What does God think about me?

     I am so thankful it is Friday night because this has been such a long week! Sometimes we get very focused on how well we perform.  However, I am not talking about music here -- there are so many ways in which we might feel we don't measure up -- in our relationships, how effective we are at work, how many times we went to the gym during the week, how much we are able to serve at church... and the list goes on.

     We know that in Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus encourages us to give Him our burdens and that He will give us rest.  Maybe you are like me though, and you reflect over your week and the things you should have done better, or you wonder how you can possibly rest when you have a long to-do list waiting?  Procrastinating surely will not help and feelings of guilt actually suck up a lot of our energy.  I would like to propose another kind of rest that comes from truly understanding the heart of God and how much we are loved and cherished.

     You see, when we truly grasp the very nature of God and that He is crazy about us, we don't need to worry about what other people think.  In addition, we can lay those difficult conversations, unanswered e-mails, our financial decisions, our latest work-out plan, and even our insecurities before Him, because I can assure you, God sees past those things into our heart.  His love is not dependent upon our performance, or lack thereof.  His love is unconditional and unmerited.  

     My weekend is looking a bit busy (a rehearsal, three church services, a major document deadline and an overflowing laundry basket!), but I am hanging on to God's truth about me, His unending grace and am confidently trusting that it will be a blessed (and even restful!) weekend.

¨Confidence and courage are a product of knowing who God is and what He thinks about you.¨  Terry Hoggard.

The Purple Heart

Several months ago, I had a group of friends over at my place and a lively discussion arose centered on -- of all things -- heart emojis.  One young lady revealed that she uses yellow hearts for acquaintances or friends she doesn't know very well, while another said she reserves red for very close relationships and special messages.  In addition, the consensus was that green and blue hearts could also be included when wanting to communicate general affection, but the group unanimously agreed that purple hearts often convey a negative meaning, so they avoided purple.

All except me, of course.

It is no small secret that my favourite colour is purple.  I own a relatively large amount of purple clothing and accessories and just today, I was caught writing in my diary in purple ink.

Immediately, the room erupts into laughter, as everyone realizes that I have, in all probability, sent a lot of purple hearts to people whom I care deeply about.  As the discussion continued, we came to a very fundamental conclusion -- communication must take into account the recipient.  No matter how great a communicator you are, understanding your audience is crucial to getting your message heard.  In order to effectively reach out to someone, we need to know their heart, and be aware that their love language could very well be different from our own.

In my world, purple is the colour of royalty! 💜