“I have loved you even as my Father has loved me. Remain in my love.”-John 15:9

We spend our days looking for signs of love.  Am I lovable? Do you love me? People confirm it, or we feel rejected by the perceived lack of love. There are two who love us unconditionally, forever. Jesus loves us because He is loved by His Father.  Our job is to find this love and remain in it all our days.

My First Love

My twin brother and I arrive unexpectedly six-weeks early. My young mom has no idea she’s having twins until they discover me after my brother is born.  At home, it is my older brother who is not yet one year old. We are all the same age for two weeks every July! My mom is 20 years old and has three babies and is thrilled about it. 

She’s a playful, “take charge” person. She works hard as a farmer’s wife. She tends the large garden, cooks homemade meals and treats, sews our clothing, hangs wallpaper and paints, keeps a tidy house, and serves in community groups.  She’s a bright light and the life of the party but also a hard worker and carries one of those, “you better listen to me when I speak” kind of tones. Everyone loves her.

On snow days she lets us destroy the house with our toys, and we cook fun food.  I spend my childhood as her sidekick in the kitchen. There is nothing she won’t tackle. I admire her ability to produce. She loves to play the piano or listens to record albums, as music fills our home. She’s ridiculous and funny and a great actress.  

 My mom is my comfort as I plop down on my bed,  sobbing tears of rejection. She sits with me, rubs my back and lets me cry.  We have the best heart-to-heart conversations. She holds me tight and tells me everything is going to be alright. Isn’t that what a girl needs most?  In the great big world where I perceive rejection, I have someone who tells me I’m lovely and I want to be loved. I never want to disappoint her. 

 She listens to my teenage heartbreak, attends all my school events, tells me I’m beautiful and asks me to wear lipstick. ( I resist that request for a while, but now lipstick is my favorite, and now I say to my daughters, “You need a little lipstick!  It’s true, we do become our mothers!!) I have been loved by my mother my entire life and her love has healed me. I never question her love for me, and she helps me receive God’s love. 

 She is the one constant source of love in my life. She always has been.  When we’re out shopping she buys me something and says, “Don’t tell the boys!” and devilishly grins.

My heart grows a little larger because of my mother’s love for me.  She speaks words of life over me while dealing with her own heartache. Her love is a warm blanket I return to when I’m cold.

As great as my mother’s love is, I’ve found something even greater in the love of God. God places people in our lives as an example of His love. My mom was the first.  They point us to Him. When we experience love, God is always behind it because He is love. 

 When we struggle to feel loved it’s because we don’t understand all Christ has done for us, or we have an incorrect picture of God’s love.  Our highest calling is to understand God’s love because living loved is the greatest feeling known to man. Once we understand God’s love, He asks us to be vessels of His love to the world. 

Here’s how we know it’s God’s love…

• It is patient

• It is kind

• It is not jealous

• It is not proud

• It is not boastful

• It is not rude

• It is not selfish

• It is not irritable

• It keeps no record of wrong

• It does not rejoice about injustice

• It never gives up

• It never loses faith

• It’s always hopeful

• It endures through every circumstance

God never rejects us or withholds His love.  His love is not conditional or based on how we perform.  His love is a free gift given to all who wish to receive it.  We are never forced to take His love as it’s there to receive when we are ready.

Dear Papa, I want to experience Your love.  Help me be on the lookout for love, God’s love. The kind of love that is patient and kind, believes and hopes, sees the best, and cheers others on.  The love that isn’t proud or boastful or keeps a record of wrongs. I want to know that love. Please reveal it to me, so I can see You. Amen.

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