A Valentine’s Day Testimony

Dear Blog,

Today is Valentine’s Day and I really don’t know how to feel about it. I am stuck in the place of contentment in my singleness, yet also longing for the beauty of love and the joy it can bring. But even in this state I am still able to take something from this Valentine’s Day.

Working in customer service, you get to observe all kinds of people and the differences between each of them. Without even knowing a person, you get to see glimpses of their lives. For me, I love that sort of thing. There is something so intriguing about how people work and the different ways they react to things. And how interestingly enough all of our stories are meeting together in one common place where we each play a part in each others stories in someway. With all of that, I come into work doing my job while simultaneously observing the people I serve. And today I observed some different reactions to this particular day.

One observance I had made was of a lady sitting by a window. And as she looked out the window a man passed by. She watched as this man strolled past with another woman at his side. I had previously witnessed this lady by the window and that same man together a while back, but haven’t seen them come in together in a long time. As I continued to work, I again passed by the lady by the window a moment later, and caught a glimpse of her wiping away tears. It didn’t take long to connect the dots. And as I observed this lady’s hurt, I was hurting right there with her. I know the feeling all too well of watching someone you had once allowed your heart to love, now be off to the next infatuation. All the while you are left behind picking up the pieces of your heart they had so carelessly torn apart. This kind of love is painful and creates a thick wall of bitterness around the heart.

Other observations I had made were of a lot of admirable stories of the plans husbands had come up with to show their affection and love to their wives; surprising them with roses and gifts without even having to be asked. To see the light in the eyes of the wives who spoke of it, sparked hope in my own heart of what could come; to one day feel as cherished and loved by a man like they are. Not just for a passionate moment in a lustful relationship, like I have experienced before, but in a lasting committed relationship. I hope for the moment when this particular day can be a day to look forward to instead of dread.

So this is why I don’t really know how to feel about this day. I see and relate to the pain that comes with love. But I also see and have tasted the sweetness it has to offer. Where, then, do I stand in the battlefield of love? Do I stand and fight on the side of pain and bitterness? Or do I fight for and hope in the beauty love has to offer? But as I stood their in the midst of the people I had observed, it dawned on me that I don’t have to fight on either side. But rather I can use the experiences I have had to aid people on both sides.

For those who have lost in love and now are left with the sting and pain, I can relate to them. I can reach in and extend compassion from a heart that sympathizes with the hurt. I can share my experience and welcome them in to the healing process that I myself had received. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” So, although I have known the worst of pain in heartbreak, I have also known the sweetest embrace of a loving God who heals. And I can help others know that too. And for those who have won in love and are living in the beauty of it, I can rejoice with them, because I have been able to experience a glimpse of it too. I may not know much about it, but I am hopeful in the beauty of it.

Romans 12: 15 commands us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” So that is how I am choosing to fight for love. To step in and extend the compassion and comfort that was extended to me in my own broken and hurting place, while at the same time genuinely rejoicing with those who are experience the sweetness of loves beauty. Knowing that it is truly something to be cherished and hoped for. That it is worth searching and waiting for.

Ultimately, this Valentine’s Day has shown me that His effortless, unconditional love is surrounding me constantly. I really have no reason to desire anything more, because I truly have it all in Him already. I have a peace that can not be shaken the closer I get to Him. I am continually growing as I learn to trust in Him in all life’s seasons. I have a faith more sure as He keeps revealing His great faithfulness to me. And I have a love made more real as His glorious grace washes over my soul again and again.

Oh how great is my God.

And Oh How I long for all to know His kind of love this Valentine’s Day.

Sincerely,

theblessingsgirl

 

Beautifully Intertwined

I have recently finished the book Daring to Hope by Katie Davis Majors, and WOW! What an amazing book that testifies to God’s goodness in and through it all. Such a powerful book and I strongly encourage everyone to read it! If you do happen to read it and come across pages 130-132, you will read a beautiful testimony of how intentional God is in every detail of our lives. The testimony is how God used Katie to welcome her sweet friend, Betty, into God’s arms. She was able to read a part of Revelations 21 over Betty and as she ended in “Amen” Betty breathed her last. She was taken into the Lord’s arms and brought into heaven. She was no longer suffering, but rejoicing with her Father. And how beautiful it must have been to witness and play a part in. And so began my inspiration for this blog as God began speaking to me through it.

I began my week with this reminder, of how God is beautifully intertwined in all of our lives. He is in every hurt and in every healing. He is in every mess and in every victory. He is in every cry and in every laugh. He is in every detail. Psalm 139 is such a beautiful description of just how much God is intertwined in our lives. Verse 13 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” And in verse 3, it states, “You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” From the very beginning of our lives God has been intertwined; so intimately involved. Even in the darkest places of our lives, when we feel no presence of God, He is still with us. “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light becomes night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is light to you” (verse 11-12). Nothing can keep Him from us. He is a God that is persistent and faithful and true. He will continue to pursue us and remind us how near He is. And He is so creative in showing us just how near He is.

In my bible reading I came across Luke 22:8-13, “Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.’ ‘Where do you want us to prepare for it?’ they asked. He replied, ‘As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.’ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.” As I read this I was again reminded of how detailed God is in His workings; how specific and purposeful they are. Not only is he using Peter and John in preparing this Passover, but He brings in others to play a part in bringing it all together. And I am brought back to Katie Davis Majors and Betty and how God intertwined their lives to beautifully display His glory in life and in death. In her last chapter Katie states, “All our stories and the intricate way they have been woven together whisper of His glory, His wild pursuit of each of us. His unending grace and love and kindness reach to us, saving us, drawing us to Him. We can be mended only if we have been broken, and so often it is in the mending that we feel most clearly His tender heart toward us. Every detail of each story is His grace, His gift to remake us in His image and rename us: His” (page 193).

Have you ever received a random encouraging word from someone and it was exactly what you needed to hear? Or ever received a random gift on a really bad day that made it better? I say random, but really it is far from random. God sees our hurts and looks intently at our hearts. He knows what we need and He sends people our way to meet that need. These are ways He shows us that He is a personal, intimate God. It shows that He is still good even when things don’t go as we planned. We unfortunately will always face struggles in this broken world. But if we allow ourselves to see the work of His hands in every detail of our lives, we will start to see that even in the broken and hard places, He is still good; that He is making beauty from our ashes. Oh how beautifully intertwined He really is.

I pray that God would allow you to see His goodness in everything. I pray that you would see the work of His hands, even in the hurting places. And as you seek Him I pray you feel His presence near you, comforting you and loving you. I pray you would hold on to the truth that He is beautifully intertwined in every detail of your life.

God bless you!

Love,

theblessingsgirl