You know what? Sometimes I get tired of hearing people say that God loves me. It's true I know, but sometimes when I'm really tired and worn out I think something like, Mom always said "You need to love your (brother)/sister." And what did that love look like? Sure I love my sister; she's my sister - I love her. I would give my life for her, but that love still isn't the kind of love that I want to think about when I'm thinking of God. I don't want to think of God loving me enough to die for me, but really only putting up with me most of the time.
I heard recently that when you get tired of hearing that God loves you (how ever true), you should think that God likes you. It's really different when someone comes up to you and genuinely says, "Hey, you know, I really like you." I like you; I like who you are; I like what you do; I like you from the inside out. I like you. In the same way it's different to me when I think of God saying to me, "Hey, I really like you, Liz." That's a good feeling. And I know it's true. I know that God does love me too, and His love is perfect and much deeper than the human love I'm comparing to, but that doesn't stop me from doing it sometimes. I bet you do it too. So the next time you start feeling tired of hearing people say that God loves you, remember: God likes you a lot.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Say Something
I just got home from another funeral. Yes, it seems that I am surrounded by a lot of that these days. It was beautiful, and somehow it helped, but I feel more loss than I did before. The reality of people missing in my life sinks in deeper every day. It's hard...
But, that said, the funeral was lovely. I met many people who shared similar joys and sorrows in our beloved Micah. I cried a little; I laughed a little. The service was beautiful, focused on God and the beauty of the earthly life left behind. The number of lives touched was astronomical to me, and each one that came enjoyed sharing how with each other during the amazingly-well-supplied-for food fellowship. There were flowers and pictures everywhere, and the hand-crafted medieval armor that dear Micah had painstakingly worked on with such care for so long. I am consistently amazed at the lives he has touched and changed. How could a simple, fourteen year old boy make such a difference to so many, and deeply affect everyone who met him, no matter how long or short of a time they knew him? How does a regular kid say something that big with his life?
Am I living with that kind of a testimony? When people meet me, are they touched? Are their lives better for having known me? Or am I just another person? Or worse, am I someone who affects other's lives negatively?
I want to pay tribute to this amazing, godly, young boy, but I don't really know how. I know that if you knew him and/or his family that you have probably been involved in helping them with giving memories of Micah. I want to open up another forum though. I'd like if you knew Micah to share something about him in the comments below. A memory, or a characteristic; you choose. Or maybe you didn't that well, but you'd like to know something. Ask questions about him. Let us talk about him. Say something about Micah. Say something to show how big his life and his heart was.
But, that said, the funeral was lovely. I met many people who shared similar joys and sorrows in our beloved Micah. I cried a little; I laughed a little. The service was beautiful, focused on God and the beauty of the earthly life left behind. The number of lives touched was astronomical to me, and each one that came enjoyed sharing how with each other during the amazingly-well-supplied-for food fellowship. There were flowers and pictures everywhere, and the hand-crafted medieval armor that dear Micah had painstakingly worked on with such care for so long. I am consistently amazed at the lives he has touched and changed. How could a simple, fourteen year old boy make such a difference to so many, and deeply affect everyone who met him, no matter how long or short of a time they knew him? How does a regular kid say something that big with his life?
Am I living with that kind of a testimony? When people meet me, are they touched? Are their lives better for having known me? Or am I just another person? Or worse, am I someone who affects other's lives negatively?
I want to pay tribute to this amazing, godly, young boy, but I don't really know how. I know that if you knew him and/or his family that you have probably been involved in helping them with giving memories of Micah. I want to open up another forum though. I'd like if you knew Micah to share something about him in the comments below. A memory, or a characteristic; you choose. Or maybe you didn't that well, but you'd like to know something. Ask questions about him. Let us talk about him. Say something about Micah. Say something to show how big his life and his heart was.