Lessons about Love:

           For most of my adult life if I was asked if I was self confident I would probably have answered, "Of course".  I've never felt like I loved myself less, or had a low view... But somewhere along the way it crept up. Through the circumstances of life, the enemy started telling a lie. The worst part, is that I believed it.  

           To me, the greatest tragedy of all is that all of this was only revealed to me mere months ago. I know and trust that God's timing is perfect, so I can only imagine that maybe I wasn't ready to hear it until now...but it's difficult for me not to "what if" my life away. I feel so sure that many of the decisions I have made over the last 10 years would've been far different had I heard the loving voice of my Heavenly Father rather than the lies of our enemy.  Nevertheless, I feel the most important thing I can know and share is this: I was loved before I came to be. I am loved today with unconditional love that I cannot outrun. Absolutely nothing on this earth or even in the heavenlies can separate me from his love. And I will be loved from today into eternity's endless span. There is not a day in the future that I have to face without God's unfathomable love.  

           I can assure you that this is not the great romantic tale I was sure I'd be recounting at age 30, but with certainty I can tell you it is the most beautiful that I will ever tell. The revelation of God's love for me rips my hard heart open wide. It is the most fulfilling, lavish, satisfying love I've ever experienced. On this earth in my dating relationships I've repeatedly tried so hard to make a man love me. If I was a good enough cook, talented enough, smart enough, ambitious enough...but I was never enough. The most freeing part of God's love is that I don't have to be. I. Don't. Have. To. Be. Enough. He is enough. More than enough. Every day since the day that God astounded me with this simple yet monumental truth out of the mouth of my counsellor, He has been whispering it in my ear. He has been shouting it from the pages of every blog I read. Every book I pick up. Every video I watch on Youtube. Every song that comes on my Pandora. And from the lips and actions of friends old and new. You. Are. Loved. and. I. Am. Enough.  

           Lord, let me be brave enough to believe you. Strengthen my heart and my bones. Let your Spirit bring life to the dead, cold places. Let my faith be so strong that fear has no place.  

Amen