Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's the day of "love". Lovers around the world celebrate their affection for one another. Families make heart-shaped pancakes.....Men buy red roses and chocolates...Some women even receive gifts such as jewelry.

But, what if you don't have a spouse?

What if you have a child who won't speak to you?

What if you are grieving the loss of your loved one?

Or, what if your "honey" doesn't buy flowers, chocolates, or jewelry?

What if you feel disappointed?

Unloved?

Whether we are celebrating the love of those around us, or we feel "left out" in this love thing, we need to remember our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can ever imagine.

For God so loved the world...

“We love because God first loved us!” (1John 4:19) We can only love God and take delight in Him because He FIRST loved us! "For God so loved the world, that He have His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) God loves the world so much that He sacrificed His one and only Son so that we may live.

God loves the WORLD, and you are included in the WORLD, but God loves YOU….personally. God loves YOU so much that He gave YOU Jesus.

When our youngest child Abby was about 8 months old, I was making my bed and I happened to look over at her. She was quietly napping in her swing. All of a sudden, I was filled with such an overflowing, intense, unconditional love for her. It was like a wave of love washed over me. I HAD to stop making the bed, drop everything and scoop her up, kissing her from top to bottom. I thought, "Abby, you are "addicting!" Sometimes I can't even do anything else but love on you!" I felt so much love for her.

She hadn't DONE anything.

She hadn't performed.

She wasn’t “being good.”

She was just….being.

And, I just felt overwhelming love for her. God whispered to my heart at that moment. “Tracy this is how I feel for you. I want to scoop you up and love on you. You don’t have to DO anything. You don’t have to perform. You don’t have to “be good.” Just BE.........”

Sweet Reader, God feels that way for you as well. He has an overflowing, intense, “gotta
stop what He is doing, scoop you up and love on you” unconditional love. Beloved, we don't have to DO anything, He JUST loves us! He just has to pick us up, breathe us in, kiss us, love on us.... The God of the Universe feels that way for YOU! Doesn't it just bring you to your knees?

God loves you and desires that you love Him back! “The Lord Your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. And He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17) Your God sings over you like a mother singing to her newborn babe cradled in her arms.

Do you get it?

Can you comprehend how much God loves YOU?

He takes delight in you. You make Him smile. You are His Beloved!

I'm sorry to say that our sweet husbands, children, parents, and friends will disappoint us at times....they are not meant to fill our needs, our longing...

Only your God can love you the way you need to be loved.

Completely.

Unconditionally.

Beyond measure.

And, because God loves us, He wants US to love one another.

This is the message we have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.-1John 3:11

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.-1John 3:18

Remember, LOVE isn't a FEELING. LOVE is an ACTION.

Love someone today.

Happy Valentine's Day!

His Love is amazing....

His Love is amazing....He rebuilds all that is broken in our lives.

He loves us with an everlasting love. He has drawn us with loving kindness. He will build us up again and we WILL be rebuilt. Hallelujah!

Please visit the Cafe for more WFW!

Thankful Thursday....lost and found.

Welcome to Thankful Thursday, a day to praise God and thank Him for all He has done in our lives! I have a GREAT story about a GREAT God that I want to share this week.

I was walking/driving home from school with the kids. Because we live SEVERAL blocks from the kids' school, I drive part of the way and then walk the remainder. It's too far for Abigail, so I bring the stroller for her to ride in.

Well, when we had reached the van and was packing up the stroller, three kids got my attention from across the street. They held up a black item and yelled over, "Do you know who this camera belongs too?"

As I squinted to get a better look, I realized it was MINE!

It had been in the stroller from a school activity the day before and I had forgotten all about it. It must have fallen out of the stroller when I had unpacked it and put Abigail in. I had not even noticed that it fell out!!!!!!

So, excitedly, I screamed, "Yes! It's mine!!!!!"

Oh......I was THANKING God! He had been looking out for ME! I wouldn't even known where to begin looking for the camera if/when I realized it was missing. The kids were so honest. I know it was God who prompted them to ask me. They didn't even know me! Oh, how GOOD our God is!

He is an "EVER-PRESENT HELP"! Please scroll down and read the next post that celebrates how God helps us in our times of trouble...

and please visit my very good friend Lynn for more THANKFULNESS!

Word-filled Wednesday!

“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”-Zephaniah 3:16

In honor of Abigail's 1st birthday, I would like to post one of my favorite verses on my 1st Word-filled Wednesday- Zephaniah 3:16. When Abigail was born, God spoke to my heart a very special meaning to this verse. I journaled about it a year ago:




As I snuggle Abby, only a few weeks old, inhaling her sweet baby smell, rubbing my cheek against her soft skin, my heart fills with inexpressible JOY! I look down into her eyes and my heart feels like it is going to burst because I am filled with so much love for her. Could it be possible to love a person so much? To be filled with such delight just LOOKING at someone?

Abby hasn’t DONE anything. She hasn’t pleased me because of her deeds or actions. I am delighted in her because she IS. She just lays there and IS. She does not need to perform in any way to please me. She doesn’t have to be “good.” I just love her- I can’t even explain it or put it into words. I love her with a love that can not be measured because she is mine.

God has shown me again how He feels for me by showing me how I feel for my children. “He takes great delight in me (and you!) and rejoices over me (and you!) with singing”- not because I have DONE anything, but simply because I exist and I am His. And, just as I look down at Abby, my heart bursting with love and joy, our Heavenly Father looks down at us, His heart bursting with love and joy. He breathes us in, rubs our cheeks, and is delighted in us. Oh, let that sink in! How our Father loves us!

Please visit Word Filled Wednesday for more inspiration!

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Could I love you anymore?

“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

As I snuggle Abby, only a few weeks old, inhaling her sweet baby smell, rubbing my cheek against her soft skin, my heart fills with inexpressible JOY! I look down into her eyes and my heart feels like it is going to burst because I am filled with so much love for her. Could it be possible to love a person so much? To be filled with such delight just LOOKING at someone?

Abby hasn’t DONE anything. She hasn’t pleased me because of her deeds or actions. I am delighted in her because she IS. She just lays there and IS. She does not need to perform in any way to please me. She doesn’t have to be “good.” I just love her- I can’t even explain it or put it into words. I love her with a love that can not be measured because she is mine.

God has shown me again how He feels for me by showing me how I feel for my children. “He takes great delight in me (and you!) and rejoices over me (and you!) with singing”- not because I have DONE anything, but simply because I exist and I am His. And, just as I look down at Abby, my heart bursting with love and joy, our Heavenly Father looks down at us, His heart bursting with love and joy. He breathes us in, rubs our cheeks, and is delighted in us. Oh, let that sink in! How our Father loves us!

Father God, we praise You! How wonderful and loving and good You are. Thank You, Father for loving us so very much. Lord, help us to receive Your Love, walking in the Light and warmth of Your delight and good pleasure. Praise You! In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.