Summer Lovin'

I've written a couple of times about the kids I work with at church. It seems that every time I am around them, it gives me something to reflect on. Friday was another Family Fun Night to wrap up VBS week. I was taking a volleyball break and one of the girls comes running up to me, throws her arms around me, and says "Miss.Sarah I missed you!" I thought to myself that it had only been 24 hours since she had last seen me, but then began to think about how maybe kids have a lot to teach us about love. The thing abut kids is that they see right through facades and they truly are great judges of character. This girl has seen me reprimand other kids and she has received some stern talks from me as well. But yet she still came running up to me to give me a hug and tell me she missed me. That kind of innocent, pure love is so beautiful. Kids often respond to adults with unabashed love just because those adults chose to share their lives. As adults, maybe we've missed something. Love so often becomes a chore, or it's used to manipulate or control, but a child's love is so simple.

I wonder if the love of a child is like God the Father's love for us. Does God yearn to throw His arms around us, and tell us He has missed us when we've run off in embarrassment after doing something wrong? Maybe we need to love the Lord like a child, just like we need to have the faith of a child to inherit the Kingdom. ....

In His Mercy.

Random Ramblings

Prayer request: My grandma is not doing so well. She was diagnosed with cancer back in November. It has since spread and her health is declining faster than we originally thought it would. My mom and her sister have already been discussing funeral plans with her and I have been asked to sing at the funeral. My grandma has yet to really realize how sick she is. It's been really hard on my mom and aunt and me, for that matter. PLease pray that my grandma would find a peace in the Lord in this and pray for my family as we discern what to do from day to day. Thanks...

Something that I am also still trying to process through is David and I's experience with prophetic prayer a week ago. We met up with a couple that Davd knows in Memphis and before we all parted ways, we prayed together. The wife started praying for me and asked God to continue to foster my gift of intercessory prayer. Well, this made my mind, considering that I always struggled in my prayer life. More specifically, I struggle with praying with people. Well, when Allison was praying this over me, my mind just started spinning. Maybe my "struggle" has more to do with my own insecurities and not a matter of God not gifting me with prayer. I think that when I know that I'll be praying with other people, something inside of me freezes up and I immediately start planning out what I'm going to say. Really, this is not what prayer should be. Prayer isn't about the words we say, but the heart behind them and the Spirit inspiring them. Anyway, my experience with this prophetic prayer was very powerful!!!

I need prayer, guys. My heart is heavy with family things, things that I know I have to face in the very near future, and holding on to the peace that David and I have together when we're apart- sometimes long distance just plain sucks! But I love him, and I trust that the Lord will continue to move us forward and bind our hearts together.

In His Mercy.

Love Part Deux

I've written a lot about love lately, mostly because love is just on my heart<3 I've been thinking about how godly love is in the context of a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. When the relationship is right, then it's only because of God. It has to be. I look at what David and I have and pretty much, I don't think we could possibly love each other if it wasn't for the Lord being the center of our lives and the center of our relationship. If something that powerful wasn't binding our hearts together, I don't think we would make it. And to me, that is a beautiful statement about what we have.

I read this verse a couple of days ago that I want to share: "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." (Psalm 33:22) When I read this verse, the image that came into my mind was a blanket completely covering me. God's love rests on our hearts and is so powerful that it begins to course through our veins. It holds us together, if we let it. Because of God's love, we are able to love ourselves, our families, and the people around us. As long as David and I let God's love rest on us and bind our hearts together, then we'll be ok. And to me, that's a beautiful thing=)

In His Mercy...