Reason #827
It's finally May! We have made it through the winter and half way through the spring. I have been looking forward to May as much this year as I did last year. Aaron and I will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary, and I couldn't be more excited for the day to be here. There's just something about having a full year under your belt that makes one feel accomplished.
We met by chance. It was completely unexpected. Until I met Aaron, I had always done my best to get noticed by the guys I was interested in. I am a "traditional" girl when it comes to dating, but I certainly made sure to place myself in my desired suitor's line of view in hopes that he would notice. And so Aaron was the first guy I did not try to win over. I didn't try to get his attention, and I didn't do anything out of the ordinary to attract him. I just showed up to lunch one Sunday, and little did I know that would be the last potential boyfriend I would ever meet.
Our dating relationship was pretty unconventional. I was past the whole "impression" stage and dove right in to being authentic and real. The second time I hung out with Aaron, I proudly sported a t-shirt and yoga pants because when I am not at work, that's my clothing of choice. That's who I am. A girl who chooses comfort over cuteness, who prefers to sit and be rather than go and do. I wanted him to know that upfront. And before we went on our first "official date," I made sure he knew the important facts of who I was. I didn't want to hide anything from him or wait until he was hooked to reveal the true me. I figured if he knew my heart up front and chose to stay around, then he was worth investing in. And so I didn't demand fancy things from him as proof that he really liked me. I didn't expect our love story to reflect The Notebook. I didn't require that he take me on lavish dates or spend his hard earned money trying to keep me happy. Really, I wanted the opposite. And so every week night, he would come over and we would cook dinner together... while wearing sweatpants and t-shirts. I preferred to sit on the couch and talk with him all evening instead of going out. He would take walks with Scout and me, and we'd end up sitting under the pergola in the backyard sharing our thoughts and what God was teaching us. Our weekly dates consisted of coffee on Sunday nights after church so we could prepare for the week ahead, and if I was going to go back and do anything differently, I wouldn't.
I fell in love with Aaron because of the way he treated me. No amount of money could replace that. He could have bought me a gift every single day of the week, and that wouldn't have convinced me that he was the one. Because those things fade. It's true. And honestly, after a while, it gets old. You constantly have to out-do yourself when you rely on things to be the substance of your relationship. And even then, you can only do so much. But time is different because time never gets old. Time is never wasted. And the more quality time you spend together, the better it gets. The more you invest in that person, rather than investing in things for that person, the greater the return. And it didn't take me long to realize that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Aaron because, no matter what we did, I enjoyed being with him. Yet the real kicker was that Aaron loved me for who I was and that was it. It wasn't for the way I looked, for the things I could offer him, or for anything else other than because I am me.
This is how it goes with Jesus, you know. He finds us and notices us not because of anything we have done. And we don't have to impress Him. We don't have to try and win Him over or convince Him to choose us. He picks us not because of what we have to offer Him, not because of what we look like, or because of the job we have. He notices us the way we are. The imperfect, helpless, broken way we are, and yet He chooses us. He still desires to be in a relationship with us. With the fallen, the hurting, the tainted and imperfect. And the more time we spend with Him, the more we realize life is so much better with Him. Sure, it has it's challenges, and maybe you have some stuff to work through, but it's so much better than it ever was without Him. Because Jesus invests in us. He cares about us, about our hearts, about the core of who we are. And when you find someone like that, you can rest assured that they aren't going anywhere because you've got an authentic relationship built on a strong foundation that will stand the test of time.
#827 - Because Jesus' love stands the test of time.
"For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand..." - Deuteronomy 7:6-8
We met by chance. It was completely unexpected. Until I met Aaron, I had always done my best to get noticed by the guys I was interested in. I am a "traditional" girl when it comes to dating, but I certainly made sure to place myself in my desired suitor's line of view in hopes that he would notice. And so Aaron was the first guy I did not try to win over. I didn't try to get his attention, and I didn't do anything out of the ordinary to attract him. I just showed up to lunch one Sunday, and little did I know that would be the last potential boyfriend I would ever meet.
Our dating relationship was pretty unconventional. I was past the whole "impression" stage and dove right in to being authentic and real. The second time I hung out with Aaron, I proudly sported a t-shirt and yoga pants because when I am not at work, that's my clothing of choice. That's who I am. A girl who chooses comfort over cuteness, who prefers to sit and be rather than go and do. I wanted him to know that upfront. And before we went on our first "official date," I made sure he knew the important facts of who I was. I didn't want to hide anything from him or wait until he was hooked to reveal the true me. I figured if he knew my heart up front and chose to stay around, then he was worth investing in. And so I didn't demand fancy things from him as proof that he really liked me. I didn't expect our love story to reflect The Notebook. I didn't require that he take me on lavish dates or spend his hard earned money trying to keep me happy. Really, I wanted the opposite. And so every week night, he would come over and we would cook dinner together... while wearing sweatpants and t-shirts. I preferred to sit on the couch and talk with him all evening instead of going out. He would take walks with Scout and me, and we'd end up sitting under the pergola in the backyard sharing our thoughts and what God was teaching us. Our weekly dates consisted of coffee on Sunday nights after church so we could prepare for the week ahead, and if I was going to go back and do anything differently, I wouldn't.
I fell in love with Aaron because of the way he treated me. No amount of money could replace that. He could have bought me a gift every single day of the week, and that wouldn't have convinced me that he was the one. Because those things fade. It's true. And honestly, after a while, it gets old. You constantly have to out-do yourself when you rely on things to be the substance of your relationship. And even then, you can only do so much. But time is different because time never gets old. Time is never wasted. And the more quality time you spend together, the better it gets. The more you invest in that person, rather than investing in things for that person, the greater the return. And it didn't take me long to realize that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Aaron because, no matter what we did, I enjoyed being with him. Yet the real kicker was that Aaron loved me for who I was and that was it. It wasn't for the way I looked, for the things I could offer him, or for anything else other than because I am me.
This is how it goes with Jesus, you know. He finds us and notices us not because of anything we have done. And we don't have to impress Him. We don't have to try and win Him over or convince Him to choose us. He picks us not because of what we have to offer Him, not because of what we look like, or because of the job we have. He notices us the way we are. The imperfect, helpless, broken way we are, and yet He chooses us. He still desires to be in a relationship with us. With the fallen, the hurting, the tainted and imperfect. And the more time we spend with Him, the more we realize life is so much better with Him. Sure, it has it's challenges, and maybe you have some stuff to work through, but it's so much better than it ever was without Him. Because Jesus invests in us. He cares about us, about our hearts, about the core of who we are. And when you find someone like that, you can rest assured that they aren't going anywhere because you've got an authentic relationship built on a strong foundation that will stand the test of time.
#827 - Because Jesus' love stands the test of time.
"For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand..." - Deuteronomy 7:6-8