Reflections and Responses

While I was doodling with Olivia last night, I had a thought. The voice in my head tells me: "Jesus loves me when I am _____." (Fill in the blank with lofty adjectives and idealistic descriptors like "perfect," "a selfless wife," "in Olympic shape.") But His voice gently corrects me and says: "Jesus loves me when I am." There's a period there, not a colon or a blank space. He loves me simply because I exist. He's loved me since the moment I was an idea in His head. That means He has loved me before I even had the opportunity to achieve, attain or perform. He loves me simply because I am . We spend so much energy trying to earn love and approval and be worthy of it.... but the One whose opinion matters most labeled us as "loved" before we took our first breaths. We can take off the pressure, the facades, the pull-ourselves-up-by-our-bootstraps mentality.... we're loved. Amen? Amen. P.S. I really love t