Letters

Dear Fall Break,
Please hurry up and get here. You're only a day and a half away but today felt like an eternity. I don't even know what I'll do once you're here. Probably sleep. Yeah. 

Dear Benadryl,
I hate you. You made me fall asleep in two classes today. And one of those was chorus. How does one fall asleep while singing? Please explain this to me because I have no clue. And when I was asleep I had some wacko dreams. Benadryl... I don't trust you anymore. 

Dear sweet friends, 
I'm not sure exactly why, but I've been feeling especially grateful for you this week. I think it's because of our goofy little chats lately. And our ridiculous group messages. Y'all are precious.

Dear Pip,
You are getting to be such a big boy! And you're pooping on the floor less. Only a little less though. But it's progress. You are a snuggle bug and I want a blanket made of your fur. That sounded super creepy... Well, a blanket as soft as your fur.


Dear new camera strap,
I've been searching for someone like you. You're all I've ever wanted in a camera strap and I'm so lucky to have someone as great and pretty as you. :P

Dear Gungor,

Your new live CD is amazing. It makes everything like five times more dramatic and makes me lift my hands up to praise the Lord. So thank you.  

Dear Jesus,
I'm sorry I've been distant. Thank you for Your grace and forgiveness. Thank you for always welcoming me into Your arms with beautiful loving-kindness. I love you. Help me love you more.

Constant, Perfect Love

¹⁵ 

Leaving. Turning away. Forgetting. Walking right out of our lives. Falling of the face off the earth.
Whatever you want to call it, it's something we all fear. We fear our friends will leave us in the dust and forget about us. We fear our boyfriends will walk out of our lives, never to be seen again and never to love us again. We even fear our parents will turn away from us and become a figure in the distance. So we try to protect ourselves. We put up big, thick walls and say "I'd rather be isolated now than to be hurt later when they leave". Either that, OR we continue to be hurt time after time because "this time will be different" and we feel like we can completely trust this new person in our lives who seems to offer so much more than the last person but only leaves us empty. 

But Christ's love never leaves. It never is less than enough and never ends. It is always perfect. He never turns his back on us and leaves us confused. He is completely constant and never decides He doesn't love us anymore. And the best part about the truth of His constant, perfect love is that we don't have to build those walls anymore. Since He will never leave, we don't have to fear becoming too attached only later to have our hearts broken. So we can love Him with all we are, our expectation not temporary love followed by ultimate brokenness but instead constant fulfillment by His perfect love and eternity to enjoy it.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

1 John 4:18

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.

Isaiah 49:15-16

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation of shadow due to turning away.

James 1:17

"...he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

Hebrews 13:5-6

The Pursuit

The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Luke 19:20

Seek and Save. 

seek (verb)

1.      to go in search or quest of 

2.      to go to

save  (verb)
 1.    to rescue from danger or possible harm, injury, or loss
 2.    to keep safe, intact, or unhurt; safeguard; preserve
 3.    to keep from being lost
 4.    to avoid the spending, consumption, or waste of

God has put this verse in my path so much lately. You know what that means... Must be what I need to know!

 It is just one of the most beautiful things ever to know that we are sought after. Christ is in search of us and goes after our hearts. But after He finds us He doesn't just leave us where we are like "Oh, there you are. Well, it's nice to have found you. Goodbye now!", but rescues us and keeps us from being lost ever again.

Just like the fairytales we read as little girls, where the prince seeks the princess, finds her, and saves her from the tower, Christ does the same thing for us. Think back to those stories. Was it always the easiest journey for the prince? Not really. He would get attacked in the woods or in some kind of duel with the bad guy. Same with Christ. In order to seek and save, the Savior had to be slain. But He overcomes, saying "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." (Rev 1:17&18). He is alive forevermore and His love is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 103:17).