Monthly Archives: June 2018

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THE GIFT OF THE FATHER’S LOVE

June 16, 2018 8:21 pm , Leave a Comment ,

There is a place inside every person’s heart that needs the love of a father. As humans, we are wired for needing a father’s love and encouragement. Yet, due to death, divorce, deployment, and many other reasons, not everyone has a good father present in their lives. When that need for a father goes unmet, it can cause deep pain in the soul.

Thankfully, our heavenly Father loves us perfectly and He promises never to abandon us. In Hebrews 13:5 it says: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ ” A tangible sense of our heavenly Father’s presence can be felt continually as we press into Him through repentance and prayer. As we draw near to God, His love has the power to heal broken hearts and take away our pain.

Through every hard challenge, God has walked along side me and revealed Himself as a GOOD FATHER. I remember a time I felt weak and restless as I was facing a challenge that seemed impossible to overcome.

With tears rolling down my cheeks, I bowed down at the feet of the Father. I cried out for strength. I prayed, “Father, the obstacles on the path laid out for me feel too big.” His warm embrace enveloped my heart as His love washed over me. His Spirit soothed my soul and the sweetness of His presence encircled me profoundly. In my heart, I could imagine Him whispering words of encouragement.

Child, nothing is too big for Me. I’ll never ask you to do more than I created you for. Rest in Me. Rest in My love, rest in knowing there is nothing I’ll ask of you that will ever be too big. My grace is sufficient for you. In your weakness, My strength is made perfect. Arise my child. Let me put a new song in your heart. Let My love lift you up and carry you.

As His love permeated me with warmth, my soul was restored in an instant. He breathed new life into my spirit and strengthened me. Joy replaced the tears. Peace covered me and made me ready to begin a new day with a new song in my heart—a song of joy for celebrating the love I had found in my Father’s arms.

With the fatherly love of God and His strength—life is made beautiful. He carries those who completely depend on Him. 

May you feel the heavenly Father’s love every day and may He meet the unmet expectations that your earthly father may not have been able to fulfill. Whether you have a good earthly father or not, you can enjoy the priceless gift of God’s perfect love and rest in knowing that a daddy’s love flows from the compassionate heart of our Father in Heaven.

“He is like a father to us, tender and sympathetic to those who reverence Him. “ Psalm 103:13

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for loving us with a perfect, fatherly love. Thank You for bringing healing to our hearts in the places we’ve been wounded. Please help us look to You moment to moment for every need we have. Help us to rest in Your presence and know that You will never leave us, nor forsake us. Help us look to You always as our provider, our nurturer, and our protector. Please fill the hearts of every earthly father with Your love so that they can be conduits of Your amazing grace to their children and grandchildren. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Grace and peace to you,

Amy

 

Posted in: Devotions , Tagged: , ,

A LIFE WELL LIVED

June 10, 2018 5:15 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Emotions flooded my heart as I was leaving the park where a garden had been placed in honor of my treasured friend, Lori, who passed to her eternal home seven months ago. Lori’s family created a gorgeous flower garden and dedicated it this weekend in memory of their beloved wife, mom, daughter, and sister.

Heaven gained an amazing soul in 2017, and all who knew Lori lost a one-of-a-kind treasure. During the months since Lori’s death, I’ve pondered how she impacted me.

Lori was a childhood friend whom I was out of touch with for a season until we reconnected through social media in recent years. Lori was one of the first girls I met when I moved from Florida to Georgia in the sixth grade. As the new girl at school, I was given a heaven-sent blessing in becoming friends with Lori. I have precious memories of spending time with her when she was a giggly girl. We enjoyed fun times of laughter together, going to the lake, and hanging out at my house as grammar school girls.  Lori is in the photo below at my 12th birthday celebration.

During our first year of high school, I was inspired by Lori’s love of books. She was smart, but what stood out the most about Lori was her pure heart. She held a strength and wisdom that many do not possess until later in life. She was steady, loyal, kind, and she did not have a need to try to be popular or cool.

Lori obviously had a close connection with God from an early age and she had a genuine concern about others. The love she drew from her close relationship with Christ overflowed out of her heart onto the lives of every person she met.

After attending several years in high school with Lori, I moved to another school and rarely saw her anymore. Then following our high school years, I briefly reconnected with Lori and she wrote some letters to me while she was away at college. Lori’s kindhearted, caring heart was obvious even in her written letters. During that season of corresponding through letters, I was married, settling into a new home and somehow our correspondence fell away.

With our lives changing due to marriage, our friendship slipped away and we did not stay connected as friends for several decades. Thankfully in our forties, Lori found me on Facebook and reached out to me with a very loving message. It felt like a miracle to reconnect with her. After we reconnected, I wrote the following message: “As I look back over my life, you were truly one of the sweetest friends I’ve ever had. I’m thankful to the Lord for reconnecting us.” The words I wrote to Lori are true—she was indeed one of the sweetest friends ever. I’m incredibly grateful to have had a soul like hers touch my life.

Choosing from all of Lori’s strengths, I believe it was her consistent, steadfast devotion to Christ throughout her life that made her such a beautiful soul. In the midst of her excruciating battle of fighting cancer, Lori drew closer to Christ instead of turning away from Him in her suffering. She leaned on Christ with a heart filled with faith and her devoutness to Him was revealed in every aspect of her existence. Lori was faithful and she was a Proverbs 31 woman in every sense of the word.

Christ has used Lori’s death as a catalyst for me to walk with a fierce determination for living a life fully set a part for the glory of God. It’s as though her death is propelling me into my destiny and giving me an even more fiery passion to share about the redeeming love of Christ with as many people as possible.

When it’s all said and done, nothing else matters more than loving Christ and loving people. Love is truly what this world needs more than anything else. Lori loved well and lived her life well as she loved others deeply, pouring out herself into the lives of many. Her legacy is truly one defined by Christ’s love.

We are all simply passing through this earth for a short time and we get one shot at leaving an eternal impact on the world. The Bible says in James 4:14: “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

With Christ’s help, we can all live with a singleness of heart all the days of our lives. May these words about my childhood friend touch your heart and prompt you to live with purpose—to build a lasting legacy of love with the life you’ve been given.

Lori will forever be in my heart and her impact will last for eternity.

Lori Stovall LaPlatney

    August 8, 1965 – November 11, 2017

Posted in: Legacy , Tagged: , , , ,