Prompted by a good friend....

So a good friend just discovered my blog, and chose to e-mail me instead of commenting. Among other things, the e-mail said that now that she knows what's going on in my life, she wonders what's going on in my heart. The truth is...I don't want to face what's going on in my heart.

I find myself without a church home and without a pastor to really talk to. It's a terrific loss. I've been hurt and know I'm in the valley -- desperate for the mountain top. And of course, once you're down, the enemy likes to close in and the attacks come hard and fierce. I wouldn't say I'm having a crisis of faith, but there is a weariness in my bones.

I was cleaning out my e-mail folders and came across the following e-mail. I was in the middle of reading Rob Bell's "SexGod." It's an awesome, quick read.

Anyways, he starts be talking about how he got his courage in junior high to ask this girl to dance and she ran into the girls bathroom and how he had to live with that rejection. And he talks about the risks that start there and continue for the rest of our lives, and sometimes the rejection that comes when we give a part of ourselves to someone, and they say no. He talks about how love is giving away yourself and giving up control. Then he asks this question, "So if you were God -- which I realize is an odd way to begin a sentence -- but if you were God, the all-powerful creator of the universe, and you wanted to move toward people, you wanted to express your love for the world in a new way, how would you do it?"

He goes on to explain various personalities that we all deal with, both those that are aggressive and controlling and those that are weak and manipulative. He concludes, "If you were an almighty being who made the universe and everything in it, you would need to meet people on their level, in their world, on their soil...like them. This is the story of the Bible. This is the story of Jesus."

WOW. So often, I get caught up in the bigness of faith, that it's easy to forget that it really is a simple love story. God is in love with me. He's in love with you too :)

Rob Bell puts it much more eloquently than I. He closes the chapter by saying, "In matters of love, it's as if God has agreed to play by the same rules we do. God can do anything -- that's what makes God, God. But God can't do everything. God can't make us love him -- that's our choice. Love is risky for God too. Which is a bit like a boy asking a girl to dance."

whew. I just had to share.

I miss the girl who wrote that. I don't know where to find her again.

Happy Valentine's Day