What does love look like?

If anything I can honestly say this song represents the past year of my life. I've been on an ongoing journey to discover what love really looks like. I've desired to know what 1 Corinthians 13 was really saying... I've wanted to know what REAL love would look like if I was staring it in the face.

What I have found is that REAL LOVE

would give up EVERYTHING,

would risk EVERYTHING,

for just a CHANCE at having that love returned...

This song is beautiful. Hope it grips your heart and opens it, as it has mine.

Thirsty...

“Thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them”

–A.W. Tozer

Do you remember what it was like when you first felt that tug on your heart? You know that feeling where you knew that no matter where you try to run or hide that the Lord was calling you to Himself. Some of us might have tried to bury that call away in things of this world, others of us may have responded immediately overwhelmed and humbled that this King, this Savior, would take notice and desire us to come to Him. Either way we’ve all heard it.

I remember. I remember being only 10 years old, and yet there I stood at the altar, at the end of the service on December 18th. My heart racing and pounding in my chest, sweaty palms gripping the pew, not understanding what this was that was going on inside my heart, but knowing that there was something I was missing. And that something was Him. My sweet Jesus.

This past Sunday I sat in church, barely paying attention to the message. My mind was in so many other places. And yet there it was, time for us to bow our heads, the big moment, the call was going out around the room to hearts that were ready… my attention was back. I looked around the room as hands went up in the front, back, the girl sitting in the row in front of me… and I was reminded.

I was reminded of that call we’ve all heard at one point or another.

The call where we knew HE was real.

His LOVE was real.

I pray we never forget that moment. The moment where our corrupted, sinful lives were washed clean and made new. The moment where the old passed away and the new came. I pray that we remember the thirst that most of us first responded to Him from.

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” John 7:37

*Also, during the yesterday's service we focused on Jesus’ statement before He died “I thirst.” Pastor Chris focused on the importance of being transparent before people. How we should take off the masks of “Everything is fine” and be more real with each other. So here I am, mask down, saying the same thing “I THIRST!” There is something in me right now that is not satisfied. I thirst for more of my God. I thirst for the intimacy I experienced when I first met Him. I thirst to hear His voice, feel His presence, and commune with Him as I did when I first met Him. To find my first love.

Today I began reading a book called Sacred Romance By: John Eldridge. As I read the first chapter and wept my heart was awakened again. I was reminded how I thirst… and how deep within me there is a longing for more… Most of this blog is an overflow of what was going on inside my heart throughtout the day. Hope it touches someone! :)

Just a quote that stirred my heart...

"How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose...! You drove them from me, You who are the TRUE, the SOVEREIGN JOY. You drove them from me and took their place, You who are SWEETER THAN ALL PLEASURE, though not to flesh and blood, You who OUTSHINE ALL LIGHT, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, You who SURPASS ALL HONOR, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves... O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and My Salvation" ~St. Augustine

Can I be Real? :)

"Love is patient...."

Another version I read recently is...

"Love patiently AND passionately bears with others for as LONG as patience is needed..."

WOW... that just takes that scripture to a whole nother level doesn't it?

So I'm just gonna be real and take a moment to get out all that junk that the Lord began dealing with my heart on when I read this not too long ago- bear with me please.... :) remember love IS patient :)

~Sometimes its hard for me to be patient with people (especially those closest to me). I tend to be a results driven person-meaning I like to see change or growth- I like to see people continually moving forward. I tend to forget how some trials or obstacles may be more difficult for some people

-I forget grace- I forget love- I forget that its God's KINDNESS that leads people to repentance- I forget that sometimes the BEST way to help someone be an overcomer is not to give them advice and think my pitiful attempt of words will change them, but sometimes letting them walk things out at their pace, just walking beside them, is the best way you can help them- I need to not forget the process that we all have to go through in life.

I've recently been reminded loving someone patiently may be just allowing them to learn on their own and not putting expectations on them that they havent even put on themselves. Just think how patient Jesus must have been with His disciples. They were a bunch of screw-ups that He saw potential in to change the world- So he called them to follow Him- to walk through life with Him- Not once did He say "You can follow me but you must not have any problems, never complain, and never ever screw up anything, just be perfect"
NO! He was their constant encourager and faithful patient friend who would remind them "in this world you may have trouble but take heart for I have overcome the world" He didn't tell them they had to overcome it ... He just reminded them that He had and will continue to overcome any obstacle in their life as long as they trust Him for help.

Lord, teach me how to walk through life with people who need someone to just love them as they learn, and who need someone to be patient with them to the point they have come to in their walk with You. Help me to not put my ideas on them of how I think they should be or act, but to love them with patience as they grow into who You created them to be. Help me to be a friend, and encourager that always points to the great overcomer of this world, You!