Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice. (1Kings 19:11-12)

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The Lover of My Life and Soul {Words of Life Wednesdays ~ A Link-up}

{Join us below for Words of Life Wednesdays with a link-up of your post.
We'd love to hear how God's Word has been nourishing you.}



They're all bundled up in a gold box tucked inside my antique chest down in the basement.

All those letters he wrote the first summer we were getting to know each other. He used bright coloured paper cut out in funky designs. Sometimes with homemade confetti to pour out surprise all over my lap as I ripped open the envelope with my trembling hands while my heart skipped a beat. He was miles away. When I walked the long lane to the mailbox and reached in and found my name scrawled out by his very hand I would long to know what words he folded up and sealed as our spring love began to blossom.

I'd take the stamped enveloped touched by many hands as it had travelled down through the post and see his name in the top left hand corner. Mine was in the centre. He was the sender of this carefully crafted letter and I was the young woman to whom it was addressed. 

I'd take the rest of the mail and drop it in the front hall and head for the meadow. I'd slip off past the back of the house, along the path by the pond, cross the bridge over the waterfalls, up through the wood and out to the swaying grass on the gentle rolling hills. Not until after I reached the rock in a little grove of trees would I tear into his words and devour them over and over.

That was almost eighteen years ago when I was soon to turn twenty. Roughly half my lifetime ago when we hardly knew each other. We were young and in a vulnerable new chapter in our budding love story and all we had to share that summer were words.  He signed his letters "In Christ's love", but he never wrote the bold words, never even spoke them until he slipped a diamond on my slender third finger on my left hand and told me he loved me. He desired to know me but never carelessly gave away words without committing to prove them with his life.

His life speaks of his love for me. Every day he tells me he loves me and not only with words. He still reveals his loves for me with surprises all through the for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. Our love has grown more intimate, more raw, more beautiful.

He still writes love letters with amazing surprises that make my heart skip beats. His words still speak of the ways he loves me.

I don't run up the to little grove of trees anymore. The last I checked the rock is all but hidden by the trees that have stood faithful and grown strong and tall through the years. Now he and I walk by the way together and I lay down beside him as we grow stronger in love through all the seasons.

This love speaks of a greater Love that came down. The way the Lover of my soul loved with His life makes my heart not only skip a beat but makes it completely new. 

The Word, the Alpha and the Omega, came and took on flesh and walked dusty roads to write his love by humbling himself to the point of death, even the death of a cross; the most excruciating way to die. He suffered the most cruel, degrading and humiliating way to bear the sin of those whose names would be written in the Lamb's book of life.

He records His love for us, page after page in the God-breathed writings carefully passed down through the ages for us. The message of his unfailing love for a fallen creation makes one wonder at His amazing grace.


And we can run out through the woods and up to the meadows under the great expanse of the heavens and cherish these words that Love came down that we might have life and grow in an intimate oneness as the Bride of Christ. 

We'll unlock the treasures and tuck them in our hearts deep within our chests.


A Soft Gentle Voice

(also linking with Coffee For Your Heart)


12 comments:

  1. What a beautiful post, Rebekah. And what special memories you have and have kept to {maybe} give to your children one day. Have a blessed week.

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    1. June, I wonder what they will think when they read them one day. Imagine! Thank you.

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  2. Rebekah, you write beautifully. I was right there with you on that "anne of green gables"-esque walk with your cherished letters. as someone who came to know jesus later in life, I missed out on the god-ordained courtship you so eloquently painted here (though my blessings have been many). thank you for letting us share that precious time of your romance with your husband and with god. I pray that young women read your story and are blessed!

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    1. Aly, thank you for your gracious words. I loved to walk up that trail and read those letters. I visited your site and was so encouraged by your testimony! Thank you so much for coming by. Feel free to pass it along to any young woman who would be blessed.

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  3. Such precious treasures are letters. I have one my Dad wrote to me when he was in the Navy and not able to meet me for a short time. One of my valued treasures. I love how your husband first loved you in Christ - the best foundation for a relationship ever!

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    1. Mindy, they are treasured. I'm sure that letter from your Dad is precious! Thank you for sharing that. Yes, in Christ and through His strength and grace and mercy. Praise Him!

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  4. This is just precious. Those letters...what special memories to hold on to. I need to find a beautiful box to place all the letters my husband wrote to me when he first went off to training. There is something amazingly wonderful about a handwritten letter. And...oh how the Bible is that for us. You touch my heart with every word your write, friend. Love you. {Hugs}

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    1. Oh, Beth, yes, get a box and store all those treasures from your husband. And keep treasuring God's Word in your heart. He is doing a good thing in you. Much love.

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  5. this was beautiful to read...i know no love story is perfect, but what a beautiful memory to have in your chest...its rare to find a man who still writes you years later, still tries to win your heart...by words...thats my love language and when my husband has written me words a few times here and there they communicate more to me than anything else...thanks for the insight!

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  6. You are right and discerning and wise!, No, I admit, definitely not perfect. But thankful to be growing together in God's perfect grace. Thank you, Summer!

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