Tag: God’s love

  • Most of us have days now and then when we feel unlovable.

    You know how it goes.

    For example, take this morning. I complained (mildly) for maybe the thousandth time about a Blog. Couple. 5.16 minor annoyance.

    Then the darling guy I married a lifetime ago dared to utter one harmless, absolutely logical remark–and with a smile, yet.

    "Well, maybe it's time to just get oBlog. married couple. hugging. 3.09ver it."

    The Ice Age Cometh

    Immediately I felt my personal ice curtain slithering down. I knew he spoke truth, but did that melt the ice? Uh-uh.Blog. married couple. hugging. 3.09

    Maybe I can blame it on occasional chilly mealtimes when I was a kid. 

    When one of us was in trouble with you-know-who it got very quiet. All you heard was, "Please pass the butter," or "May I have the mashed potatoes?" 

    At the time I vowed I would never, never, never follow that example.

    As an adult I've worked hard to stamp out what feels like a "natural" response. Most of the time I'm successful. But once in awhile I forget.

    Amazingly, this patient man keeps   on loving me–on good days and the other kind

    I'm his wife and he's my husband. We spoke our wedding vows before God and family long ago, back when we were young and clueless–and we meant it. All through our marriage that pledge has carried us through life's inevitable down times.

    We've clung to each other and to God and carried on, growing stronger and closer all the way. 

    My husband knows I love him. Period. I know he loves me. Period.

    As for our four daughters and sons-in-love and our grandchildren, we love each one. Period.

    Nothing they do–or don't do–will change that one tiny bit.

    I think that's a small glimpse of how God feels about us

    No matter how hard we try, no matter how many times we resolve to do better, sooner or later we fall short. And yet He loves us. All because of Jesus.

    (Jesus said) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."               –John 3:16-17

    Jesus came to set us right with the Father. By faith we are his children. 

    Because I love and trust Jesus as my Savior, God forgives me, even when I slip up. Period.

    (Jesus said) "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."                                                                                       (John 14:21)

    That's it. Nothing more is required. Just faith in Jesus

    It's not complicated. Find a quiet place to talk with Him, that is, to pray.

    Then pour out your heart, even all the stuff you really don't want to talk about. Ask His forgiveness for your failures. Leave that heavy bundle of past failings with Him and feel the weight lift from your shoulders.

    Perhaps you're not sure God exists, let alone Jesus. Then tell Him. Ask Him to let you know in your heart and your spirit that He is real. 

    His love doesn't depend on whether you're "good enough" because Jesus died to pay for the sins of the world. It's a done deal. That's what He meant when He said on the cross, "It is finished."  John 19:30

    Know one thing for sure

    You've heard the verse, God is love.

    We can't compare our human love to God's love for us. That's like comparing the water in a toy teacup to the water in the Pacific. His love is a mystery beyond our comprehension.

    I get a tiny hint of understanding on days like this, when I can't figure out how my husband goes on loving his imperfect wife.

    I'm just thankful he does.

    Blessings,

    Lenore

     

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  • Some of us ran out of hope a long time ago.

    Maybe that's where you are right now, or you know someone who is. This one's for you. It will lift your heart. 

    First, some background. As Scott Lohman neared his goal, life was good. After years of seminary classes and an internship at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Downers Grove, IL, he was almost ready. In a few weeks he would be ordained as a Lutheran pastor.

    Blog. Emergency room sign. 6.12Then came what looked like the end of everything.

    But God had other plans. 

    ______________

    (Chris James, a pastor at Immanuel, told Scott's story for the February, 2012, edition of their church newsletter. He graciously gave permission to reprint his article, slightly edited.) 

    THE HAND OF GOD  

    On Monday, November 28, 2011, at 3:30 pm, Vicar Scott Lohman suffered an aortic dissection. Into the middle of this horrific tragedy, the Hand of God reached down to intervene.

    Scott should have been in his garage by himself that afternoon, but his wife, Gina, called to report a harmless car accident, so he headed to Interstate-55 –that was the Hand of God.

    Soon after he arrived at the accident scene, Scott passed out. An ambulance which police routinely summoned for accidents, waited, ready to take him to the hospital —that was the Hand of God.

    The closest hospital was St. Joseph's in Joliet, nationally recognized for both stroke and heart care –that was the Hand of God. 

    Emergency Room physicians planned to wait until morning to follow up on Scott's tests. Then Gina's cousin, Andy, an off-duty St. Joseph's physician, stopped by. He said, "He's had a stroke; he needs help." —that was the Hand of God.

    A dozen nurses, six doctors and multiple test results surrounded the patient. Only Nikita, an ICU nurse, noticed Scott had two different pulses in his wrists, which signaled a heart problem —that was the Hand of God. 

    The heart surgeon told waiting family and friends what happened alongside busy Route I-55  that afternoon. Scott suffered an aortic dissection, which caused his stroke, then traveled to both arms and legs, as well as his brain. Scott most likely would not survive the surgery. Yet five and a half hours later he emerged. He lived – that was the Hand of God.  

    The surgeon warned he could only repair the valve to Scott's heart. Yet during the surgery, he was able to repair Scott's ascending aorta, too, and restore blood flow back to his brain — that was the Hand of God.   

    Vascular damage to Scott's left arm was irreversible and he would lose it, said the surgeon. Yet the next day Scott had a pulse in his left wrist –that was the Hand of God. 

    No one promised Scott would wake up from his coma, and if he did, whether he would recognize anyone or ever move again. He did, he does, and oh, how he moves! —that was the hand of God. 

    Because Scott's kidneys were wrecked he requred daily dialysis. His only hope would be a kidney transplant. And then, his kidneys were healed — that was the Hand of God. 

    Scott could not breathe without the ventilator. No one knew if he ever would. Now the vent is gone and he is back to his old, chatty self –that was the hand of God.  

    That dark November night Gina said good-bye to her husband. By the Hand of God she and the kids have received him back home, where they are all looking forward to a new chapter.

    Praise the Lord all my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy Name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits–who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.  –Psalm 103:1-5

     ________________________

    An upadate: On July 1 Scott Lohman will be ordained as an assistant pastor at Immanuel. With Immanuel's sponsorship, Scott will concentrate on planting and pastoring a new church in nearby Minooka, where the Lohmans have lived for several years.

    _____________________

    Every one of us can recall times we prayed with all our hearts and saw no evidence God heard us. No Scott Lohman outcome for us. 

    But God does hear us. Even when life makes no sense, we can trust His love for us because of Jesus (John 3:16.) We who believe can know that  God's hand is on our lives just as surely as on Scott's. In every circumstance, He promises us strength for each day (Psalm 46:1.)

    That makes it safe to give up fretting, even in hard times, and trust. Let God be God. 

    That's not fatalism. That's peace, the peace that passes all human understanding.

    May you know that peace, my friends,

    Lenore

    Looking for hope? Read this man’s story