Christian Living

---

Lover of my Soul

“I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Rev. 21:6



It’s February – the month when lovers come out of hiding and shower each other with heart-shaped cookies, bouquets of roses, cards and love letters, all in an attempt to share a depth of emotion that defies expression. My Valentine message to the lake this February is no less dramatic, no less heart-felt. This is true only because, of course, it actually is a message to the Maker. Each word reflects the image of some lakeside experience or understanding that mirrors His work in my heart.

When I was only a toddler, you were always there, tenderly believing the best about me. You patiently waited for me to learn what it meant to care - what it meant to commit to a relationship. I learned from you that love is loyal and devoted and steadfast. I found that I did not need to become perfect to merit your unconditional availability.

As the years passed, you expressed your love for me in active ways. Playful waves, tossing themselves gleefully on every side, taught me to believe life need not always be stoic and hard. Chilly, dewy mornings meant I could anticipate the warm reflection of noon-day sun on the water. Daisies and red-winged blackbirds, perch swimming in the shallows, lazy clams digging like prehistoric excavators in the sand – these shaped my youthful identity. I belonged.

As I entered adulthood, I discovered from you what it meant to be transparent. While the rest of life seemed tense and guarded, you led me to a place in my heart where I found peace – where frustrations melted away and my vision for life became sparkly and clear.

Hope has always been more than a concept in your presence – and over time, it became a way of life. When money evaporated and health melted away, when fear enveloped me with its icy tentacles, your backwash on the seawall was there, whispering the Truth. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Now that so many years have passed, I look out over your frozen silence as winter wanes, and I sigh with deep gratitude. Your love for me has proven itself in every season of life. Your devotion has never swerved. I need not doubt you, or my future. You are a promise-keeper.

My prayer is that you, my first love, would continue to teach me how to love. If only I can mirror, and share with others, what you have given me – confidence, worthiness, wholeness. If only I can believe in others as you have believed in me, I will have left a legacy.

So this February, lake of my heart, I send this greeting. You are, and always have been, my source of great joy. You have baptized me with promise. You are an image-bearer for The Alpha and Omega; you are the delight of my heart.

I love you.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE