"I love this city!"
True words, spoken by a good friend tonight while we were enjoying an amazing benefit concert at Fellowship Bible Church. She went on to explain how she could never get bored here in Nashville because there are always spontaneous shows and events to go to with great music. I do love Nashville! And deep down I know she was just saying this in a last effort to get me to change my mind about moving. :) Nice try, but it didn't work.
It did, however, bring back to mind something I have thought about countless times recently...the fact that I'm moving to a tiny little town where I don't know anyone and very few people even speak my language. Anticipation of future loneliness flooded inside me. Lucky for me, I've got plenty to counterattack with including the rush of excitement over traveling to a new land and the knowledge that God will be with me everywhere I go! (Deut. 31:8) I am filled with gratitude for the abundance of blessings He's given me thus far. His grace, mercy, and love would be enough. But on top of that, He has surrounded me with a remarkable family and group of friends who have loved me so well. God has shown me unfailing love through Himself and others around me, and now He is teaching me what it means to love others well. This is my focus as I start a new journey in life. I will be meeting a multitude of people and building relationships with many that don't know Him. I will be living with and becoming a part of a whole new family. I will become a major influence in the lives of three small children (ahh!!). Let this blog remind me each day to answer just one question...
Have I loved well?
"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophesy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT)
