That's all I want you to know...

Laundry. Piles of laundry in the living room waiting for me to come to the rescue.

Today has been a normal day, a busy-full of kids type of day, you know those types of days, don't you? when it seems like you can't catch your breath or take a break for a minute type of day.

I managed to lower my 9 month old's crib so he doesn't stand there holding on to the rail screaming at me anymore to get him out, clearly he is tired and today, thankfully, he fell asleep 5 minutes after putting him down, I came downstairs and his older brothers were ready to go play outside with their neighbor friend. Then, there was silence, silence?! silence in the living room!! just me and piles of laundry. So I put my playlist on my phone to play while I begin folding the laundry and I think  "Lord, I finally get a break, I'd love to spend time with you right now but I'm busy, I mean, look at all these clothes waiting to be folded, and nobody else is gonna do it but me, sorry, I'm sure you can wait"

Then the right song came up, my favorite song. You know, that song that hits your heart every time, as if it had been played on purpose? "Amazed" by Jared Anderson came up, and there, in the middle of the living room, the unfolded socks fell out of my hands and I broke down in tears, in the middle of the living room, with nobody else to watch, to crawl on me, to rescue from falling over, to ask for a snack or go potty. There, I was hit by God's presence and I could do nothing else but stand and open my arms raised to Him, my mind was racing with all kinds of complaints like "oh God, I'm tired, please give me your heart, let me love the way you do, give me the patience you have, I need you desperately, I fail so many times, I don't even get dates with my husband, I need friends to go out with! I fail in so many areas of my life! I can't rest!" and then He just said:

"I LOVE YOU. I love you, I do. That's all I want you to know right now. I love you"

Jesus swept me off my feet only the way He knows how. He didn't have to make a bunch of promises, I just stood there receiving His love thinking "yeah, the clothes can wait, I'm the one who can't afford to wait to receive from Jesus when I have the chance to"

I want you to know that you are loved. I want you to know you are enough, you are special, you are the apple of His eye. He sees you, every part of you, the loneliness, the flaws, the insecurities, the sin...and He STILL loves you, deeply, every part of you. If I still love my child even when he's a stinker who disobeyed or who just keeps whining all the time (like I can whine to God, those pity parties are awful, aren't they?), how much more the Father loves us! He is the perfect Father, so patient, so loving, so kind and merciful.

Ephesians 3:18-20 says:

I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God. With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.

And this is my same prayer for you today, and for me too! that we would know how much He loves us, not just in our heads because the Bible says so, but deep in our hearts and spirits, how deep is His love for us and that the rest doesn't really matter! Receive the pouring of His love today, a glass of fresh water in the midst of your desert, at any chance you may get, in the middle of the day while folding laundry, in the morning with your coffee, at night before bed, at any time, He is there, ALWAYS present.

And guess what? the baby slept, the kids played outside, the laundry got done and I even had time to come share it with you. Someone out there needs this, I know someone does!

Sometimes, knowing God loves you is all you need to know. 

I hear my kids...baby is awake now, the kids just came running in, perfect timing and time for me to go! :)