Something that is hitting our team really hard lately is the idea of death.  And, for the most part, it isn't just the prospect, it is a reality.  A lot of mixed emotions are coming up for me regarding this, so I figured I would share with you all a little of that. 

    First, it is the thought that God never intended for there to be death.  He is the Giver of Life.  He is Creator and good.  Death is not something we, as humans, were created to deal with.  However, it has become a reality for everyone, something we will all face in our lifetime, the deaths of others and, eventually, our own death.  We are not immortal, though God has given us a way to live with Him forever, walking in perfect intimacy with Him, forever.  How marvelous is the gift of the Perfect Sacrifice...

    Second, it moves me to want to do more, to meet more, and to love more.  Let me explain.  It makes me want to look toward those who are typically looked over.  It gives me the desire to seek after those who are hidden.  I want to find those who are alone and have nothing and no one to live for.  Because no one deserves to die alone, no one deserves to die lonely, and no one deserves to die feeling as though they have had no purpose in life.  I want to seek out people and to find out who they are, to find what makes them unique and give them a purpose in their life.  I know that, I, at times, feel lonely, and I know I am surrounded by people who love me.  How much worse would that loneliness sink in for a woman who lives in a shack by herself, or a boy who lives on the street getting high on glue so he doesn't have to feel for that amount of time?  I want everyone to know hope.  And to know that their lives had meaning.

    As it can be with most of my blogs, this is short and kind of scattered.  But I have so many thoughts on my mind at the time that I do not know how to process one completely before the next begins to consume my mind. 

    No one is without purpose, no one has no meaning.  Those people we pass on the streets and overlook, they really just desire to be loved.  The ones begging for money, underneath their words is loneliness and pain.  Maybe that's all I desire right now, is just to be able to love people with so much love that they know they were loved, that they know they weren't alone.  And, in order to have that much love, I need God.  Because, on my own, I have nothing to offer.  If it were only me, I would be completely without love.  But I have my God who fills my heart with love and hope and...  life.  And that's all I need, and that's what I desire to show to others.