Drawing to a close.

The end of something is never easy for me. I am the kind of person who loves new starts but hates to have other things end in order for them to take place. As I sit here thinking over this last year I wonder what is yet to come over the course of time. Will 2011 bring a year marked by great struggle or will life just seem to ramble along at a comfortable pace. I know for the first time over the course of this next year I will be adorned with the title of grandma. What a joy to think on that new life that has already started. We are all waiting on the birth of this little one with the kind of expectancy that usually only comes at Christmas. Waiting to see the face that will remind us that all hope is not gone. In that moment when my son and daughter in-love hold that precious one, I will think back to how I felt holding my own babies. There is a realization that comes in that moment. It is a NEW understanding of just what love is. Love is not something earned or conjured up. It was never meant to be conditional or wavering. It has always been designed to be something that traveled across the boundary of mistakes, mess ups, and failures. It is not dependent on down payments, regular deposits, or payoffs. It is, by design, the single most treasured thing by all of mankind. In fact it is not only treasured it is desired, sought after, and longed for.

This year I will share for the first time the understanding of this kind of love with one of my own children. I also know that with this kind of love comes great risk. Didn't God risk when he created us?  He knew that some would never come to know who their true Father was. He knew others would deny the fact that they even had this kind of Father. He knew that some would turn their heads while other would turn their backs. He knew, and yet He took that risk.

Despite what must be disappointing at times, He continues to beckon us all. He continues to woo us to Himself. He calls to ones who were once traveling with Him and are now lost to a distant land. He calls to one who have worked so hard to find their own way to Him and have wondered for far to long. He calls to those who haven't even given as much as a thought in His direction. He calls and continues to call. He calls me...he calls you. In each effort to draw us closer He whispers but one thing..."Dear child, I love you. My love is not conditional...it is wavering...it is not earned. My love IS. Draw close to me and I will give you understanding of the extent of my love." What a joyous thing!

Blessed to be His!