“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
While I was in Galveston with my family over July 4th my Mom and I got in an interesting conversation. Well, we got in quite a few interesting conversations, but one of them in particular has continued pestering me. There is a really old and intriguing graveyard in Galveston and I’m not sure if the bleak but somehow alluring glimpse of it was what got us going off on a tangent or if our own eccentricities pulled this conversation out of nowhere. Knowing us probably the latter, right? Anyway, the two of us were discussing how unique the child and parent relationship is in the human experience. How the unconditional love of a parent for a child is so matchless and so unique that it is difficult, if not virtually impossible to find something with which to compare it. She described to me the way her heart felt the first time she saw the two headstones of her mom and dad sitting side by side one another in the Davis-Greenlawn cemetery. The way it felt for her to be left alone in this world without any parents, the very human beings whose mutual existence brought her into this world. It sent a chill up my spine. Now, my Mom would be the first to assure you that her relationship with her parents was far from a perfect or idyllic one. It was, in fact, a very difficult and complicated relationship but still that truth didn’t shake or numb the dreadful feeling of being orphaned.
I got to thinking after Mom and I had this overly melancholy yet truly significant conversation how many of you feel or have felt orphaned. I bet there are several of you who don’t have anyone to go along with you to a really scary doctor’s appointment. I imagine there are a handful of you who have no one to share the burden of waiting months on end to hear back about what may seem to be a very daunting prognosis. And I wonder if there are even a few of you younger women who spend the entire day looking after and meeting the needs of several of your own children without the comfort of having even one of your own parents around to cheer you on and to tell you what a great parent you are.
I cannot presume to know what it is like to lose both parents or even to have inactive parents. But, I can say that over the past year or so nothing has resounded clearer to me than that sobering reality that I am officially an adult. I’m not talking about some of the superficial things that come along with getting older like getting wrinkles, I am talking about days when I’m sick as a dog here in Atlanta and I no longer have my mom around to tickle my back and bring me 7-Up, saltines and chicken noodle soup. I’ve had some moments when I want to lace up my running shoes and start sprinting back home to my Mom because I’ve finally decided that adulthood is totally overrated and the last thing I want to do is clean my kitchen. I’ve had a couple of days when my heart has been so broken that the thought of sitting on my dad’s lap or being in my mom’s embrace was the only thing I felt could really suffice. Many of those days Colin has been around to love on me but the Lord has made certain that he was gone on several of those days as well.
I can remember one week in particular several months back when I was tied to the bed with an incapacitating migraine and Colin was on a long business trip in Miami. In my misery, I had a revelation. I came to realize that at the end of the day, it really was just my Creator and me. You’re thinking to yourself, “Good night, Melissa, you majored in Biblical Studies, and you just figured this out!?!” How true it is that some theological truths can only be learned with time and experience. Anyway, the feeling of being all alone heightened the reality that ultimately God is my comforter. My doctor could only do so much and the pharmaceutical companies had all but failed me. I had some intense and providential moments that week slowly learning how to be consoled by a God who I cannot see or touch. For the first time in my life, in adulthood no less, I truly felt like a child of God. It may sound silly but every night of that week I listened to the album called Sing Over Me: Worship Songs and Lullabies (on very low volume, by the way). The most unlikely song was the one that I listened to repeatedly, “Jesus Loves Me” sung by Christy Nockels.
A make-up artist friend of mine told me the other day that she was on a photo-shoot with a young woman getting her bridal portraits taken. She relayed to me how the photographer instructed this young woman to think of her soon-to-be-husband while she was posing and the tears just started streaming down her cheeks. I feel about like that young woman did when I hear this version of “Jesus Loves Me”. I feel overtaken with emotion for some reason. Maybe it’s because the older I get the more I realize just how weak I really am and how dumbfounding it is that Jesus could really love me. Or maybe it’s because Christy sings the song with such conviction, like she means it. It’s really sweet to hear the song sung by a group of children but it’s wholly different to hear a grown woman sing it. To hear a grown person with fully developed mental faculties sing, “Yes, Jesus Loves Me”, well, it moves me. Don’t get me wrong, I love children, but when I hear a person who is fully aware of things like mortality, economic meltdowns and global catastrophes sing a song like “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” with such purity it slays me.
If you haven’t read or heard the song in a while, here are the lyrics:
Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but he is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
For the Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me!
He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
For the Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me
He will stay close beside me all the way
He’s prepared a home for me
And someday his face I’ll see.
Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
He loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
For the Bible tells me so.
Pretty powerful, right? Perhaps we skipped a couple of those verses in kindergarten because I don’t remember the song being all that weighty. Maybe I was too busy eating a donut. The donuts were my favorite thing about Sunday school growing up. Yes, I was sinful at birth. The first line I love is “little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong”. I like to think of “little ones” not just as young children but as you and me. I figure I have some license since in the gospel of John, Jesus addresses grown men as “little children” (John 13:33; 21:5 “children”). Lately I’ve been reading a lot about being called children of God and what the implications of this reality are during our earthly journey. This past week I came across a sermon by John Piper in April 1995 called “The Depth of Christ’s Love: Its Lavish Benefits”. He comments on this text, 1 John 3:1 and I think you’ll enjoy reading it. I was most moved by the second half.
“Not only did it cost him his Son to save us from sin and death and hell and not only were we enemies so that God had to propitiate his own righteous anger in order to save us but he went way beyond the love of rescue and the love of sacrifice and the love of clemency to his enemies. In and through all this he had a greater design. He showed us another kind of love beyond all that. He might have rescued us, sacrificed for us, forgiven us, and not gone any further. But instead he showed us another kind of love—he took us into his family. He made us to be called children of God. Don’t take this for granted. First of all, he might not have saved us at all. He might have said, “Enemies don’t deserve saving, and that’s that.” He might have said, “My Son is too precious to pay for angels, let alone humans, let alone ungodly, rebellious humans.” But he also might have said, “I will save them from hell, and forgive their sins, and give them eternal existence—on another planet, and I will communicate with them through angels.” Nothing in us, or in the nature of the world required that God would go beyond all redeeming, forgiving, rescuing, healing love to this extreme—namely, to an adopting love. A love that will not settle for a truce, or a formal gratitude, or distant planet of material pleasure, but will press all the way in to make you a child of God. A member of the family. But even that is not an adequate description of this kind of love. When John writes about our becoming children of God, he is not thinking mainly in terms of adoption. He is thinking in terms of something more profound. He is thinking of new birth. There is no human analogy to this…The love that John has in view here in 1 John 3:1 is not the love that merely takes care of paper work and adopts. That would be amazing beyond words—to be adopted into God’s family. And Paul does describe it this way. But John sees more. God does not adopt. He moves in, by his Spirit, his seed, John calls it, and imparts something of himself to us, so that we take on a family resemblance” (John Piper).
Being called a child of God is not just a metaphor.
It is who we are.
Regardless of how self-sufficient we imagine ourselves to be.
Or how old we are.
Our Father is close beside us all the way.
In our darkest and loneliest hours.
Long after our earthly parents are gone.
During a string of seemingly endless doctor’s appointments.
And at the moment we draw our very last breath.
In Christ, we are never truly orphaned.
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
That we should be called children of God.
What a wonder.
My daughter got married a year ago and is now expecting her first child. We have this conversation from time-to-time about wanting/needing your parents and how being an adult isn't really all it was cracked up to be. I also had privilege of watching a woman at one of our retreats for the first time in her life think of God as "Abba" – something she never had as a child.
Only our God could be all this and so much more. He is enough. Period.
With love,
Kim . . . who is
Grafted by Grace
As always, His timing is perfect. Going it alone, but realizing I have all I need in Christ ALONE! Thank you!!!
Melissa, your words reflected much of where I am today, as a 55 year old woman, going to the "scary Dr. appt" today by myself, and not even telling my own mother, due to some of the reasons you mentioned about your mom's relationship with her mother. Many times in life, it truly is, just Jesus and me. As I was going over my Scripture memory cards I was overwhelmed with God's love, peace and presence in the midst of feeling alone, afraid, and invisible right before I went into the doctor's office. I was touched by your entire blog, and am still trying to wrap my brain around John Piper's words. But the reality is there, yes, Jesus loves me and it's so very real. The Lord used this blog entry today to remind me of His unfailing love. thank you, Melissa. bless you…Love, Pam in San Diego
Whoa Melissa…..what a BLESSING!!
How often I forget I am a child of God and He loves me!! Loves me!! I cannot tell you the times I have been humbled by that. So undeserving of that love and yet so loved. He is truly awesome. Sacrificing His Son for me…..I'm with John Piper, I probably wouldn't have done it….We are so lost and yet so found!!! Does that make sense???? Does to me!!!
Thank you for once again raising our consciousness!!!
Blessings.
Bible Bunny in NO MI
Thank You Jesus for reminding us how much you love us!!!!
Jesus, I'll love ya till the day I die…and than forever!!
Linda's comment moved me as well… I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes just imagining it.
My parents are both here, alive and well, and are fun to be around, but have never really been edifying or encouraging directly to me. It's more of an unspoken love, that is just understood. So, like Lisa, my aim has been to be the very best mama I can be to my children, and lavish that love and His love on them, so they know it in their bones.
It must be the fact that I don't ever hear "I love you" from my parents that so very often, as I'm driving around town without the radio on, I sing this song out loud to myself. It's just always come naturally to my mind… maybe it's been my Heavenly Father all along telling me HE loves me in His own way.
I've never thought of it that way before.
And now I'm crying with a smile. 🙂
Thank you for posting this, Melissa! It was so moving! Too often we forget just how far He went for us, and as you said, take for granted that He could have not done anything at all or stopped somewhere else. He truly did give everything for and to us. I had a pretty powerful experience with "Jesus Loves Me", too. Last summer, I taught at an English camp hosted by a church in Taiwan. That was one of the songs they asked us to sing with the children every morning. It had been my favorite song as a child, but I hadn't really thought about it much after childhood. There have been so many times since then that I have felt extremely lonely during difficult situations, that I couldn't sing that song without crying every morning as God reminded me that He loved me, and I can be assured of this because he gave me His word. Your post was a great reminder of this this afternoon.
Amazing post, Melissa – thank you for sharing it with us. I needed that…
So good Melissa. I just had my first baby and am learning how to be a stay-at-home mom while my family does not live here and I don't have too many girlfriends my age here. As tough as these beginning weeks with a newborn have been, through the joy and tears I too have been treasuring the reality that Jesus is with me, and have been singing "Jesus Loves Me" to my little baby girl. And I love John Piper, haha. Thanks girl!
Melissa,
Can relate to your experience a lot. Leaving hometown upon graduating college & moving to husband's hometown once married. Felt like I lost everything that I once "identified" myself with on a daily basis and taken for granted it would "always" be like this made me "identify" more with Christ's sufferings. I still continue to "wrestle" with God, but also found comfort in God's Word. Even though my circumstances haven't changed, my days are filled with more joy now than sorrow. Take Care!
Thank you, Melissa, for posting this. I have parents but oftentimes feel as though I can't go to them and find myself mentally crawling up in Jesus' lap for the comfort that only He can give. Just this afternoon I went to Him and found myself praying and pouring my heart out to Him and relying on His promises to my family and cried my eyes out, and now this just brought tears all over again! I will think on this for a while.
Jesus loves us!
Jacki
Melissa, you have such a gift. Thank you for your precious words and insight and thank you for sharin those of John Piper's. You never cease to amaze me with your spiritual maturity at such a young age.
If it is OK with you – I am going to print this blog out and share it with my Bible study group.
I love you all so much – your ministry is life saving.
Forever His,
Lawan Rivera
Phil 4:8
inspiring post. I pray that when I'm old and have dymensia and loose my mind I'll remember the scriptures on my spiral notecards, some old hymns, and Jesus Loves Me.
I taught my son to sign before he was able to talk. One of the things I taught him was the song, "Jesus Loves Me", well at least the first stanza and chorus. I remember that the signs moved me like the words never did, and know your words have moved me again! I am going to share this post with my Siestas at our next meeting, it was wonderful to let it seep down into my soul! Thank you, Melissa!
Tracy Culley
Columbia, MO
Such a beautiful post.
I recently lost my earthly father, he was a fabulous father and as a result I have a very healthy father image of God. I am losing my mother a day at a time to Alzheimer's…some days it's as if they are both God. If it were not for the Lord, I don't think I could get out of bed daily. I don't know how people do it w/o the Lord…
Thank you so much Melissa – though I'm blessed enough to still have my parents, I'm still the baby of the family living by herself in a big city – and I sure did need this today!
Anna
So young to have such wisdom. This is a blessing! Being a child of God is the only thing that kept me going when both parents abandoned me. I climbed right up in His lap and He just loved on me as I cried. Thank you for your words of truth.
Wow Melissa! Once again God has shown me His face on this blog–you will never know how perfect His timing was in this post. I lost my Dad in 1981 and my Mom in 1984, both were way too early in my mind! I'm an only child that has MANY times felt so alone, for some of the reasons you mentioned. Now my MIL is going through some rough times and it's bringing up so many memories of my parents' deaths — what I missed out on then and what I'm missing now!
Thank you for reminding me that I'm never really alone, that our Father who created me has never left my side. I don't think I will ever hear this song in the same way I heard and learned it as a child.
What a blessing you are to all of us….thank you
It is hard to experience that loneliness and the need for comfort all at the same time. My husband and I just found out we are expecting for the first time after 4 IVF's. However, my numbers aren't quite rising as they should so we are going in Monday for a sonogram to see if there is a baby there or not. I feel so scared and lonely b/c I don't understand if God has allowed my womb to open, then I find myself begging Him to continue with this pregnancy. I worry that He has taken me this far but I am scared to death that on Monday- since my numbers aren't climbing so high that He would not allow it to continue. I need His mercies and comfort. I need to know He loves me. While I am a Christian and know all of this…I still struggle! Please be praying for us!
That I will feel a peace, a comfort that only He can give!
Melissa,
I can only echo the sentiments of others who wrote to say how much they needed these words today. I wish I had the same faith in Jesus that you, your family, and others have – I admire it so much. It's so passionate and vibrant and you just know it deep inside your hearts.
So thank you for being so candid and open in your thoughts. You made an impact on my heart.
There are several ways to be orphaned – your parents can die, they can abandon you at some point and time in your life, they can constantly reject you due to any number of reasons during your childhood, adolesence, and adult life; etc.
I think one of the hardest things is to be orphaned will your parents are still living. And it not only affects you, but your children. Your children have no grandparents and when family members like this are out of the picture, it's like a puzzle with missing pieces – the picture is incomplete and never whole.
Things like this can affect you all your life; it can really mess you up and affect your other relationships. The only thing that can redeem one from such hurt, rejection, and make one whole is the love of Christ.
Yes, Jesus loves me!!!
Thank you Melissa for those words. I just want to grasp it in a new and real way today.
Thanks for sharing
Jackie in Milford NE
That is the song I sang as I rushed my husband to the hospice hospital on Saturday. http://joyjoyinthejourney.blogspot.com/2009/07/all-truth-youll-ever-need-to-know.html
I feel the words of that song are among some the wisest, theological truths ever penned.
My husband passed away yesterday.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Dear Melissa,
Thank you for sharing such profund insight. I, too, am really struck by that song. I play the CD "Sing over Me" lots of nights before I go to sleep. I find it comforting to listen to, and reminds me of Scripture verse Zeph. 3:17.
Much of my own emotional healing came about by learning and receiving how much my Father loves me. And even when I feel orphaned, I am never really alone. One breakthrough revelation in my young adult years was realizing that the feeling of loneliness I felt was something the Lord was feeling for me when I was not spending time with Him. He used those moments of loneliness to draw me closer to Him. Truly, His love is wonderful and beyond words to describe.
Thanks again for sharing.
Michelle
How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure…
My soul is singing, Jesus loves me! Praise You LORD!
Wow. I feel so loved I want to cry. Well said, Melissa. And I'm buying that cd!
Truly, truly it IS wonderful and amazing that we can be called the children of God! What a blessing!
Melissa, you never cease to amaze me at the depth of your understanding of people and their emotions. Although you still have your parents….albeit hundreds of miles away….you seem to have a real empathy for those of us who do not!
My mother passed away when I was 16 years old. I was the youngest of several MUCH older siblings….half brothers and sisters from my Dad's first marriage. (she had died and left him with 6 kids) So my Mama and Daddy were older….mid 30's….when they married and late 30's when I came along. At the age of 16 I had to take over all the responsibilities of the household….cooking, cleaning, ironing, grocery shopping, etc. etc…..all while being a junior in high school. I had to get up every morning and make biscuits for my Daddy's breakfast before I went to school. During those teenaged years after Mama died I had to do things like go to the doctor on my own, take care of myself when I was sick…stuff like that. My Daddy later remarried….after I had married my husband….and I love my stepmother. BUT we never had a mother/daughter relationship. When I had our 3 children I really had no one to talk to about my pregnancy or to be there with me when the kids were born. Oh my husband was there and was a great comfort but I mean …there's nothing like a mother to help with your first child I would think. I've missed her so much all these years. I'm a grandmother now. Sometimes I wonder if my kids…independent as they are…realize how blessed they are to have both their parents alive and willing to be in their lives? My Daddy lived to be 96. He was an amazing Christian but he was very reserved. I never remember sitting in his lap of getting hugs or "I love you's" from him as a child.
Many years ago I finally came to the same point you did….realizing that ultimately that when all's said and done, it's just me and God!
When my last breath is taken here on earth I can say with Jacob, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Praise the Lord!
Thank you for sharing your heart and for caring for us "orphans"…even though we may be middle-aged GanMammas!
God be with you!
Marilyn…..in Mississippi
Oh, by the way…another interesting tidbit about the song Jesus Loves Me is that the sisters who wrote it were trying to make money to support themselves during a depression in the 1800's. They wrote a children's book and the song was part of that. They never knew in their lifetime what an impact that simple…but powerful…song would have on the world.
Who but God knows what something done out of necessity in these days of economic depression may be a blessing to others for hundreds of years? Just something to think about!
Marilyn…..in Mississippi
Melissa, I have been in God's Word all day today! All Day!! I have been working on my Me, Myself and Lies and also on my scripture memorization. Being home with 4 fractures in my foot has given me plenty of time to spend with my Heavenly Father.
I am writing to tell you that if for no other reason God annointed you with this message for me, or rather for my step-daughter. I have been praying all day for God to give me the words to describe to her how she is a member of the family of God.
She is 29 years old and was adopted by my Husband and his first wife as a baby. I became her step-mother when she was five years old. I love her so dearly that I hate to refer to her as my "step-daughter". She also has a relationship with her biological parents. She met them when she was about 16 years old.
She is going through, what she refers to as sort of a "Mid-life crisis" She feels disconnected and alien to everyone. She is trying to find her way in the world and is having trouble navigating. I know why. She says she believes in God but is just not "practicing any religion" right now. My husband and I have brought her to Church and prayed with her and have tried to reach her with previous issues to no avail.
She gave me a book to read called "The Mistress's Daughter" by A.M. Homes. It is a true story about the Author's own adoption and meeting her biological parents. She told me that this is close to how she feels. I read it voraciously, I just know God is using this to connect with her and I don't want to miss the opportunity. I just want to jump out of my skin! I feel their desperation, not just to belong and be loved by someone but their need and desperation for God!!!
You so eloquently stated what I want to tell her. I just printed it out and am going to also write a letter to explain to her how much she is loved and desired, not only by us but by her Heavenly Father. Please pray that God opens her heart and mind to accept him as her Savior.
I read your message today with tears streaming down my face. To think that our Abba Father sent me these words, your words, His words, so quickly! Thank you Lord for being so faithful and thank you Melissa for listening so that you could Glorify Him!
Please pray for my "Daughter" and most importantly "HIS DAUGHTER" Laurie!
In His Love,
Lori
When I went off to college, I quickly realized being an adult is not all it's cracked up to be! =) Someone please remind me why I was so eager to leave the protection and comfort of home???
Just last month, we surrounded my grandfather's hospital bed and sang these very words. Yes, it is true, He loves us. As John says, "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us!"
Jesus has never been sweeter than in death. When all else fades away and you realize exactly what the cross did, you love Him all the more. He made a way that death would not be the end. That by his love, we can leave this world of pain and enter his presence. Thank you, Jesus, for loving us. You are a sweet Savior.
And Melissa, thank you, as always, for your intuitive mind, your perseverance to think critically, and your expressive passion for Christ. I always love to read what you write, and I ponder it for weeks and months afterward.
Much love!
Lori, Thank you for sharing that, it truly blessed my heart.
Love,
Melissa
Thank you, Melissa, for this beautiful post. It certainly made me tear up! I hadn't thought of "Jesus Loves Me" much beyond my 3 children singing it, but to hear those beautiful words, "YES, Jesus loves me…" it's absolutely one of the most comforting things I've heard in a while. Even though I have both of my parents here, there are still moments when I feel very "orphaned." I am 31, and currently undergoing treatment for a breast cancer diagnosis that came out of nowhere. I haven't met too many 31-year-olds undergoing breast cancer treatment. I have looked around a lot, trying to find someone close to my age, in my circumstances, dealing with the things our family is dealing with…I have come up virtually empty-handed. But when I walk into the dr's office from now on, I will sing "Jesus Loves Me" to myself…to calm my fears and KNOW that I am NOT alone, that He DOES love me and walks before Me in all that I do.
Thank you for such a beautiful reminder of a song that some of may have written off as part of our childhood Sunday School memories…but I believe has an even greater impact today.
(hugs)
Glad you posted, Mrs. Melissa. Since I watched that 15yr video, I have been thinking about what you said. My older sis feels that way too about moving to Texas. It's not one-sided though, I miss her a bunch!…God's love is profound to me. It does seem unconditional, like family, you never can truly separate the blood ties that bind. I understand about it all coming down to you and your Lord in the end. No one can be to me what the Lord is to me because He knows me thoroughly, things that no one else should know, He knows. He is my Source for everything that pertains to life and godliness! What Piper said about His seed remaining; that verse strikes me, because the concept of what it is saying reminds me of Jude 24,25 where God says He is able to keep us from stumbling and sinning. Sorry for the long post! I'm praying for you and my older sis, I understand!
((HUGS)), Blessings to you, much love in HIM!
katiegfromtennessee
Thanks. I've had such a miserable day. I've been wallowing in a thought-sin pit that I thought I had left behind. Not feeling well makes it worse. I sat down this afternoon and thought about how unlovely I feel.
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us . . ."
Here is something to meditate on.
Anne
Melissa,
I haven't looked through all the comments so it may or may not have been mentioned already, but there is a song that says exactly that entitled "Orphans of God". I first heard the version recorded by The Talley Trio, but when I looked up the lyrics I found that it was originally sang by Avalon. It is a beautiful song! Here are the lyrics:
Who here among us has not been broken
Who here among us is without guilt or pain
So oft’ abandoned by our transgressions
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this
There are no strangers
There are no outcasts
There are no orphans of God
So many fallen, but hallelujah
There are no orphans of God
Come ye unwanted and find affection
Come all ye weary, come and lay down your head
Come ye unworthy, you are my brother
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this
O blessed Father, look down upon us
We are Your children, we need Your love
We run before Your throne of mercy
And seek Your face to rise above
Thank you for this post!
Jessica
Alabama
That was amazingly beautiful.
You're so wise to be so young. This one, combined with "Me, Myself & Lies," made me cry. I'll be 60 next year. Back in 1949 my mother became pregnant…with me, something my grandmother never let me forget. I have two full brothers, one born the next year and one born three years later. Then my dad left. We've have starved had it not been for both sets of grandparents.
My head has always known the Father loves me but somehow, because of family situations, it just has never made its way down into my heart. Now it seems that lately EVERYthing I read talks about God's love. Finally, recently I read "The Shack." And then here your post is today. It just amazes me how, when God wants me to "get" something, he just keeps popping it in front of my eyes! I do so want to understand that love. Thank you for being open to the Spirit's prompting to post this today.
Melissa, just wanted you to know I so desperately needed that. I have gone through a season where it has truly felt as if I have been orphaned even by my Jesus. I so know that's not true but want it to get to my heart level…praying desperately it does so quickly. 🙂 Thanks again!
speechless.
(and coming from ME, that says a lot!)
Thank-you Father for the sacrifice of your Son to save me. And that you would love me beyond my salvation…leaves me speechless..and forever in love with You.
Melana
This could not have been more timely. Just 2 days ago the precious 5 year old daughter of a friend of mine received her angel wings.
What an awesome reminder of God's love. There is such peace that comes with knowing that she is dancing in the arms of Jesus. My heart remains broken for the loss that her family has endured but smiles remembering God's love for each of His children. Thank you Melissa! What a huge blessing.
staggering, the love of God. I always enjoy reading what you write because I appreciate your deep thoughts and insights. The song you quoted is so simple and profound and sometimes hard for me to swallow.
My dad has been gone since 1982 and with my Mom, not the kind of relationship I would have chosen. But, a friend told me years ago if you got the mom you wanted you may never have sought God. She is right.
I have found comfort in this verse:
Psalm 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
I wrote this years ago:
He knows your needs
well He know your heart
He understands your thought from afar
His ear ain't heavy nor His arm is not short. He knows your needs, well He knows your heart.
love allison
Thank you for this post.
So appreciate this blog and community of believers! Been struggling with issues with my parents my whole life and then married and wound up being so hurt and rejected by in-laws that the enemy has really attacked me and got into my head through my own self-pity!!
Now like so many who've posted I need to let the head knowledge become heart knowledge and experience it for myself!! I have been praying for just one godly friend/mentor or family member in the body of Christ when maybe all along Jesus has just been wooing me back to Him alone. I know we are not meant to live alone, in isolation without the body of Christ – but perhaps God is doing this because He knows how clingy and unhealthy my viewpoint is and He wants to sort me out and love on me first so that I can be healed to go out and love as He first loved me ?!
Your post touched me in a different way. I've never lost a parent, but I lost my daughter. Just READING the words to "Jesus Loves Me" brings back memories of the night my daddy held my dead daughter in his arms, and sang this song to her, just as he had all of his other grandchildren. He helped us sing it again a few days later at her funeral. It doesn't matter who sings it…kids, adults, the song affects me deeply. Simple, yet profound! Thank you for sharing.
Much love and thanks for your ministry,
Kathryn
A wonder INDEED!
thanks Melissa
Oh, thanks for sharing that Melissa! God has been good to teach me that lesson this year, too. It was not fun going through it, but I have a new appreciation for Him and a deeper understanding of His love for me as a result.
This past week, I met with a friend to pray. At some level, I thought that by going to her…. that things would undoubtably work themselves out. Instead, what the Holy Spirit made clear during our prayer time…. is that He wants the roots of my soul. I need to be rooted in Him and dependent on HIM to meet my needs.
Thank you Melissa.
I loved the reminder that being a child of God is not a metaphor, but who we are!
And to Anon who wrote at 5:15pm, I so completely understand what you shared!
Michelle in VT