When you are a parent one of the things you love to do is brag on your kids to other people. You want to tell your friends and everyone else you see the great things your child says or does. I think my girls are pretty special and I love talking about them to my friends. Of course, they aren’t perfect and we have had our struggles, but I feel like they are the biggest blessings in my life. I am so proud to be their Mom.

One of the hardest things I had to overcome in my healing process was to look at God as my Abba Father and think that He is proud of me. Most of my life I looked at Him as a judge not a father. Beth Moore said to picture God saying this, “Child; you are tremendously significant to me. You are everything to me. I laid down my life. Your love to me, child, is better than my life.” (I can’t help but hear this with a southern accent) I had to hear that statement in my mind over and over again for months and years to believe it!

Every day God had to remind me of His love for me. I had to be reminded over and over again of His love. I had so much to overcome in my relationship with Him. I was afraid all the time that He was mad at me or I had done something wrong. I had built a wall around myself and I was keeping all the good things about God and His love for me out. One of the reasons I did this was because I associated love with hurt. I tried and tried to get my Dad to love me but I was never good enough. He said he loved me, but his actions weren’t what love was supposed to look like. I was afraid to love. I was afraid of being hurt. Even though I knew that God loved me, my heart was afraid of what might happen next.

Zeph. 3:17 is one of the verses that really helped me. “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.” I had a hard time picturing God quieting me with His love and rejoicing over me with singing, but that was what God wanted me to do. I had to sit quietly and close my eyes and picture Him doing that. He wanted to parent me. He wanted to show me what a Dad is supposed to do. He wanted me to accept His great love for me and just sit in His presence and enjoy His company.

I have a chair in my bedroom that I sit in when I spend time with God. I like to close my eyes and picture myself sitting next to Him on a bench. I sit right next to Him and I am not afraid and we talk about everything. He shows me so much love when I am with Him. He knows I need to see Him smiling and laughing. He also knows I need His kindness and gentleness. I see how much He cares about me. He tells me He loves me and wants to help me with everything I encounter in my life. He even tells me how proud He is of me. I long for those times with Him because I love being with Him. He gets me!

He knows how much i love 70’s music. He knows how much I love playing pranks on people and love to laugh. He knows how much I love my family and spending time with them. He knows I want to travel the world and go exploring. He knows I love watching movies and figuring out who the criminal really is. He knows I love to surprise people and plan fun ways to really “get” them. He knows how much I love spending time with Him and He loves it when I tell Him how much I love him. He is a God that loves intimacy with His children.

I have learned that my relationship with God is more vital than anything else in my life. He is the one that can help me and He is the one who is always there for me. He made me and understands me more than anyone else. He wants me to give everything to Him and ask Him to handle it for me. I really have a hard time with that one! He wants me to trust Him and his timing. (Another hard one for me!) He wants to be my father and He wants me to allow Him to take care of me. (I want to do everything myself!) Sometimes, I am a pain in the butt, but He still loves me and wants to help me. Go figure!

There are so many verses in the Bible that mention His love for us and how He wants to help us with our lives. Here are a few that have meant a lot to me.

Ex.14:14 “You need only be calm; the Lord will fight for you.”

Ps 62:6 “He is my defender; I will not be defeated.”

Ps.16:5 “No, the Lord is all I need. He takes care of me.”

Well, fellow sojourners, God is pretty amazing! He wants us to see how much He loves us and wants a relationship with us. I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for Him. He has been with me every step of the way in this journey and He will be there for you too. I ask you to take the time to get to know Him. You won’t be disappointed! Until next time….