A Kiss from God

This week I have been asked to write my blog early. I normally write it on Fridays but seeing as Friday is a public holiday, I needed to get started early.

There’s not much to say about work / volunteering as my week has only just began. Overall, though, it’s still going really well, I’m still enjoying serving Links, Connections and God.

I was in the Links office yesterday as Ham, the Connections church leader, didn’t need me at his office. I used the opportunity to pull all my website review results together and finished a further article in the ‘Being A Volunteer’ blog series http://www.linksinternationalsa.com/category/being-a-volunteer-resource
I was a bit worried about writing my blog today because I didn’t think I’d have much to write about as it’s only Tuesday.  So what I did was spend most of this morning thinking, praying, listening to my favourite Christian songs and… God spoke to me about a lot of things!

This week I’ve been spending a lot of personal time with God.  If you read my last blog post, you will know I was challenged by my older sister to spend more personal time with God. Taking her advice, I’ve been going for long walks along the beach recently.

When I went for a walk yesterday I pretended God was beside me, walking with me. But then I realised there was no need to pretend because he is always right there, walking beside me.                                How amazing!

I started wondering ‘How can people doubt you?’ but realised that I’ve spent most of my life doubting God up until now. As I’ve fallen more and more in love with God I’ve found myself doubting him less and less. I think it’s just like falling in love with any human, the more you fall in love with them the more you forget about the bad and you grow in hope and faith.

“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.                                    Stop doubting and believe.” John 20:27

As a young woman, I desire to fall in love – just like most women do. I think falling in love with God is an important part of your relationship with Him, because it’s a desire God places in a women’s heart. He wants us to fall in love with him and He loves us falling in love with Him.

 Women admire beauty. As a result of God, who knows this, showing me His beauty I have fallen so in love with him. I love waking up to this wonderful country, surrounded by sunshine, sea, flowers and beautiful mountains and it was all created by Him. I am just in awe!

I’ve been reading a book since I have been here called Captivating – Unveiling the mystery of a Women’s Soul, which I would highly recommend! In one chapter Stasi – the author – spoke about a trip she and her husband went on and her husband snuck away for some time alone with God.  

 “… down to the beach where he walked and prayed and finally sat in the sand to watch the waves upon the sea. Then he saw it. A huge plume of water shot up into the sky, and a massive humpback whale appeared right before him, impossibly close to shore. No one else was near. The time of the whale’s annual migration had long passed. John knew immediately that this was a gift from God to his heart alone, a gift from the lover of his heart”. 

Stasi’s husband told her about what happened. She was happy for him but she wanted a kiss for herself. So when they went on another trip Stasi decided to take some time out to spend with God and she asked God for a whale as a gift.

“After a while, with no whale in sight, I got up and continued to walk. It was early spring, waves crashing, seagulls crying. The northern coast of California is rocky and as I picked my way through, I rounded a corner and came upon a starfish, a beautiful orange starfish. And I knew at once it was God’s gift to me, his kiss. He didn’t give me a whale; no, that was for John alone. For me, unique to me, he gave a stunning starfish. I thanked him for it, then rounded the next bend and came upon a sight I will never forget. There before me, behind me, surrounding me, were hundreds of starfish. Zillions of them. There were purple ones, orange ones and blue ones, all sizes. I burst into joyful laughter, my heart exploding inside me.”

While I was reading this I had tears running down my cheeks, just reading it and imagining it made me fall in love with God and like Stasi I wanted a kiss for myself. I didn’t know what it was going to be, or when I was going to get it but I knew I would eventually get one and I was prepared to wait.

My kiss came quite soon after I asked for one. Between the March 19th and 26th, we went on a ministry trip to Lower Gweru, Zimbabwe, to do some training with the local people. Lower Gweru isn’t in the bush but it is very close; it’s out of town, quiet and beautiful. One evening after I had brushed my teeth I decided to go outside quickly to see the dogs. I looked up at the sky and the stars were so bright they scared me. It took me a moment to realise what they were, I had never seen so many so brightly in my life. I'm telling you they were sososo amazing, I was in awe and so overwhelmed. I just kept giggling and like Stasi my heart just exploded and I knew that was my kiss from God to me!

 I was planning on going to bed but after that I was too restless (in a good way).

How could you not love such a beautiful God!?

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4: 9-10