I’m sharing an earlier blog while away…

As I was praying this morning so thankful for the love and provision of God, I couldn’t help but be thankful that I was born and have life. Do you ever experience that? Thank you, Lord, that I am alive?

I think about all the experiences I had as a child where my love for God began because my child heart experienced a love so pure and so gentle it spoke of truth. Do you remember those moments?

When we see the world through the eyes of a child there is wonder, excitement and adventure. We get to experience that joy again when we watch our own kids and grandkids as they experience new flashes of seeing the beauty that surrounds all of us but that they notice anew and are joyful with wonder.

I find my heart longing for simpler. As we grow up we experience nuance that teaches us the world is not black and white but shades of gray. We hear that expression a lot.

What I’m finding is that I don’t want shades of gray. I want a world of truth that will not fade to gray; a world I can count on to make sense; a world of beauty that we already live in if we only had eyes to see…eyes of children open to the possibility of a loving God that we experience deep in our heart when we see all He has created. He created beauty and love. What do we create?

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full…John 10:10. No gray there! The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. The thief comes to leach out all the beauty of God’s love and lead us away from a truth so pure and good and true. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full….

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14. Children embrace that truth of God. God’s heart full of grace and truth and love. I think that’s why children love color so much and why we lose that gradually embracing shades of gray. We lose the simple truth that God loves us. My prayer is that we can open our hearts or better yet allow God to open our hearts to His love for us.

As I sat thinking I was glad I have life, I realized the reason I was so grateful was that because I have life I know God. I know Him because I was born and began a journey that He has walked with me. If I had not been born, I wouldn’t be able to know God and be with Him through eternity. I am grateful I have life not because of me living but because I get to know Him and experience joy that only comes from knowing Him and is filled with beautiful colors and wonder and truth. I get to find my child heart that never left and the best part is that that heart will be for all eternity with Him. Imagine what we will experience!