Almost every week, my best friend stops by after she drops her youngest off at school. I will take an early lunch from my day job and sometimes we walk the neighborhood a few times, or she will help me with some shop tasks. We talk, we work, and we laugh. It’s the best part of my week!
We are so different from one another. She is very organized, and I have to move my mess around so she has somewhere to sit. She is measured, while I can easily fly off the handle and jump to conclusions. I admire her so much and I am eternally grateful for our 16-year friendship.
This week, as we talked and worked on putting earrings on cards for the shop, I apologized for the state of my office, as if she had ever seen it in any other condition…
“You know I’m trying to get organized!” I said.
”You’ve told me your plans,” she replied.
And then she went on.
“I don’t think you need to be organized. I think this just kind of the way you do things. This is your own kind of organization!.”
I laughed. She laughed. My husband even laughed from the other room. He popped in to say she should give him lessons!
In that moment, funnily enough, I just felt so much love.
These two people, who know me best and love me best, were acknowledging and laughing about and then tossing aside something that I have been embarrassed and ashamed about for much of my life! Sure, it’s something I will always be working on, but my husband and my friend look beyond my flaws and at WHO I AM.
“God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart.”
Isn’t that how God sees us, too? He is so inconceivably Good. He is so…BIG. My little, sinful, selfish self feels so tiny and unworthy sometimes.
But today, as we all had a good-natured laugh about my inability to keep a room clean, I saw myself in the eyes of my husband, my friend, and God.
God knows us so deeply. He sees our shortcomings and our sins…and He loves us more deeply still. My hope for all of us is that we are able to catch glimpses of God’s love for us today and every day...
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know.
Lord, I thank You for humor, laughter, friends, and true love. I praise You for all of Your creations, including myself, my quirks, my gifts, and my weaknesses. Help me continue to see myself and others with Your loving eyes. Amen.