I’d like you to imagine something with me.  You’re making a documentary and head out to film a keynote interviewee.  It has taken a few months to secure this interview, and you are pumped to finally meet this person.  You drive for over an hour, go through security, and enter the building.  The interview goes well and everything is caught on camera…it’s a good day!  You return home and switch on the camera to replay the footage, only to discover that the interview is gone.  The memory card is blank and the footage you just celebrated over is non-existent.

If you hadn’t guessed already, this happened to me last week.  This may not seem like a big deal to those who have never made a film, but it’s a tough pill to swallow.  Thoughts have been storming through my head these last few days: how do I tell our interviewee that we lost the footage?  Do I dare ask him for a second interview?  Why are we even making a film? God why did you let this happen?

1 Corinthians 13 says this:

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secrets plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Living life without loving people is like making a documentary with no footage.  It is worth nothing.  Fortunately for us, a good friend spent the week trying to recover our lost interview and found it.  But how many people get to the end of their lives, only to find that all of their accomplishments were completely worthless because they did not live a life of love?  That is way more tragic than lost footage. 

How are we loving people this week?

Michelle

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I am your God, I have molded you with my own hands, and I love what I have made.  I love you with a love that has no limits, because I love you as I am loved.  Do not run away from me.  Come back to me— not once, not twice, but always again.  You are my child.  How can you ever doubt that I will embrace you again, hold you against my breast, kiss you and let my hands run through your hair?  I am your God— the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, the God of tenderness and care.  Please do not say that I have given up on you, that I cannot stand you anymore, that there is no way back.  It is not true.  I so much want you to be close to me.  I know all your thoughts.  I hear all your words.  I see all of your actions.  And I love you because you are beautiful, made in my own image, and expression of my most intimate love.  Do not judge yourself.  Do not reject yourself.  Let my love touch the deepest, most hidden corners of your heart and reveal to you your own beauty, a beauty that you have lost sight of, but will become visible to you again in the light of my mercy.  Come, come, let me wipe your tears, and let my mouth come close to your ear and say to you, ‘I love you.  I love you.  I love you.’

Girls, this is a reminder for you today that you have so much value in God’s eyes.

Love,

Michelle

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If you’re anything like me, your ears are craving and longing to hear God say this to you.  Sometimes the mere thought of me standing before my Saviour and have Him speak these words over me makes me want to weep.  I pray that my life would be worthy of such a moment, though only by the grace of God would that be possible.

As a newlywed I am learning what it means to be faithful to my husband. But a thought occurred to me this week: what does it mean to be faithful to God? What does that look like?  For me, being faithful to God means upholding justice in a broken world and being the hands and feet of Jesus to victims of sex trafficking.  I realized that if I back out on this calling, I am being unfaithful to God.

I read Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:45 this week: “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these, you were refusing to help me.” Many in this world view women and girls as scum of the earth, simply to be taken advantage of and used.  Trafficked girls really are viewed as “the least of these” and by helping them, I am loving Jesus.  I am being faithful to Him.

Being faithful can be exhausting, scary, and discouraging at times. But let’s be persistent, fight the good fight, love more than we ever thought possible…and at the end of our lives we can collapse in the arms of Jesus and know that it was all worth it.

Michelle

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I just got back from Florida, where I went to my cousin’s wedding and stayed with my grandparents. Usually when I see my grandma and grandpa, I‘m not able to have a lot of quality time with them because the rest of my family is there – the hustle and bustle keeps us all busy.  But this time I had four days alone with them, and got to know them better than I ever have before.  I went grocery shopping with them and looked at old photos with them.  I took a walk on the pier with my grandpa, checked the mail with my grandma, listened to their stories, concerns, and prayers, and laughed at how my grandpa accidentally fell asleep in church.  My grandma’s eyes welled up with tears when I left, and I am so grateful that I got to spend such quality time with them.

When I was on the plane, I decided that I would write them more. Getting the mail is an important part of my grandma’s day, and to get a card or a letter from her grandkids would no doubt put a smile on her face.  I have come to face the fact that they are getting old, and I want them to know how much I appreciate them every chance I get.

If your grandparents are still alive, I’d encourage you to got out this weekend and find them a nice card or write them a letter.  We often take grandparents for granted.  Showing the love of Christ by remembering them is a beautiful thing.

Have a great weekend!

Michelle

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My heart is broken for the girl that cannot receive love.
Whose father wasn’t the spiritual leader in her home.
Whose brother never held her face and told her that he loved her.
Whose guy friends never protected her.
Whose mother never told her she was beautiful without the clothes and the make up.
Whose friends never told her of her true beauty.
Whose spiritual family never told her of her true value.
Whose best friends never prayed for her.
Whose spiritual leaders never called her to a higher standard.

She was never told she beautiful, she was never told she was special.
She was never told she was unique, she was never told she was worthy.
She was never told that she was loved, and that same love she never found.

And so, she searches on.

Who will find her, who will save her, who will love her and take her home?
Will she settle for less?  Will she search for more?
Will she live in the darkness?  Will she live in the light?
Will she be a slave?  Will she ever be free?

How did she get here?  How did this happen?  And whose fault could it be?

I am guilty.  You are guilty.  We are guilty.  She is guilty.

But she is innocent.  Because He is innocent.  Because she is His.  And He is hope.

Hope for freedom.
Hope for beauty.
Hope for protection.
Hope for acceptance.
Hope for honour.
Hope for grace.
Hope for worth.
Hope for a special place.
Hope for today.
Hope for tomorrow.
Hope forever.

Hope for love.

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