FULLY LOVED
Several weeks ago,
after finishing
some routine bloodwork
for my mom
at the local hospital,
I spotted hearts galore
in the display window
of the hospital gift shop
as we were making our way
through the lobby.
Loving everything about hearts,
I soon found myself
on the other side of the glass
picking up this,
awwing at that,
and taking in
all the valentine goodies
there on display.
And that’s when
God set me up
in the most precious way.
Picking up a red coffee mug,
I turned it around
to read the words
on the other side:
FULLY LOVED.
Instantly, tears came to my eyes.
For the last few months
(ok, last few years too)
I have been feeling
empty,
so very empty,
in the “love category”
of my life.
I know God loves me.
I know that I am loved
by countless others, too.
But life as a widow,
(for the past eight years)
combined with
life as a full-time caregiver
for my eighty-eight year old mother
(for the past four plus years)
had found me feeling as though
I was running on “E”.
Seeing these words –
FULLY LOVED,
(which sounds a lot like
ABUNDANCE to me) –
now,
here,
on this beautiful red mug
with a raised heart
protruding on the other side,
a precious heartprint from God.
I held it to my chest,
wiped my tears,
and then,
when I finally had myself
together emotionally,
I walked over
and placed it on the counter.
“Is this a gift for someone?”
the volunteer working the gift shop asked.
“Uh, yes. Yes, it is.”
“Would you like me
to put it in a box?”
“No, it’s for me.”
She smiled,
and of course I knew,
she could never possibly know
just how precious
this gift –
placed before me by my God –
was.
As my mom and I
walked by the display window
and made our way
out to the parking lot,
I felt so incredibly loved.
FULLY LOVED,
in fact.
That God would
go out of His way
(doesn’t He always)
to remind me again,
in such a beautiful way,
that He sees me,
that He understands my deepest needs,
and that He alone is
more than enough.
With Him,
I have an ABUNDANCE of love.
Later that night,
as I stood in the kitchen
unwrapping the mug
from the brown paper
the kind cashier had
wrapped it in,
I turned it around
and once again
read the words
written there:
LOVE FULLY.
Wait! What????
LOVE FULLY????
And that’s when
I just know
God was smiling
from ear to ear.
In my great need,
I had read
FULLY LOVED.
Now,
having been
just filled up again
to overflowing
by God’s love,
I was in a position
to see beyond myself
to see beyond my need,
to see the words written there
as they truly were:
LOVE FULLY.
Fully loved
so that I can in turn
love fully.
Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies
and the God of all comfort.
He comforts us
in all our affliction,
so that we may be able
to comfort those
who are in any kind of affliction,
through the comfort
we ourselves receive from God.
~2 Corinthians 1:3-4
My desperate need for love
draws me to the
Lover of my soul,
my precious Jesus.
Here,
and here alone,
I find ABUNDANCE.
As I walk
though the day to day
living of my life,
this place of abundance
causes me to spot
hearts galore
through the display windows
of fake smiles,
“I’m fine”,
and business.
This ABUNDANCE
of God’s love
(more than enough
with left over to give away)
finds me
on the other side of the “glass”
talking to this one,
reaching out to listen to that one,
and being drawn to
all those walking through life
on empty, too.
And the most precious
things about
ABUNDANCE,
is the more I receive
and the more I give,
the more I receive again.
When I truly allow God to
FULLY LOVE
me,
I can then truly
LOVE FULLY
those around me.
It’s why
ABUNDANCE
i s s o m u c h –
it’s not just for me.
It’s for everyone
who’s walking through life
just like me.
~Stacy
