love, in all its complications.

i often forget that it takes work. like every relationship that i’ve ever had.

he didn’t take out the garbage.

she didn’t call me back.

he’ll regret that he forgot to tell me about that one day.

hurmphphmp.

but do i stop loving those folks for those little things? do i cease to think of them when a song comes on that brings them to mind, or a picture of them is brought to my attention?

sometimes i think i can, or i will be mad or hurt forever. but that sting fades, and that person is human. just like you. like me.

it’s like God’s love for me, and my love for Him.

i think that we are shown people who we want to love, that for whatever reason, cannot love us back equally.

everyone has the capacity.  not everyone knows what to always do with that capacity.

but if it is the right kind of love, if it is the love that someone truly cares about you, then they often do things they don’t want to, and we should honor this, because they are trying.

i need to remember that about God.

we cannot move from a place of unequal love, to a place of no longer loving them for a mistake, for if we do, we will lose out on the process of healing, of the hope found in forgiveness.

but remember this:: if you never want to love again, if you haven’t yet felt a deep love, if you don’t believe that God loves you because of tragedies, or hurts that you have experienced ::  if you think that love is without toil or sweat or tears, that it will solve everything without work involved, or sacrifice, or struggle, you have not learned the of the greatest love of all:: God’s love for us.

He gave his Son.

and each new day, he gives us a new sun too. a new chance for change, or healing, or more love to seep in.

for our earthly loves will cease with death, and our love of possessions will leave our houses full, and our spirits empty, but our love of God will bring grief, struggle, joy, triumph, and freedom.

He loves us SO much, that He sets us free,

and we don’t always feel that freedom.

but it is not a race to get to his LOVE.

it is a slow, sometimes epic journey, which will show us His love over and over again. just because we Love the Lord, or believe in God, or love our Neighbor, as we should, doesn’t mean that the suffering ends.

Doesn’t mean that the hurts cease to cut us, or that we don’t bleed when broken.

it means that during, and most certainly after the healing of those hurts, that binding of wounds, that salve of ultimate comfort, will lift us higher than the hurt could ever reach.

it will heal us (perhaps not fully) but more efficiently, stronger, and with more self confidence to adhere to the next challenge, bind the next wound, help the next neighbor.
so, if you are hurting, if you are broken, bleeding or down…remember that our ultimate restoration is not in this shell, but in the everlasting of the Greatest Love. our wounds will heal. our hearts will soar. our needs will be met, and then some!

please carry on with the sweat, the hard GOOD work, the forgiving, the healing, the journey.

because we all need you here, you are meant for something great, and most importantly ::

YOU ARE LOVED MORE THAN YOU KNOW.