Valentine.

Let me tell you of the greatest love of all.
One that no red roses, no amount of chocolate, no amount of pink confetti hearts could afford.
But the love that is free. 

It's a funny paradox, isn't it? A love so great, that no earthly, material gifts could afford, how then, can it be free? 

This is a love that is secure, a love that overwhelms, a love that is home-ly. 
This is a love that so many yearn for, a love that many look for, but they look for it in people who fail them. Many look for this love in others, they look for the other person to satisfy them, to fill their void, their need for love, their need for validation, their need to be needed.
A completely normal, human desire.

But yet, this greatest love of all will never fail. 
It is a gift that promises all things and more and fulfils it;
It is the fragrant red roses that will never die;
It is the yummy box of chocolates that will satisfy you forever, not just for 5 minutes. 
It is so much more than all we can ever imagine it to be. 

It is the love that bore the crown of thorns, the love that endured physical torture, emotional pain, spiritual disconnection. 
It is the love that, "though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as something to grasps" (Phillippians 2:6) 
It is the love that empties Himself so that we can be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:21) 
It is the love that loves perfectly, sacrificially and obediently. 

It is the love that God has for His people, to send Jesus to die for our sins so that we can be reconciled back to this perfect love. 

And if this is the greatest love, are we really bold enough to ignore it? This love, unaffordable by the things of the world, only asks for you to have a little faith, trust in God, to believe that He is our Saviour. Because even in this bleak world, there is hope, but only in the Cross of Christ. 

Hannah

Twenty twenty.

2020. The year no one expected. The year many were indoors for months on end. The year where the busiest cities in the world paused, the crowds dispersed, the shops shut. Families apart for a long time, with minimal to no physical contact. 

You've learnt to smile with your eyes, you've learnt the importance of technology. You've learnt to be grateful for what you've got. You've learnt how privileged you really are. I certainly have. 

2020, a year where so many plans were cancelled, postponed, delayed. New plans made, new plans cancelled. A year of heartaches, loneliness, confusion, frustration. A year of joy, of quietness, of productivity, of unexpectedness. 

2020, a year with much to be thankful for. 
Through difficulties, I'm thankful for friends and family who have been a stable companion, a listening ear, an encouraging pal. 
I'm thankful for a job that keeps going when times have been so tough on so many. 
I'm thankful for a workplace that is friendly enough to feel like you're apart of something. 
I'm thankful for the church family, who despite rough and difficult times, to continue preaching the good news of the gospel through various media, who had faithfully continued to feed the sheep.
I'm thankful for so many material things, a car, a roof, a bed, running water and more than sufficient food. 
I'm thankful for friends, near and far who checks in, through calls, and pray with and for you, encouraging you in your walk with God. 
I'm thankful for Jesus, who had come as a helpless baby, for the sake of love, to reconcile us back to God the Father, the Creator. 
I'm thankful that God does not leave us helpless in our sins, but graciously provide a way of salvation, through Jesus' death on the Cross, and His resurrection that shows He has defeated death and sin. 
I'm thankful for the many people who remind me of that. 
I'm thankful for many things, many of which I cannot boast in myself. 

2020 was difficult, challenging, frustrating, but tough times are growth times. 
If 2021 continues to be as hard and difficult, maybe at the end of it, we can rejoice and marvel at how we've grown in the Lord and praise Him. 

One thing that I know is sure, is that God is sovereign and good. I am called to be a faithful servant of His', and I know that my future is secured in His everlasting arms. 

To more grateful habits, and more runs:
Happy new year!

Hannah