You are more loved than you know

Just a quick post, as I am reflecting on my love relationship with Jesus. Tonight I would like to make one point for you all. This relationship with Jesus is THE most important relationship in all of my life, all of every single persons life. It isn't something to joke about, take for granted, or ignore because....well.... you just don't feel  like it right now.  It is life or death.  Jesus gave His absolute ALL to be in a love relationship with you. He simply wants to do life with you. 

Oh, I understand if you feel the weight of your past choices seem too unbearable to face but try TRUST.  Just give it a try. Open up your heart and ask Jesus to reveal himself to you. Trust him with your heart. Trust Him to reveal His heart FOR YOU! Anything you believe keeps you separated from Him is a lie. There is nothing that keeps you from Him except for doubt.  You can face him. There is NOTHING you have ever done that can keep Him from being head over heels in LOVE with you!  It is an amazing, all consuming love.

He gets it... we mess up. We will always and forever mess up. It is our messing up that is the foundation of our relationship with him in the first place. Our mistakes are what leave us deeply needing to invite Him into our lives.  It is the very thing that leaves us AMAZED at His deep love for us. Be vulnerable and let Him meet you right where you are! He is just waiting to show you the depth of His incredible love for you! Don't wait a second longer.

I loved the quote above and the excerpt below from an article written above by Timothy Keller. See if it speaks to you as well. 

" The gospel is the good news of gracious acceptance. Jesus lived the life we should live. He also paid the penalty we owe for the rebellious life we do live. He did this in our place (Isaiah 53:4-10; 2 Cor 5:21; Mark 10:45). We are not reconciled to God through our efforts and record, as in all other religions, but through his efforts and record. Christians who trust in Christ for their acceptance with God, rather than in their own moral character, commitment, or performance, are simul iustus et peccator- simultaneously sinful yet accepted. We are more flawed and sinful than we ever dared believe, yet we are more loved and accepted than we ever dared hope at the same time."

-Simply Sublime

Our Alphabet of Marriage: The Sweetest DIY Gift of Love Ever

In November my husband and I celebrated 21 amazingly difficult, breathtaking, wonder-filled years of marriage. We have experienced the "don't blink you don't want to miss one second of this" adventures of a lifetime, unfortunately we have also experienced enough loss for a lifetime, as well as everything in between. 

The more we have experienced the loss of loved ones, the more we have come to a place where "things" just don't hold as much value. The idea of working our patooshkies off resulting in more time taken away from our family in order to have more stuff, well let's say it has lost it's luster in our eyes. 

This can pose a bit of a problem for us during the "Gift-giving Holidays" of our culture. You know which ones they are, right? The ones that have all the commercials, magazine ads, and store decorations helping direct you to the oh-so perfect gift to show your undying love. If you pay close attention you may even recognize a grading scale on how deep your love truly is - the BIGGER diamond shows you love them that much more, the newest techie toy, the brand name clothing. The hope that after the recipient has gently removed the wrap and tipped open the box you might hear them utter these three simple words: "Oh...you didn't..."  

{Please don't get me wrong here - our family still has a love attraction to the stuff. We just have more inner turmoil that goes along with it. It doesn't "feel" the same as it once did. It has now become more of a love/hate relationship. So, we try to be more purposeful.}

On the day of our Anniversary my Husband was working on being more purposeful. He painstakingly lovingly searched around on the web for thoughtful ideas with a dyno-mite love punch. I am not certain of what he found or where, but he was inspired to create a very thoughtful gift. It didn't come in pretty wrap, it wasn't professionally done... yet it is my most cherished  gift I have from him. 

You see I found him the morning of our Anniversary sitting in a chair with his Bible and a spiral notebook in hand. He appeared pensive as I entered the room so I retreated back into the kitchen to give him some space. About an hour later he gifted me with the precious piece of ink scribbled notebook paper he had recently torn from one of the kids spiral notebooks. {See photo above} At the top of the page was written "Alphabet of Marriage" A through Z he had listed out the hopes, dreams and experiences that have glued us together.

There were a few misspellings & scratched over words but that only made it more precious to me. It was simply beautiful and truly heart touching. It was a line by line reflection of what our lives together were made of. Some of the life-line reflections had me in tears & some had me laughing. It was the PERFECT Anniversary Gift my heart had been unknowingly longing for. 

So if  you haven't already lined up your next token of love, I think this would make a sweet valentines gift for a husband to give a wife, a wife to give a husband, a child to give a parent - or even a gift for a friend. The title can be changed to reflect the Alphabet of Love, or the Alphabet of Our Friendship. Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Best Friends Day or Birthdays: this can be modified to make a very nostalgic & sentimental gift.

I hope this inspires you to take some time to reflect on your relationships & encourages you to let those special people in your lives know just how much they mean to you. They were written into your story with a purpose.

-Simply Sublime