I heard Oprah talk about the first time she felt offended at Christianity. She was sitting in a Baptist church, when the minister said, "God is a jealous God." She says:


Hearing this makes me sad.... because Oprah completely missed it. I can't blame her, because it's really easy to do.

God isn't jealous OF us. He's jealous FOR us. Because of the diluted love we know, it's SO difficult to understand this kind of love....a kind of love that would be jealous for me. And it's hard to understand a jealousy that's not motivated by selfish ambitions.

But, you know, there have been times I've been jealous for my husband. If he spends too much time working, I'm jealous for his time. If I see him talking to another person more than he talks to me, I can be jealous of that attention. It's not because I'm selfish. It's because I LOVE him. I BELONG to him, and he belongs to me.

When we stood at an altar almost 10 years ago, we gave ourselves away to each other. I'm not my own anymore. And this isn't so he can control me or have power over me. He didn't give himself to me so I could boss him around or tell him how to spend his time.

WE BELONG TO EACH OTHER TO ENJOY EACH OTHER....forever.

And this kind of love, this DEVOTION....it calls me, it requires me to be jealous for Aaron. Because so many things in this world will try to break this love apart. We are bound together, but I've seen with my own eyes how such a bond could be broken by shattered integrity, lack of communication, loss of passion.... my jealous love helps to protect my husband from loving another. My jealousy demonstrates my love.

So....I'm imagining a love like that...for me...on a much greater scale.

I see an all-powerful God -the one Oprah's pastor was describing- who is love in such a way that He created beings that carry His image...just so He could love them.

I see a God who created a bond between a man and woman, to let us experience a small glimpse of His incredible, unending love.

I see a God who is JEALOUS FOR ME.... He wants me to belong to Him. Not so He can control me. SO HE CAN ENJOY ME!!

The God who formed the universe with His words, who breathed life into me, who created all I see...HE ENJOYS ME!! Being with me. Loving me. Singing over me. Holding me. Wiping my tears. Laughing with me. Holding my hand. Feeling pain with me. Carrying me through suffering.

I am broken by such a love. I live for this love. I would die for this love.

I will live so all may know this love.

This song is changing my life!
How He Loves Us

So...this is what my beautiful blond baby looks like today. I took him to a nurse practitioner who put him on a steroid...which isn't helping. There's something so helpless about having a sick child! You can control so many things in your child's life....and then there are the things outside of your control. Argh!!!

And- to make matters worse- Walmart is out of Oatmeal bath! What is the world coming to?

Funday with mom was a great success! Despite the fact that we had to start the day off with a trip to the dentist's office, we had an amazing amount of un-listed fun!

It was just refreshing to NOT tell my kids "No" when they asked me to play a game, read a book or go the park. We played three board games, went to 2 parks, played in our ghetto pool in the backyard, read every library book and actually even got some productive things done!

Moral of the story: the greatest thing we should spend on our children is time. And when I trust God with my list so I can be who He's called me to be it all turns out just fine.