I can't stop thinking about this and my new role as mom brings this home even more.
God loved us so much, he gave his Son to us.
Today's exercise, ok, more like, this week's exercise, is to open our heart to Jesus and accept the love that he personifies.
I suppose that sounds easy enough but if you really think about it, it is not. We can all say that we accept love but to truly accept is to truly give in.
My friends and I jokingly say, "You can't choose who we love." whenever our spouses do something that seems either juvenile or illogical to us. The more I think about it though, the more it's true. You really can't choose who you love. Just like you can't choose, you can't choose the things to only love about your spouse. You love him/her with all your being. You accept his weaknesses and quirks. You bolster him and support him. You challenge him and help him thrive.
Jesus didn't pick and choose who to love.
"...you can become His instrument to meet the needs of your spouse."
Through the craziness, the stress and the confusion, the underlying truth is I love my spouse and I have made a committment freely to be his partner in life. Just as my husband is a conduit for God's love for me so must I be. Through it all, we must trust in Jesus.
One of the questions asked is, "What has He shown you today?"
Today, I was reading about a mother's faith and a family's struggle to put their faith in God as they deal with the illness of their youngest boy.
I'm not a doctor but I've been surrounded by medicine all my life. My family is in the business of medicine. My worker bee role is in medicine. I think I'm sometimes a bit callous about things because of such but this struck me like nothing else in a very long time.
I am moved by her honesty and her bravery and her faith. I am touched by her son's courage and the beautiful life that fills his eyes in every photo she shares.
Stellan and his family reminded me today that love is more powerful than anything in the world. Love transcends distance. Love is all or nothing.
And it reminded me of something a sister used to tell me, "We are all here to make a difference in some shape or form. We need to trust God and put ourselves in His hands." Stellan and his mom have touched me and reminded me of God's love and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. This little guy, who is younger than my baby girl, is filled with so much love that it's bursting and spreading to so many. If that isn't the power of God at work, I don't know what is.
