spoke to me. One of the band members wrote it to his girlfriend to play just before he proposed but to me it is a perfect anthem of God's love for us. So, enjoy these beautiful words and take a minute of your time to stop and think about how much God has sacrificed for us and how very much he loves each and every one of us in a unique way that suits us.

This kind of love makes me feel ten feet tall
It makes all my problems fall
This kind of trust helps me to hold the line
I'll be there every time

(chorus)
This kind of love is what I dreamed about
Yeah, it fills me up
It leaves no doubt
This kind of love it's why I'm standing here
It's something that we can share
I can't get enough of this kind of love

This kind of hope is what I try to find
And now I can't deny I believe
This kind of faith is so unshakeable
It's unmistakeable
It's bigger than me

(chorus)

Your love can move a mountain
It makes my world go round
Its always there to guide me
I'm so lucky that I found

This kind of love it's what I dreamed about
Yeah it fills me up
Well baby it leaves no doubt
This kind of love it's why I'm standing here
It's something we can share
I can't get enough of this kind of love
This kind of love

... as Jim Carrey would say, B-E-A-UTIFUL.

Give It Up

I learned a big lesson in materialism recently. I used to always think that materialism was exactly what it seems: coveting materials. People who love clothes and shoes and other worldly things so much that they become front-runners in their lives, above other, more important, things. I never really considered myself to be overly materialistic. Sure, I enjoy clothes and shoes and movies and such, but I'm not excessive and I would give it up if it became a problem. 

The other day I had an awakening... God enlightened me to the true nature of materialism. News flash: it's not always a literal material. My struggle was with an organization. Something my family was paying to keep me in that I enjoyed, but I didn't love it and honestly, sometimes I dreaded aspects of it. But despite my father's opinions, I wouldn't quit because I didn't want to feel left out. I didn't want to be a quitter. I didn't want to lose friends. I didn't want to give up the superficial feeling that the organization made me better, gave me an extra edge. 

But I'm cleaning out my life and after much prayerful consideration, it had to go. 

... I think that I feel more fulfilled than ever before. What a God thing. 

Bigger Than Love

I'm not really even going to say anything about these lyrics, except I hope you read them and meditate on the words a little. Though this band is not christian (that I am aware of) God really speaks to me through this song, as He often does with music. I'm praying for all of you extra hard tonight.

We've all got scars as big as ours
A token for the pain we hide inside of us
Everyone's scared that somebody knows
You keep it inside, yeah, that's how it goes
If you've ever heard a beating heart
A rhythm for the songs we're too afraid to sing
Nobody here is perfectly fine
A delicate frame, a fragile design

If there's a hole in your heart
You gotta pull it together
It takes the courage to start
But now is better than never
It takes a push and a shove
Somehow it's never enough
And it's alarming how quick you could forget that

Nothing's bigger than love
Nothing's bigger than love
Nothing's bigger than love
All you need, all you need is love

Some people change and some just won't
You can't take back the words you wish you'd never said
Promises break and lovers will lie
You hold up your hands and let out a sigh
So smile right before you fall
And lay beside this mess and call it consequence
Somebody said that life isn't fair
When somebody else was saying a prayer

No one's taking me out
Nothing's pulling me down
I turn my head to the crowd
This love is big and it's loud

This is the car in the crash
This is the light in the flash
This is the answers you know
But you're just too scared ask

If there's a hole your heart
You gotta pull it together
It takes the courage to start
But now is better than never
It takes a push and a shove
Somehow it's never enough

... no matter what you're feeling, remember that nothing is bigger than love. And more than that, nothing can even compare to God's love for you.

Fearless

Being fearless is a novel thing. Taylor Swift considers being fearless has to do with love and possibly dancing in the rain in your best dress. My idea? Slightly different. Skydiving. Scuba diving. Motorcycle riding. Really, really big roller coasters. That's just a few examples.

I don't think that I was born this way. I have always loved the thrill of an adventure, but I used to be scared. Not as much as some people though. My little brother is a special kid... if you know him, you know exactly what I mean. I remember a phase of his life, when he was trying to decide what to be when he grew up, and he based it on whether he could get killed or not. Professional baseball player? Could get hit in the temple by a ball and die. Car salesman? Could get run over. My personal favorite: baseball card seller? A robber could come and break in and steal the baseball cards then shoot him in a fit of rage. I'm not saying it's logical but that's how the kid thought. He was also irrationally afraid that Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma City bomber) would come get him in the night. Baby Brother Belch was ruled by fear. 

Recently I've come to consider myself fearless. I have a huge desire to go skydiving. My mom thinks I'm crazy, that I have some sort of a death wish. My logic is considerably different. I figure that since before I was born God has known every detail of my life, birthday, number of hairs on my head, death day and cause of death. If I'm meant to die in a skydiving accident, it's going to happen. If I'm meant to die in a fiery crash, it's going to happen. I'm not one of those people who believes I have the ability to alter my "fate." I think God knows how it's going down and, regardless of what I do or do not do, his plan will prevail. I'll be honest, my fearlessness generally lapses right before it's go-time. Right before the roller coaster begins. Right before I go into the ocean to scuba dive. I get a little nervous, but then I feel such a sense of calm. 

... isn't it liberating? To live without fear?  After all, God did say "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Back to Your Heart

Everyone has a different style of worshipping and praising God and, much the same, everyone has a different style of loving God. I guess for me I like to literalize Him. It's hard to think about how God will be when we meet him, whether he will have a physical body or just an overwhelming presence. Will he have hands to literally hold us in? Will he have a heart that beats for us? As MercyMe would say, I can only imagine. So, I do. Often. 

At Emerge, our summer college bible study, two of my friends lead worship and sang the most beautiful song. It expresses my very feelings on how I long to be with God. 

I wanna sit at your feet,

drink from the cup in your hand.

Lay back against you and breathe, hear your heart beat.

This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.

I melt in your peace, it's overwhelming.

You've read my thoughts on His eyes. You've read some of my thoughts on His hands. I haven't yet touched on His heartbeat, but that is not to say I haven't thought about it. Babies are comforted by heartbeats, especially that of their mother. It calms them and soothes them and let's them know that they are safe. They are with their mother, their maker. What a beautiful thing. I like to imagine that once I enter the gates to heaven God will wrap me up in his warm embrace and I will hear his heartbeat. 

... I will wait for the sound of his heartbeat to be calmed, to be soothed and, most of all, to know that I am safe in the arms of my maker. 

Looks Like Love

So, those of you who know me are privy to the fact that my brain works in mysterious ways. That being said, I may be one of the few people who can relate a bible verse to Harry Potter. So here I go, spreading the Word and solidifying my status as Harry Potter geek in one blog post. 

God loves me. This concept can, at times, be hard for me to grasp. I think that is largely due to the fact that our society throws the word "love" around far too often and it has lost some of it's value. But when I'm feeling down and lonely and utterly un-loved, God tends to break it down for me. Most recently, he used an interesting tactic, but I guess he knows I'm a visual learner. You guessed it... Isaiah + Harry Potter. I was surprised too. Let me explain.

Think Harry Potter: Order of the Pheonix. Harry goes to Professor Umbridge's office for detention and she tells him to write out "I must not tell lies" but gives him a quill she claims will not need ink. As Harry writes, the words he is writing are carved into the back of his hand. The writing on the paper comes out in his blood, hence the lack of ink required. It is clear that it is very painful for Harry to continue writing. God, however, did Harry one better. He didn't carve onto the back of His hand, but into the palm of it, and we all know from fire safety that the palm is more sensitive.

"But for those of us who are already His, He not only holds us in the palm of His hand, but had engraved our names there, and we are continually in His sight." —Isaiah 49:16

Can you even imagine how much that must hurt? But that is how much God loves me, and how much he loves you. He is willing to carve our names into the palm of His hand. What a beautiful testament to his unequivocal love for us. 

... so next time you're not feeling the love, think of your name on His palm. Because trust me, it's there.