What God Did To Win Your Heart.

It’s a captivating subtitle: What God Did To Win Your Heart.

Lucado’s challenge is to personalize the life and death of Christ.  
Lucado explains that Jesus’ proclamation “I did it just for you.” is his resounding, enduring and personalized message.

Lucado makes the case that the trial, judgment, and execution was not happenstance.  “Knowing his last deeds would be forever pondered, don’t you think he chose them carefully? Deliberately? Of course he did. There were no accidents that day.”

Proclaiming to the end, “I did it for you. I did it all for you.”

My friends Kevin and Cassie and I met this weekend at the 5-8 Grill. As good as the Juicy Lucy burgers were, the conversation was even better. 

As we ate and talked they smiled at one another, laughed together and completed one another’s stories.  While busy, they enjoy their lives together.

Four years ago we spent quite a lot of time together as we prepared for their wedding.  Now, four and a half years later it’s obvious that the love that was blossoming into marriage was in full bloom.

They love one another.

Just in case I needed another “WHAT is happening in our world” moment, news out of Scotland:

“Sex trafficking victims reveal horror of witchcraft and torture being used to enslave women in Scotland“

Assuming it’s true — and I have no reason not to think it isn’t — it’s so heart-breaking and horrific.

FML

One “victim had been trafficked from Africa and was only prostituted in Scotland. She was trafficked by a trusted community member she turned to after witnessing the murder of her parents and grandparents by the police.”

Cuts lined her arms.
He drinks himself into oblivion.

She chases after “Mr. Perfect.”
He’s looking to “hit it.”

She’s settling.
He’s settling.

You must love yourself before you can love another.

Accept yourself for who you are, but don’t “settle.”
- Don’t let addictions stand in your way.
- Don’t let lies blind you.
- Don’t let self-pity poison your heart.

“You’re better than that!!!”  That’s mysilentscream.

Today I received a text intended for someone else:

“im sorry i know it doesnt matter to you , its juss i dont have anyone to talk too . soo i juss wanna let it out . [The guy’s name] im sorry for whatver i did to make you unhappy , im sorry if i ever hurt you in any type of way . i love you tooo much too ever walk away from you </3 itss sooo hard to not love you . idint know you had this side to you , i was  alwayss there for you … i wass theree when you cryed , i was there all the times you hurt . i really tryed to alwayss be there for you </3 im sorry . thankyou for atleast loving me once back then :”(  & thankss for atleast pretending to love me 3 dayss ago, cause i actually did believe you </3 but juss know as hard as i try too , ill never forget you & ill never ever stop loving you </3”