Authentic Love

It's in moments of tragedy when we realize how much we love a person. We adorn them with cards, flowers and balloons to show our appreciation for them.

This is nice, but why don't we share our gratitude for them in other times?

This morning I woke up to the smell of fresh sheets in my grandparent's extra bedroom. I spent the first few hours of my day baking cookies with my grandma and reminiscing on old memories. Before I stepped out the door, I gave my grandma a huge hug.

Then she started tearing up. I'm not writing this blog to exaggerate an intimate moment, but it was heart-wrenching. In two weeks, my grandma is going in for open heart surgery. Today was our last day spending quality time together before she goes in.

In that 20 seconds while we embraced each other in our arms, I swelled up with emotions. My mind flooded with flashbacks of the two of us together... Grandma giving me bread crumbles to feed the ducks when I was a toddler, Grandma holding my hand as we skipped to the park together down the block, Grandma teaching me how to sew.

I understood how much she meant to me and how much I loved her. I'm not trying to sound sappy; I just want to be real.

As I hit the wet roads to drive to work, I started thinking about tragedy and how significant of an impact it leaves on a person.

I've never experienced the death of a loved one. The only tragic moments I've experienced are severally ill or injured friends and family members.

But even in these "less" tragic moments, that's when our feelings of care and affection will flock over one person. They'll receive phone calls, gifts and visits, but when the person recovers and moves on, the people surrounding them move on too.

This isn't always the case; but generally we never seem to take extra time out of our days and recognize the people in our lives. In today's modern American society, we are always on the "dash-and-go" mode. We rarely take time to go out of our days to bless a person with words of encouragement or gifts of appreciation. It's just, well... too much for us.

We miss out on divine opportunities to lift a person up on a day when they're walking through the dumps, even if they're still wearing a smile on their face. Or simply givng them an extra boost to keep persevering.

What I'm trying to say is this: Don't just love on a person in their moments of despair and great need, love on them ALWAYS.

A person many need your love during tragedy the most, but don't ever stop sharing messages of encouragement and staying connected with them even while they're walking on top of the world. Because every bit of love adds up in the end.

That's how you define who a real friend is. Someone who genuinely cares for you, during every moment of your life - the good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing, the unbelievable. A person who loves you for no matter who you are and what you're going through is someone worth sticking with.

Just Be

Last week was Spring Break at my college. Instead of spending my week with family or basking in the rays on a white sand beach in Florida, I spent five full days with five beautiful ladies in Wisconsin. We stayed in a cabin about 30 minutes across the Minnesota border hidden in the depths of a grove of pine and birch trees, among patches of prairie land.

During our Monday-through-Friday stay in the cabin, we fellowshipped with one another and prayed for the missions trips from our school that went out into the world to serve. The three teams traveled to LA Dream Center, Asia and France. Our days typically consisted of individual prayer/journaling in the mornings, and corporate prayer and worship in the late afternoons and nights.

One huge thing the Lord taught me during this trip is that I have the authority in the name of Jesus over any situation. The Lord showed me this after being spiritually attacked the first two days. The enemy kept telling me I was worthless, and was taking advantage of the insecurity he loves to entertain me with. In our prayer circle on Tuesday night, I kept wrestling between the lies the devil was thrusting in my head and the truth I KNEW I needed to shout out. Then I just did it. I let it out. "Lord, I will not hold back anymore!" I proclaimed it and broke down in tears. But I felt spiritually released. I denounced the control the enemy had on me and declared victory in the name of Jesus! Fear CAN be eliminated. Doubts are NO MORE. The Lord already won the victory, and all we need to do is re-present that victory on Calvary! Isn't that awesome?

The rest of the trip was all a bit hazy to me in the moment. I asked the Lord to speak clearly to me, and He gave me this verse in the Old Testament. It is Samuel's response to the Lord calling on him for the third time in the temple:

     "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." -1 Sam. 3:10

Then I remembered: One way the Lord speaks to me is through my writing! So, I dug out my pen started scribbling. I wrote until I filled 24 pages in my journal with verses, pictures, thoughts and prayers.

After sifting through all that content, I discovered one common theme and one thing I felt like the Lord wanted to teach me: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE IS BEING WITH JESUS.

"being" - this word carries so much depth! Check out how dictionary.com defines it. I love the first definition listed:

     1. to exist or live

Isn't that profound when you apply it to my revelation? Let me re-write it with the new meaning. "The most important thing in your life is existing and living with Jesus." Doesn't that make it so much more real? Jesus is walking side-by-side with me, everywhere I go, doing everything I do with me. Even if I slip and fall. Literally NOTHING can separate me from the Lord! He is my Father and Friend. He's actually there, and I need to make an effort to spend time with Him and live my life in COMPLETE devotion to Him!

Devotion is simply worship, and worship comes in many forms. It is not merely a band on stage during Sunday morning church service singing the overplayed Hillsong and Jesus Culture songs. It is music, prayer, reading Scripture, journaling, crafting... The list is endless on the ways you can worship the Lord! All that it requires of you is that you do it in SPIRIT and in TRUTH. And your posture during worship needs to express the genuine condition of your heart.

What it all boils down to is this: Let go and let God.

One way to do this is to just stop for a second. Turn off that cellphone and shut your laptop; sit for a moment in silence. As Psalm 46:10 puts it, "Be still and know that I am God." Think about that. The Lord is directly asking us to tune down our busy lives and turn our eyes and our hearts to Him! I love how Peggy Kendall describes it, too: "Disconnect with your culture and reconnect with your Maker." That should be the basis for our everyday lives.

I challenge you. Slow down your wheels, even hit the breaks, and reflect on your life. Is your life rich, deep and purposeful, or is it just a cheap substitute? What are you missing because you're too busy? What can you surrender to the Lord in order to see Him in the 24 hours of your day?

Don't become too busy FOR the Lord that you don't have time to be WITH Him. Make your relationship with the Lord real. It may be messy, but guess what? That means it's a good relationship! Sit in His presence and just listen for His still, small voice. Because that changes everything. :-)