God Loves You
I was fighting the cloud of negative thoughts swarming around my head when I looked up from my table and my eyes locked onto a sentence on my refrigerator door: "I love you and God loves you too." I read it again and again, as if quenching my thirst, along with another sentence at the very bottom of the letter: "God loves you Andrea!"
The letter is from Annaliza, one of my former students in Yap. I received it about a month ago, and it meant so much to me then that I put it on my fridge. It's actually quite long, and very beautiful, especially since I remember when it wasn't easy for this girl (or any of the other 2nd graders) to string together three full coherent sentences. And here she is, filling a whole page, single-spaced, with neat, small handwriting and clear thoughts about life, plans, and even these words of blessing that she had no idea I needed so much.
I guess I'm not surprised that she wrote them. Whenever I write my former students, I often end with a reminder that I love them and Jesus loves them and is always with them. But I think I was surprised--especially today--at how powerful it was for someone to share those words with me, with my name in it. Telling yourself that God loves you is one thing. But hearing it from someone else somehow makes it more real, more true. Maybe part of the Gospel's power is in the way it's shared from one human being to another. It's not just about passing on information. It's about love.
It's about God's love. For me. For you. By name. Teachers reminding students. And students, bless their hearts, reminding their teachers.
If you're reading this and you haven't heard it in awhile, let me remind you: God loves you. He really does.
The letter is from Annaliza, one of my former students in Yap. I received it about a month ago, and it meant so much to me then that I put it on my fridge. It's actually quite long, and very beautiful, especially since I remember when it wasn't easy for this girl (or any of the other 2nd graders) to string together three full coherent sentences. And here she is, filling a whole page, single-spaced, with neat, small handwriting and clear thoughts about life, plans, and even these words of blessing that she had no idea I needed so much.
I guess I'm not surprised that she wrote them. Whenever I write my former students, I often end with a reminder that I love them and Jesus loves them and is always with them. But I think I was surprised--especially today--at how powerful it was for someone to share those words with me, with my name in it. Telling yourself that God loves you is one thing. But hearing it from someone else somehow makes it more real, more true. Maybe part of the Gospel's power is in the way it's shared from one human being to another. It's not just about passing on information. It's about love.
It's about God's love. For me. For you. By name. Teachers reminding students. And students, bless their hearts, reminding their teachers.
If you're reading this and you haven't heard it in awhile, let me remind you: God loves you. He really does.
Amen. I think I'll write some Easter notes to my students tonight.
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