Love is just the skin of knowing..

Seven years ago, I married a guy I thought I knew well and honestly, I had no idea the gift God gave me in him on that day.  He has used my husband nearly every day since that sweet day to stretch my heart in ways I never dreamed possible.

Eight months ago God gave us this little guy to stretch our hearts in new and incredibly beautiful ways.

I love a quote from The Shack that reads, "So many believe it is love that grows, but it is knowing that grows and love simply expands to contain it. Love is just the skin of knowing.” 

"...Love is just the skin of knowing."  The more I know my husband, and the more we get to know our son the MORE WE LOVE.

Then I think of these words…

"Love the Lord your God with ALL your Heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength." Mark 12:30. Ouch.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with ALL your heart." Jeremiah 29:13. Ouch, again.

How can I love my God with ALL of me and not love His word and thirst for time spent in fellowship with Him above ALL else?

I confess this, that there are days when the urgent crowds out the important, days when I get so wrapped up in parenting and working and serving;  and even times, if I am really being honest, when I am just plain selfish.

Then when my heart is pricked, I make time to sit and savor His word and I read something like this, from Ephesians 1:3-14, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.  And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,  who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory."

His word, and time spent with Him, completely takes my breath away. I am reminded of the lyrics of a song: “In the quiet, in the stillness, I know that You are God. In the secret of Your presence, I know there I am restored. When You call I won’t refuse! Each new day again I’ll choose! There is no one else for me, none but Jesus! Crucified to set me free, now I live to bring Him praise.”

How can I not desire this time with Him in the same way I desire time to fully know and be known by my sweet husband and little boy?  Each morning, may I wake to look eagerly into His face the way I do my child's. May I hunger for His love above my husband's love.  May I always choose His voice over a thousand others. May I search out the riches of God, may I eagerly learn to know HIS WAY, and may I love Him more for it.

Lauren Strickland, South Alabama Social Worker

The Lord Almighty

I am thinking about the first time I sensed that our four-month-old might like worship music about as much as his mama.

Wednesday nights at our church are loud, really loud and really good. You can feel the music right down to your core and Judah has experienced this feeling since day one in the womb. I lead worship and between the students' voices and the way the stage trembles from the sound of the base and drums, there is little doubt how music found a place in his heart hidden there in my womb.

Our Judah was born in September of last year and after we had been home from the hospital about three weeks, he had a particularly rough night. In the middle of the night, he woke very upset and we were unable to console him. Everything we tried failed so we eventually turned to a song my husband and I both love. Immediately, Judah was consoled as these words played loudly in his ear:

“Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty.
There is no one like You!
You are Holy, Holy!”

I believe we have played that song about a thousand times since his birth four months ago and it never fails to soothe his soul, and mine too. Each time he gets upset and we play those powerful words, he is stilled. I am reminded of Psalm 46, particularly verses 10-11, “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Little ones can rest because He is almighty. Grown ones can rest because He is almighty.

I don’t know your story. I don’t know what wakes you up in the middle of the night. I don’t know what in your life grieves your heart and turns your eyes to tears.

I do know that our God is capable and strong and that He is ALWAYS with us. He is able and eager to work in and through every long wait, each silent season, every loss, and all of our fears. There has never been and never will be anyone like our God, The Lord Almighty, the God of Jacob who is our fortress.

Lauren Strickland
South Alabama Case Worker

She Looks Like Me

When I was 5 years old, I got on a plane and flew half way around the world with my parents to get my new brother and sister. Even as a little girl, I remember the anticipation and overwhelming excitement that I felt as their foster mothers brought them into the room and I was able to meet them for the first time. My parents had talked at length with me about what it would mean to have siblings from another country. They would have dark skin and hair and eyes--they would not look like me, but I would love them just the same. That did not stop them from being the baby brother and sister that I had asked God for every night at bedtime. They were mine and I loved them from the moment I saw them!

I still remember the time my basketball teammate said to me “That must be your sister over there, she looks just like you.” I was shocked at this statement and proceeded to tell her that my sister was adopted. I have since learned to embrace this statement and take it as the highest compliment. It is a sweet reminder that God built my family. Nicole was always meant to be my sister. Even if she did not look like me, she would be my sister just the same. God did not have to make her look like me; but He did. And it makes my heart smile every time someone tells me that my sweet little sister looks like me!

Mallory Blackmon, LGSW
South Alabama Case Worker