Crazy, Beautiful Love

For the past year, Oldest Daughter and I have been meeting together once a week for bible study and discipleship.  We've read and discussed books like Beautiful Girlhood, A Young Woman After God's Own Heart, Raising Maidens of Virtue, Crazy Love,  Do Hard Things and Before You Meet Your Prince Charming.  We've also studied character qualities and disciplines like love, diligence, purity, stewardship, time management, prayer, wisdom, and evangelism using the Doorposts book Polished Cornerstones. 


We have had good talks and we've had hard talks.  We've both shed tears and we've been convicted over sin in our lives.  It's been a time of accountability and growth for both of us, but it's intentionally been a time of intense mentoring.  I have purposefully challenged her in her walk with the Lord.  I've encouraged her to fall deeply in love with the Him....to love Him with her whole heart, soul, mind and strength. 


As I sat across from her this morning, I was overtaken with the moment.  My heart was full as she began to retell what she had read this week in Crazy Love.  She shared of her heart's desire to love the Lord more, and I instinctively got a lump in my throat and had to hold back the tears of joy.  I marveled at the young lady that she is becoming.  And, in my mother's heart, I thought she was absolutely beautiful as she talked.  I tried to capture the moment so that I could remember it forever. 


And then it hit me....
God must feel this way about us.  He loves us like crazy....even more than a mother loves her daughter.  Is it really possible that He feels this way?  Is it possible that He looks down upon us and thinks we're beautiful in our growth?  He knows all our faults and failures.  He knows us better than we know ourselves - just like we know our children.  And yet, He loves us like crazy. 


Oldest Daughter is not perfect.  She has faults and failures.  She has tendencies to be selfish and impatient and unkind at times.  She gets mad at her brother and bosses her sister.  Yet I love her like crazy.  She's mine and, to me, she's beautiful.  She's full of repentance and a desire to grow closer to the Lord.  That makes her even more beautiful.  


Does this perhaps mirror our relationship with Jesus?  He loves us and cares for us and knows us.  He sees our sin, but He also sees our beauty......not beauty on the outside, but the pure beauty of hearts that seek after Him and long to love Him more.  Might He sit across from us in Spirit and take a long look at us and enjoy who we are becoming in Him?  Oh, I hope so. 


I have cherished my time with my daughter this past year. I wouldn't trade our time for anything.  She has done her part to read and be prepared and make time for our relationship.  God expects no less from us..... 


"...so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."  Colossians 1: 10

True Discipleship...Part 2

One of my truest and closest friends in my new hometown has become a man of about sixty and who looks a little like Santa Claus.  We have formed a bond over the course of going on two mission trips together and having lots of time to share our love for the Lord -14 hour bus rides provide that opportunity.   :) 


One thing that draws me to this friend is his unique love for people.  Unlike me, no one ever seems to get on his nerves or aggravate him.  He loves people in a way that is genuine and sincere.  He doesn't ridicule or belittle.  He is purposeful about forming relationships with those who are different and might not be loved by most.  This friend of mine goes to the same restaurant for breakfast a few times a week.  He enjoys the food, but more than that, he is interested in the man who owns the restaurant.  The owner, most likely, doesn't have a relationship with Christ.  He's rough and tough and uses harsh language.  Yet a few times a week, my friend is purposeful in getting to know him and gently love him.  Where this leads, only God knows.  My friend is content to listen and share and be interested in this man who may not know Jesus.

Last night, I had another interesting conversation with him.  He shared that he had taught Sunday School for a period of time, but never felt qualified or "called" to do so.  (He will gladly drive a bus every Sunday and Wednesday to pick up children that no one else would even care about, but teaching was never something he felt he should do.)  He mentioned that he didn't like the preparation of it.  He reads the bible, but feels somewhat unequipped to teach it.  I commented that I loved the preparation and study part of teaching.  It occurred to me right then, that he would no doubt make a wonderful teacher and that I have much to learn.  This man has been a teacher to me even though I've never been in a formal class with him.  He has taught me more about loving people than most any lesson could ever do.  Regardless of the hours that I might put into preparing for a class, if I'm  not willing to love people, get to know them, and form a relationship with them, the study means very little. 

Discipleship comes in many forms.  Loving people is the foundation of it.

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.  If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.  If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere.  So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."  1 Cor 13:1 The Message