Predictable

Back in September we were blessed with a second car.  This car has been a saving grace in our lives. We had been a single car family since our daughter was about 2 months old.  She'll be twelve in April.  It wasn't always easy, and there were times it was down right difficult, but God's grace was always sufficient in getting us where we needed to be, when we needed to be there.  Sometimes I swear you could hear the mountains moving when that happened.

Yesterday when my husband came home from work, I offered to let him take my car to the breakfast he and our son were going to attend this morning at church.  Knowing it was going to be cold, I thought he might truly appreicate the heated seats.  When I graciously extended this gift to him, he looked up from his spaghetti and meatballs and half said, half asked, "And so I can put air in your tires?"  BUSTED.  I sheepishly grinned and said, "Maybe?  Am I that predictable?"  Not that I needed an answer to that question, but he said yes.

When you've been together for awhile, you get to know the other persons patterns, habits, likes, and dislikes.  For example, asking him if he wants to go get ice cream would be pointless.  The correct way to approach this would be, "Let's go get ice cream," because I know he is not going to turn it down.  Likewise, if he is off on a Thursday, it would be silly for him to ask me if I want to go The Pub at WholeFoods for a $5 double cheeseburger.  He knows that I would never turn down a cheeseburger unless I was either sick or dying.  And if it were the latter, I'd likely make it my last meal.

But what's even more spectacular than spending your life with someone that knows you, is having a God that knit you together intricately and is keenly aware of every detail, nuance, emotion, feeling, and thought you have ever, or will ever, have.  And as if that weren't enough, throughout your entire life, He remains steadfast, constant, faithfully by your side, and listening to your every spoken and unspoken prayer.  He diligently holds you up, picks you up, and declares you worthy, loved, and precious.  Nothing will ever change His thoughts about you, towards you, or for you because He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He simply cannot unlove you.  No.Matter.What.

There are many things of value in my life that have no monetary worth.  You simply can't put a price tag on relationships, memories, or experiences.  But of everything that I am blessed with, the most significant is my relationship with God through His Son, Jesus.  And though there are times I have neglected it, cheapened it, and taken it for granted, He has never once been anything but gracious, merciful, and compassionate to me.  And while He may be wildly imaginative in the ways He answers prayers and brings solutions to problems I can't ever see ending, I am forever grateful that He is as predictable as I am with His love.

Father, in 42 years You have never been away from me.  Even before I knew You, You loved me with a love I can never match in return.  Thank You for being constant.  Thank You for being near.  And thank You for calling me Yours.  Amen.