Love is ALWAYS a God Idea

About a week ago, I walked into my office and found this sweet note Brooklyn had left me the day before. At the time, I thought it was just a kind gesture, nothing exceptionally profound, and I left it there because it made me smile. Little did I know, that over the next week, this would become just the reminder I needed every time I opened my laptop. Did she have some kind of divine revelation that Mom would spend the upcoming week in a hospital bed? Not even close. None of us expected this. When I asked why she did it, she said, “I don’t know, I just knew you hadn’t been feeling great, so I wanted to leave you something encouraging. I just thought it would be nice.” Her nice thought was exactly what I needed to see while laying in a hospital, 3 hours from my family, wondering how we could have overcome such great obstacles this year, only to find us right here, right now. I needed to be reminded frequently of who's I am, who is in control, and who's report I choose to believe. I will continue to remind myself of this truth until the report I receive in the natural lines up with the report of healing my Jesus has provided. My sweet teenage daughter was being used by God to keep my focus where it belonged, and she didn't even have a clue. My God's just cool like that.

Sometimes God speaks to us very directly about reaching out to someone else. Sometimes it’s as simple as a “thought it would be nice” idea. Don’t miss the opportunity to speak love into someone’s life by over analyzing the difference in the two. There are plenty of times that we have to be sensitive to the difference in a good idea and a God idea, but love is always a God idea. Every night as I tuck Connor in, I pray that God helps us see the opportunities to show His love to others throughout our day and we often discuss the opportunities we’ve had to show love with someone recently. They’re all around us everyday, the question is, are you looking? If you’re not, they can slip right by you, completely unnoticed. Something as simple as asking the Lord to help you see them, and being willing and ready, can help you make an impact on someones life. What you see as ”just something nice”, could be the glimmer of hope they’re waiting on today, an answer to their prayers. It could be the reminder someone needs, while laying in a hospital bed desperate for answers, of exactly who they belong to, and how deeply He loves them.

I few years ago, while making coffee on a Sunday morning, the Lord brought someone to my mind and told me very clearly, "buy him a coffee maker". It was one of those times that you just know for sure, this was a God idea. I never would have thought to do this for that particular person. I don't even like coffee! The morning I gave it to him, I half way expected a confused look and an incredibly awkward moment. It's not someone I knew very well, although he had come to our church for quite some time, so I was very unsure of how it would go down. The next Sunday morning, I purchased a coffee pot and a gift bag and off to church we went. When he got there, early as always, he headed for the coffee maker located in our cafe and poured himself a cup. I walked up next to him and said, "I have something for you." He looked a bit puzzled, but opened the bag and then immediately began to weep. Big, crocodile tears rolling down his face. When he finally spoke, he explained to me that his coffee maker had died a while back. Every time he thought he had the extra money to buy another, something would come up that was more pressing. He told me how he had stood in front of the coffee makers a week before and asked the Lord to make a way for him to be able to buy one for his home. He said, "I felt really silly asking God for something so simple, and almost stopped myself from doing it, but it's important to me, so I knew He would make a way. But I didn't expect this!" God just proved His love for this man through a coffee maker. A coffee maker!

This summer, on a ridiculously hot day, I drove past our mail carrier's truck just down the street from our house. She's a good friend of ours and I thought, we should take her a drink and a snack to maybe brighten this miserably hot day for her. So the kids and I headed home and I grabbed a gift bag out of the closet, a cold drink out of the fridge and a snack bag from the counter. I tossed them all in the bag and wrote her a little note that said something like, "Just because you're special and we love you!" I drove down the street, had Brooklyn hop out and hang it on the handle to her truck, and off we went to run more errands. Later in the week she dropped by to say thank you. She explained to me about the rough time she'd been having and how the morning before we dropped off her snacks, she was praying and asking God to show her she was loved. Sometimes, even though we know we're loved, we need to feel it a little more tangibly. I've been there, you probably have been too. This is where our friend was that day, desperate for a pick me up that was just the reminder she needed that her Father madly loves her! I had no idea this kind little act for my friend was a God idea. It wasn't some profound moment, like with the coffee pot, where I knew God was instructing me to do something. It was just a "thought it would be nice" idea, but God had bigger plans!

So when you're about your business today, write the note, buy the coffee, hold the door, give the hug, take the time to do whatever it is that comes to mind that can speak love into someone’s life. Maybe you just think of it as a nice idea, but it could be just the glimmer of hope someone needs in the midst of desperate search for love and kindness. #becauseGodMadlyLovesYou