God’s Love Expressed

I always have the best of intentions when it comes to updating my blog, but somehow life ends up happening and updating doesn’t! 

I got to have my bridal portraits taken last Thursday and had a BLAST! Marks Moore, a friend and coworker, is our photographer and his wife, Sarah, came along. We had so much fun! The week leading up to it was somewhat stressful, though! Rewind to last Monday morning. We were originally planning on taking my bridals on Friday morning, however I wasn’t able to make my hair appointment any earlier than 9 am. Since the sun rises so early these days, Marks was really worried about the lighting. He offered the idea of switching to a Thursday night, and after realizing that my bouquet had already been ordered, we realized that we would need to do THAT Thursday (as in 3 days!!). I spent lunch making phone calls to make sure everything was covered if we switched it to Thursday. Thursday rolled around and I could not have asked for a better day! It was overcast and the light would break through the clouds every now and then and create the perfect lighting. It was cool and windy, which made taking pictures for a couple hours comfortable AND provided some cool shots with my veil.

For the guys that are reading this (I don’t even know who reads my blog…), I probably lost you on the last paragraph. But if you have a wife, you understand how important bridals can be. It was the first time for me to see everything together. I had tried on the dress with day-old make-up and my hair in a ponytail. I had seen a picture of what I wanted my bouquet to look like, but hadn’t seen the real thing. I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted my hair to look like, but that could end up TOTALLY different! But Thursday, I had the dress, the hair, the veil, the make-up, and the shoes. The only thing missing was my future husband, Jon! It got me really excited about our wedding day and all the events leading up to it. This time in 2 months, we will be married! (56 more days, to be exact!) I get overwhelmed sometimes thinking about how gracious God is to give me a man that loves Him with his whole heart and loves me in light of that love. I am so grateful to God for providing me a man that has seen me at my worst and still thinks I’m wonderful! What a blessing Jon is!!

This picture perfect day also got me thinking about how personal God really is. He is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives…all we have to do is open our eyes to it. People can pass things off as luck or coincidence, but I’ve been praying that God would open my eyes to his hand moving in all things. THAT can be an overwhelming thought…realizing that level of intimacy. It’s also extremely comforting. 

A few months ago, I was reading in Ephesians 3. Verses 12-18 stuck out to me and I rewrote my interpretation of it. As I was thinking about the love of God, he reminded me of these verses and I thought I’d share them with you. Be blessed that God loves you and chooses to express his love in intimate, detailed ways!

“In Jesus Christ, and through our faith in Him and His sacrifice, we may approach God, the Creator of the Universe, the God of Jacob, Moses, and Abraham, with total freedom: freedom from condemnation, freedom from accusation, freedom from fear, freedom from intimidation. We may also approach Him with confidence: confidence in the sacrifice made through His Son as the perfect atonement of our sin; confidence that Jesus’ death gives us new life and places upon our heads the crown of righteousness. 

It is with this freedom and confidence that I now kneel before the Father, who has graciously made us His sons and daughters. I plead that your thoughts, your soul, and your inner spirit is strengthened by his power that is poured so abundantly from his glorious riches. I pray that Jesus Christ will dwell in your heart as you faithfully place your past, present, and future in His hands. In view of Christ giving His life as the ultimate expression of His love for you, I pray that you, along with fellow believers, may come to grasp how unending this love truly is. It has no limits. It stretches as far as the east is from the west. It reaches further than the north is from the south. It surpasses the highest mountaintop and goes beneath the lowest valley. When you see the sun rise in the morning and hear the birds chirp their praises to God, may you know that He loves you. When you discover colors made known to you only by the beauty of a sunset, may you know that He loves you. When you look at where you were and where you are, may you know that God has pursued your heart in a way unsurpassed by man and may you know that He loves you. When you see the hand of God in your decisions, your failures, your achievements, and your mistakes, may you know that He has a purposed plan for your life and may you know that He loves you. I pray that you find God’s love in the littlest of things and in the biggest of circumstances. I pray that you would see Him in all things and that you would know without a doubt that you are deeply and dearly loved.”