Words

This probably happens to me at least once a day. I'll, for whatever reason, get a single line of a song I may or may not have been listening to early in the day stuck in my head for at least the rest of the day, if not the following day as well, or until the next line from the next song gets stuck there. Today's line is from Waiting Here For You and it started when I was having my favorite thinking time--in the shower.

First of all, who doesn't love that time when the water is really hot and you can just stand under it and think? It's one of my favorite things. This will tie in later, promise I'm not just being weird and probably giving you TMI. Second, the line of the song that was and has been stuck in my head since about 9am today is this: "You're the Lord of all creation and still You know my heart." Wowza, right? Those are some seriously powerful words right there. Think about it, and not in your shower, you'll get electrocuted or kill your phone/computer/whatever you're reading this on. The God who created the Universe and all the things in it from the most subatomic of particles to the tallest mountains and everything in between knows your heart. He knows your desires, your fears, the things you love most, things that have broken your heart, and here's the best part: He cares.

Even in the smallest ways, think of how God cares about you. How have you been blessed? I know I am as I sit in a chair in my apartment kitchen, watching the pot on the stove begin to boil so I can cook some mac n cheese because God chose me to live in this country with abundant clean water, something so many people other places in the world go without on a daily basis, He provided me with a family that is willing to help me pay for a place to live so I can afford healthy groceries, gas, and activities with friends (all of whom/which are blessings themselves). I could write for days, months, or probably more accurately years on how I've been blessed and in the faithfulness of God. But that's not all I heard in the lyrics that are still, really, stuck in my head.

I think I decided to write about grace and blessings because underneath it all, that line was telling me something more. That line, "Still You know my heart," my heart that I store anger in, that finds worth in things, that messes up on a daily basis, was a gut check. I am ungrateful daily for things I am beyond blessed by. I take for granted people God has blessed me with all the time. God knows how filthy my heart is, how stuffed up and clogged with unrighteousness, and yet He continues to bless me. God loves me so much that despite what I do, He loves me. It's an unconditional love none of us can begin to fathom because we aren't capable of it. And that's not to say we shouldn't strive to love that way because we'll never be perfect. The goal isn't perfection. The goal is grace.

Before I head out, I do have one request for everyone who reads this. I'm leading a small group for some sure-to-be awesome ladies this semester and we're having our first meeting tomorrow night! My co-leader, Chloe, and I are super excited to meet all our girls and find out a little more about each of them and begin to pour into their lives and have them teach us along the way as well. I would so greatly appreciate it if you could  take a little time and pray for us as leaders and our girls--that we can provide a place where they don't feel they need to be guarded and speak only truth, and that the girls would have open and receptive hearts to what God is trying to speak to them.

Thanks all and much love!
Liz.