1. He loved me first. This is something I truly came to understand this week. Of course I've heard it before, God first loved us so that we may too come to love him. But the more I thought about it, it just struck me this week. I never had a life-changing, coming to Christ moment. My life, in a series of events, has been a process of me coming to believe and love God more and more each day. I grew up in a Lutheran church, but there were moments along the way that God met me here on Earth via other human beings. The first, Renee. She was my 8th grade confirmation teacher. She glows with love. Seriously, she is one of those people you meet and instantly feel warmth and understanding pouring out of her. Then there was my life-long friend Rebecca, my high school friend Katie and then Stacey Marie and Rachel in college. All of these wonderful women have been God's megaphone to me. It was because of them (and many others I'm not thinking of like my mom, sister, aunt, cousins and pastors) that I was and am constantly reminded of the one thing that matters most - God loves me dearly. I went through and still struggle with my party like a crazy-woman, drink like I'm not 95 lbs personality. Do I love that person? Is that who I want to be? Is that who God made me to be? Not at all. So God keeps pulling me back, telling me he loves me, telling me he has great plans for me, reminding me he hasn't given up or forgotten about me. God won't let me put Him out of my mind, and I love Him for that.
2. He blesses me daily, hourly. I can honestly say, if someone told me today I have everything I'll ever have - no more money, no more people, no more stuff, I would be okay with it. I have more than I could ever hope for when it comes to blessings. And I love the Lord because even though I am satisfied, I know he'll keep on giving me more.
3. He has filled my life with rich, meaningful relationships. My friends, my family, my significant others. I know good people because the Lord led me to them and them to me. He chose better than I could ever have chosen and for that, I love Him.
4. He is beyond my understanding. I think there is this dilemma in the world where we think we need to know EVERYTHING. I am guilty of this. We want to be in the know, have heard about it, seen it and can tell others what they don't know. When it comes to God though, I LOVE that he is beyond human understanding. I LOVE that he is bigger than me and that I just have to accept that. I love learning something new about Him and His grace every time I open my bible or go to church or meet someone new. Many have heard this story - but one of the most surreal examples of God's grace in my life happened a few years ago in the Norfolk, VA airport. There I was, sitting alone in the airport, super upset and basically numb. I had just discovered some unfortunate news about my then boyfriend. I won't go into it, but most who read this know and if you don't - to put it simply I was in absolute shock. So this young woman approaches me and asks if my flight is delayed. I say, "No, it's not until Wednesday." (It was only Monday.) She kind of looked at me and I blurt out what just happened and tell her I'm trying to get a flight out of there ASAP. Then the following occurred (mind you we don't know one another's name, where we're from or where we're going) - she calls the airline and books me an earlier flight, tells me to hang on she's going to go get her rental car back, we get in the rental car and decide to share a hotel, she stops at Walgreens and runs in to purchase ice cream, girly magazines and vitamins (she said I looked like I was about to pass out), and then we venture on to the hotel. When this whirlwind stops and we're settled in I finally ask, "what's your name?" I'll never forget, her name was Talia (like tequila), she was from Atlanta, GA and she was on her way home from a mission trip in England. She asks me to tell her everything. When I finish she simply says, you need rest, can I pray for you. She then prayed for me for a long time (I don't remember how long, it was surreal like I said). I fell asleep and when I woke up in the morning she was gone, left the number for a cab and my flight info on the table. A few days later she called to see how I was. Now I if you want to say she was just a nice person, OK. I know she was God coming to meet with me, saying hey, "You might not understand me or this situation or know this person I sent to comfort you, but I love you. Stop trying to understand it all." I love the Lord for being beyond me.
5. He remembers everything AND forgives everything. He knows my life detail by detail. I truly believe I am an awful sinner, that I fail miserably at reflecting God's love every day. But he forgives me unquestionably and that is too much for me to ignore.
6. He is constantly surprising me.
7. He is the mastermind, an original thinker, smarter than any of the geniuses I think I know.
8. He comforts me in my loneliest hours.
9. I yearn for Him. when he's missing, I know it and He draws me near. This past week I was extremely disappointed. So I didn't pray for a few days. I was missing my friend that just moved away and I was angry that I didn't get a certain job. Nothing seemed to be making me feel better. And then I stopped to pray. He's the only comfort that ever works.
10. There is nothing outside of His realm.
11. He is everything to aspire to - patient, gentle, loving, kind, selfless, forgiving, aware. He's everything I'm not but all I can hope to be.
12. He's inarguable. No one can deny there is a living, loving God. His love and presence expands beyond explanation. There might be a hundred thousand different explanations of who God is or what His kingdom is like, but there is undeniably a God in this universe.
