Posted on by Charly

Leaves Were Falling This Morning

“Noooo,” I thought as I stood in my sunroom watching the first fall leaves glide down to the ground.  It is so cliche but; Time Flies!

It is inevitable and I do love the fall it just came so fast this year. Summer was a delightfully exhausting season that now lies in the past. We made many memories that I have begun to hold even more dear as my family continues to grow older at a rate of speed that I can’t always believe.

As I watched those first leaves falling it was just another reminder that time doesn’t slow down. No matter what is going on God holds the universe in existence.  I thank Him for giving us this dependable pattern of seasons.  With all that is constantly changing we can always count on His unchanging love for all He created.

Let us hold life dear and find the blessings in our struggles because like the leaves, we to will come to the end of our season and, unlike the leaves, will move on to eternity.

Photo from Pixabay.com

Posted on by Charly

You Are Loved!

I recall being pregnant with my second child and wondering how I could ever love another child as much as I loved my first. I didn’t think I had any space left to fit another child in my heart. It was already so full. Then she was born and suddenly my heart swelled. I had just as much love for this little one as I did for my first.

This blissful feeling is so overwhelming when a new baby is placed in your arms. It’s not difficult to imagine loving this little human and protecting it from harm. You can easily imagine putting your life at risk to keep this precious new life safe. This love and safety that is automatic towards this new little human is the closest feeling I can come up with to describe Gods’ love for each of us. Of course He doesn’t question if He has enough love for more humans, He tells us to go forth and multiply. He knows He has more than enough love for all of us. It is us, humans, who don’t always have enough room for Him.

When I think of someone who loves me I immediately picture my own mom and dad. It truly didn’t matter what I did they always loved me. I pray everyone has at least one person that comes to mind when they think about who loves them. There is something that is strengthened inside of us when we know we are loved unconditionally. This kind of love gives us courage and a feeling of security.

Sadly there are many people who don’t feel loved. They don’t feel that there is someone that will love them no matter what. We live in a dysfunctional world where love is twisted, confused, and manipulated. Even if no human person comes to mind, or if you question weather those who are supposed to love you truly do there is always God. He never takes His love away. No matter what you have done or are going through He always loves you!

He loves you in exactly the way you need. A way that we can’t even understand completely because it is so unchanging. He doesn’t love you only when you do good. He loves you always and because of this He desires your happiness. He gives us rules to bring us happiness. He knows what is best because He knows each of us so completely. He doesn’t want you to be alone, to be scared, or to feel unloved. He wants to walk with you on this journey and at the end of this existence He wants you to be with Him for eternity.

He loves each one of us so much that He has a plan for good for each one of us. Even if we choose to stray from His plan we can always choose to come back to it. He is so good that He will continuously help us find our way back to Him. He is the ultimate guide to happiness because of His true love for each of us.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” John 3:16 NAB

Photo: pixabay.com

Posted on by Charly

Filling the Cracks in our Hearts

I try to love my family. As hard as I try I make mistakes. I let my husband and our children down. I can’t be perfect love for them. That is the deal and it won’t change.  In fact as much as I would like to deny it, I am most likely the cause of some of the cracks or wounds in their hearts.  There is no way to have perfect love on this earth. I try to fill all people in my life up with love. These attempts are noble. They can fill them to a point and build them up but not completely. Only God is capable of completely filling them and doing so with perfect love.

Without wounds we may not see a need to let Jesus in.  If we have no cracks in our heart there is no room for His love to fill us.  Our wounds can therefore be seen as gifts.  This is not to say we need to create wounds, as there are enough to go around without trying to create them.

We all have wounds. They were created by people, interactions, circumstances, and/or our own sin. As awful and deep as some of them are they give us space to let Jesus in. Once we realize there is a filling for these cracks, a balm for these wounds  we can ask Jesus to come into our hearts, fill them, and begin the healing.  And He will! He will fill them with His love and eventually He will heal them.  It will be a healing done in His time, possibly not fully until we enter His presence eternally but we will notice His work when ask and He will be there with us along the journey.