Easier said than done...

Ever heard the phrase "It's easier said than done." Most things in life are.  I have had hundreds of goals and dozens of dreams.  I have daydreamed down to the last detail what I want my life to look like. Sometimes I just get so fed up when things don't go according to plan...when things stray from the path I had previously designed in my head.  I want so badly to make a difference in this world. I want so badly to live out my life for Jesus.  But sometimes I get so caught up in the process, that I forget to love from the endless font God provides me.  I love from my poor pitiful supply of love and in doing so I run out fast.  I become run down and exhausted.  Loving shouldn't be exhausting.  When we come across someone who we believe is quote on quote "difficult to love" it isn't because they are actually difficult to love, but that we aren't truly loving them.  Love is selfless.  Love never seeks it's own benefit.  And love never keeps score.  If we are finding it hard to love someone, it is because we are keeping record of all the good we have done and all the disappointment we have received in return.  This is not Love.  Through offering up our struggles we partake in something greater.  Something I am working on in my life right now is coming to terms with my own ability to change situations and attitudes towards faith.  I can only do so much.  In reality, it is the Holy Spirit that actually changes hearts.  I remind myself to stop trying to change them, and just love.  So much to pray about...
Ponder love today.

Faith like a child.

I am constantly reminding myself to see my Lord through the eyes of a child.  This faith is so pure.  So trusting.  So intimate.  God wants us to know Him.  And He wants us to open our hearts to Him without reservation.  That is what children do.  They have a desire to be loved.  And they open up their hearts to all in order to receive this love.  Their joy comes from knowing love and loving in return.  Every day is an adventure, an unknown arrival of surprises and joys, a day to play and laugh and be held by a mother or father, a day to seek knowledge driven by honest curiosity, a day to live in love.  I am blessed to have little ones in my life who constantly remind me how wonderful this life is.  We need only to seek it.

God cannot help but love us.  He doesn't know how to not love us.  He is love.  All He asks is that we receive this love and love in return.  He wants to hold us and wipe away our tears; he wants to forgive us and show us how beautiful we are; he wants us to know our worth and value.  We are enough because He created us... for that reason alone, we have worth, we have dignity, we are called.  If the world loved and received love as children do, what a beautiful word this would be.
Ponder love today.

I want more of you, God.

The more I see where Jesus is in my life, the more I see where Jesus is not in my life. 
The more I see where Jesus is not in my life, the more I want to receive Jesus in my heart.  
And the more I receive Jesus into my heart, the more I find myself wanting Him.  
The more I want Him, the more I realize my need for Him.
We are called to love, but in order to do so, we must learn what love is.
We must learn WHO love is.
Ponder love today.