Death by Minivan. Heather Anderson Renshaw
to God than if I grumbled the whole time? I thought of the widow in Mark’s Gospel (see 12:41–44), who only had two copper coins to give. That totaled—wait for it—a penny. And yet Jesus said her offering was worth more than what everyone else gave to the treasury, because she gave everything she had, not just a little bit from the extra she had left. Depending on the day and circumstances, I’m not sure I have even half a coin’s worth to give! But if I am only able to offer that half coin, if I can choose to give it with love, God is very pleased with my offering.
Let God love on you
Speaking of God being pleased, do you know how much God loves you? I know, I know. Maybe this sounds cheesy and makes you really uncomfortable, but please hear me out.
Think about the one person who loves you the very most out of every other human being on this entire planet. This person is your “ride or die”—the one who, no questions asked, will rush to fill up your tank whenever you need it. Through good times and bad, they love you. Maybe this person is your husband, or your sister, or your best friend, or your own mother. If you have someone like this in your life, thank God for them! I pray you get to do life with this person every single day and twice on Sunday, or at least on a regular basis.
Some of us don’t have the blessing of a “ride or die” person in our lives, and that’s okay. Don’t lose heart! Keep praying that Mama Mary and Elizabeth of the Visitation will send you this kind of friend; I will pray for that, too! I’m thinking, though, that if you’re reading this book, you have one or more children in your life, or you hope to someday.
So … think about that child or those children. Consider how much you love them. How you’d do anything for them. How you sacrifice so much, so that they can have the kind of life you want them to have. How you worry when something’s wrong. How you celebrate when things go right. How you pray. How you hope. And pray some more. Think about how very much you love the children in your life.
But here’s the thing: we could combine all the love your ride or die has for you with how much love you have for your kids, add that to the love shared between each and every other person on our planet, and it would still be a substantially weak approximation of the love your heavenly Father has for you. Just you. Not the entire human race—you.
Because God’s love for you is infinite. Lavish. Extravagant. Beyond human comprehension. Before he formed you in the womb he knew you (see Jer 1:5). And he knows you still. He wants you. He’ll never turn his back on you, not ever. Because he loves you.
And he’s not a loophole lover, this God. He isn’t waiting for you to make a wrong turn, or miss your exit, or run out of gas so he can stop being burdened by loving you. Nope. No way, no how. His love for you is infinite, and it is unconditional. You are his beloved child, his precious daughter. You cannot do anything to earn or to lose his love. It just is.
Now consider not just loving your child, but sacrificing that child to save others. That would take a super huge love; some might even call it supernatural. And yet this is the immense love God shows for us—that even while we were still sinners, he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for us so that we might live (see Rom 5:8).
It’s actually sort of mind-blowing to consider how much he loves us.
Knowing how much God loves me motivates me. It guides and directs me. It helps me to continue to pour myself out for my family day in and day out, when I feel I don’t have anything left to give. I look to the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, and I see how my path to holiness—my vocation—echoes the ultimate sacrifice of Calvary. I also see my future. Not necessarily with literal death on a cross, but with the beautiful resurrection that awaits those whose lives most resembled Christ’s on this earth—the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. My life, your life, our children’s lives.
My friend, it is my greatest hope that you may acknowledge, accept, and be permeated with and re-created by God’s lavish and unfathomable love for you. I pray that it fills you up to overflowing, binding your wounds and fueling your days. I pray that, because you choose to allow God’s love to dwell within you, that you are, in turn, able to be his love to your family, your community, yourself.
I don’t have to tell you that sometimes love smells pretty bad. Sometimes it’s reallllly messy. And sometimes it’s just plain uncomfortable. But, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, we are not called to comfort. Mama, we are called to greatness. And if we choose to do small things with great love, we can navigate this crazy trip called motherhood, one overdue math assignment, one broken teen heart, one impromptu jump into the shower at a time.
Roadblocks to love
Here are a few common roadblocks we might experience on our journey to love.
Unworthiness: I think everyone believes, at one time or another for whatever reason, that they aren’t worthy of love. Well, we’re going to send that lie straight back to the pit of hell from whence it came! In Jeremiah 31:3, the Lord says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” You. Love. Everlasting. Sit with that truth. Soak it in. Believe it. He sent his Son to die for you. Before you were in your mother’s womb he knew you. You are lovable and you are loved. End of story.
Wounds: Maybe you’ve allowed yourself the exquisite joy of loving another person with everything you’ve got, only to be crushed when that love wasn’t reciprocated. Or it was betrayed. Or taken advantage of. Or discarded out of hand. I’m so very sorry you were hurt in that way! Here’s the good news: unconditional love is possible, because God loves us without condition and God is real. The Divine Physician wants to bind up your wounds and make you whole again, able to receive his abundant love until your heart overflows. Don’t allow fear to keep you from experiencing the greatest love of all—God’s love for you.
Selfishness (personal agenda/selfish desires): Sometimes we can get caught up in the “what’s in it for me” mentality regarding relationships. We don’t want to give love unless we know we’ll get something in return. But that’s not what God calls us to. He calls us to lay down our lives, to love as he loves, even those who hate us. The Holy Spirit can help us purify our desires and foster a more unconditional, self-giving love if we ask him to. So, let’s ask.
Yield to the power of the Holy Spirit
(prayer)
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is love and mercy itself. (Closing prayer from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy)
Come, Holy Spirit—fill me with your love. Amen.
GPS: God Positioning System
(scripture)
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16
“Let all that you do be done in love.” — 1 Corinthians 16:14
“Through love be servants of one another.” — Galatians 5:13
Roadside Assistance
(wisdom from the saints and others)
“God loves each of us as if there were only