Happy Valentine's Day! His unqualified love for imperfect me.

“It amazes me what this little girl will crawl over and through to get to you” my husband chuckled as my eight month old daughter made her way to me across the field of toss pillows, laundry baskets, and dining room chairs. A sweet thought, but my heart sank.

“Lord, what I WON’T crawl over and through to get to you” a tiny voice in my head retorted. “Lord, I’ve put you in a convenient box and I open it up when dinner is cooked, laundry is folded, and my post-it list of thank you notes is finished.”

“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).

My daughter seeks me with all of her soul. I watch her eyes and she is intently focused on me. Only me. Her eyes don’t wander, they don’t reflect a distant stare. They lock on me and no obstacle will block her from coming. I sustain her, I fulfill her, I provide for her every need.

He sustains us, He fulfills us, He provides for our every need.

Friends, our love for Him should be that simple.  He wants us to desperately, easily, and innately seek him.  Every moment I look in my daughter’s face I am reminded of His love for me.  His unqualified love for imperfect me.

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God for the living God.” Psalm 42 1-2 ESV

There’s nothing complicated about this relationship. The deer doesn’t schedule a time to quench his thirst. The deer doesn’t prepare herself and her habitat to approach the stream.

But most importantly, He keeps pouring grace.

But here is where it gets good. What about when we don’t approach him easily? When we focus on our to-do list first? He opens His arms wider, He calls to us louder, He gently points all things in our life back to Him.

His grace is un-ending. Every morning is new. Lord, may we remember we are your daughters (and sons). You sustain us, you fulfill us, you provide for our every need. I pray that we crawl over vacuums, recipes, empty gas tanks, grocery carts, and laundry piles with our eyes and hearts solely fixed on you.

What is blocking you from being in constant communion with the Lord? What do you stand to lose if you crawl over these things?  Friends, we know what we have to gain.

Happy Valentine's Day <3