I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!

Thought I could get some new readers with that title, and I couldn't resist the Elf reference. But really. I'm in love with someone who loved me first, before I even knew he existed--before I physically existed. I heard about him, and I told him I would think about him when I was old enough for my relationship with him to matter, and he still loved me. I knew that I needed him but chose to keep him at a distance, and he still loved me. He pursued me. He pursued me, and I rejected him--more than once. He was patient. I finally acknowledged my need for him, and he welcomed me in without hesitation. I've gone through times where I've forgotten him--I've forgotten who he is and who I am because of him. By forgotten, I don't mean I completely stopped thinking about him or even talking to him, I just let knowledge of him hang out in my head rather than resonate in my heart. I didn't know how to love him or even really be loved by him when I just knew about him; now I love him and receive love from him because I know him. Knowing him means transformation from the inside out. Knowing about him makes me want to make myself more like him. I've tried to change myself and failed. But knowing him makes me more like him. He makes me more like him. I don't make myself more like him. No, no. He makes me more like him. Every day when I step outside I'm reminded of the greatness of the one who loves me. I see the sunrise and know that he painted it. I see the bright leaves and am mesmerized by his creativity. I can't get over him. On my own I'm distracted, anxious, impatient, selfish, but he loves me. Even when I forget, he doesn't. So, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it! I can't get over the love of my God--my God, who loved me when I said no to him, who put on skin and took the wrath of God for the sins of the world so that I could know him and worship him without shame, who continues to amaze me day after day. 

Who is this God to you? Are you over him? Has his story become cliche to you? Have you known him and forgotten him? Has he seemed too far away? He knows you, and believe me, he wants you to know him. The thing that blows my mind is that he loves you as personally and individually as he loves me and every other person he made. Yeah wow. 

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" 

          1 John 3:1

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." 

          Jeremiah 29:13