"Love must be sincere, Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving The Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those mourn who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. " -Romans 12:9-16
This is a picture of what true love looks like. Love that is pure, and of God. And the kind of love I get to experience with Justin.
This blog is a surprise to Justin, on our 1 year anniversary! But this blog is also for you too because our love story cant be understood without Jesus, so my prayer is that all who lay eyes on this will experience the greater love story of Jesus and the assurance of His great love.
Many people ask me is it hard being in a relationship on the World Race and my response would simply be this, "If there is any ounce of uncertainty in your relationship, it will be brutal. But if you are confident in the assurance that only God can provide I would say absolutely not."
I say this due to the fact that Justin and I have continued to experience the "immeasurably more" Jesus promises in Ephesians 3. This journey of being physically separated has allowed our spirits to become so intertwined, a gift that is only given by Jesus himself.
With limited communication Jesus is speaking all the more loudly to our hearts. On several occasions we have felt an overwhelming burden to stop what were doing and get on our knees and intercede for each other and we come to find out later that at the same time on opposite sides of the world the other is struggling with something.
Or the countless times we come to each other sharing what Jesus is speaking to us individually only to discover Jesus is teaching us the same thing.
Distance makes our heart grow fonder because our eyes aren't focused on each other: they are focused on Jesus. He's the one doing the work by connecting our hearts, because no amount of man made love can do that.
I'm convinced thats the key in any relationship: focus on Jesus.
Being apart from the one you love for 11 months isn't normal. But nothing about our relationship is normal so it fits us perfectly.
It also fits the love story of Jesus perfectly too. Think about it, the all powerful God could just snap his fingers and get rid of all of us, yet he became one of us. He dwelt among sinners, and called them "friends." He lived a perfect life and then died a death he didn't deserve, in order to save us from ourselves. Then he rose, and made our heart his home. He's still dwelling with us!
"My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people." -Ezekiel 37:27
There's nothing normal about that. No other god can say the lived, died and then was resurrected. No other god chooses to dwell among the least of these. No other god says, bring me your mess, I came to seek and save you despite yourself.
I choose the abnormal because if it was good enough for Jesus its good enough for me. To take it a step further, normal doesn't seem to work- 1 in 2 marriages end in divorce. I don't like those "normal" odds. I choose Jesus and rejoice that our relationship is unique. Its one only Jesus could write, so its one that involves no anxiety; merely peace and trust.
One of my squad mates suggested a book to me and one of the quotes in it really resonated with my heart:
" I knew that marrying him would be the most natural next step in our relationship and my life. The ease of that decision surprised me. You know how people tell you that when you know, you know? Well it's true. When you're becoming knit together at the heart level and when you're both growing closer to God the choice to marry is a peace giving small step.
It's funny how the picture of this step of commitment is so different in film and on television from the way it is in real life. It's not a stressful nail biter, wondering if you'll be asked or whether you'll accept this rose. Nor is the decision to marry this person a huge leap accompanied by the fear of loss or angst over the future. The proposal isn't a surprise. It doesn't warrant a yes or no answer because the next step is obvious to both people. Most often the response to the question will you marry me is simply of course.
A relationship protected through prayer is marked by many small steps the couple takes together all the way to the altar. Their path is made straight. Their hearts are fixed on Him. And there is peace."
– Robin Gunn
Our steps right now are separated by a lot of land and ocean, but we have confidence in His timing. We know where our path eventually will lead us and so we choose to trust Jesus all along the way. In the meantime we are focused on what God is teaching us now. It can be easy to get lost in thinking about our wedding day and the proposal but we are learning the importance on focusing on the now. God is doing so much now, and we don't want to miss one second of what He has to say to us. It all goes back to our focus, we must focus on Him.
Throughout this year I have learned over and over again that Justin is the one. How do I know? Well in short, Because God has said so time and time again. God has aligned our hearts and placed His abounding love inside. The love I feel for him is unlike any other love I've ever experienced.
In addition, the ways in which we love to glorify Him are almost identical: love for the nations, love for orphans, and love for special needs children. God first placed those desires individually, then He showed us the someone to which we can accomplish those desires with.
Happy one year Justin Ryan, and thank you for being my someone! Thank you for a year of growth, of love, of learned lessons, of faith and of trust! Thank you so much for joining me on the journey of the world race! Here's to many more years of 'immeasurably more' along our journey with Abba!
To everyone else I would challenge you with the question, what are you focused on?
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." -2 corinthians 4:18
