Lovely, Book Excerpt Part II

This excerpt continues to stay in my mind, nudging me to interact with God.  I find this description such a beauty image of a relationship--the intimacy evoked left me desiring a similar relationship with God.  I could feel myself ache to have my own best friend experience with "Lovely."  And over the past few weeks I've taken this desire to God, and He has grown it, and continues to nurture it inside me.  My hope is that you too will resonate with this passage, and that it will spur you toward deepening your own relationship with "Lovely."

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“Lovely is a very private name for God….”

“What a perfect name for God.”

“Names are important to me.  I spend weeks with a new story searching to find the right names for characters, to hear their voice, to find who they are.  There’s a point in writing a story where I finally have the right name, and the book in my mind begins to sound different.  It sounds richer.  It begins to read in the voice of the character, and it sounds alive.

“I was a child when I met God.  God the Father was an easy concept for me to grasp, and Jesus the Son, being God who died to save my life, I often thought of as the wonderful older brother I wanted to have.  When I got to God, the Holy Spirit, and realized the Bible said He lived with me, I instinctively thought of Him as being a best friend.

“I wanted to get to know Him, and the only way I knew to do so was to have a conversation with Him.  It was hard to say ‘Holy Spirit’ and not feel like it was a formal conversation.  So sometimes I’d call Him Ancient, Wise, Wonderful, Eternal.  I was trying to get to know Him by reminding myself who He was.

“I’d say, ‘You’re showing off tonight,’ when the sunset and clouds were an incredible display of color, or I’d say, ‘It’s hot, I miss the breeze you sent yesterday,’ or I’d tell Him about my day and what I was working on.  I was just talking, trying to get to know this person I was living with.  And like a book, the name was right, but it wasn’t a conversational name.  Jesus had names like Alpha, Omega, Good Shepherd.  So I asked the Holy Spirit if He had another name I could use.  He said, ‘Call me Lovely.’

“I thought it was kind of girl’s name and corny and stupid of me to have asked.  But I think He knew.  In a week or so, He couldn’t shut me up.  I had a name for the person I was sharing my life with.  ‘Lovely, you painted a great sunset.’  ‘Lovely, Black just went chasing a rabbit.’  ‘Lovely, I’ve lost my keys.’  It was still the same simple comments, but they suddenly turned into God and I having a conversation.  And in a few more weeks, it was ‘Lovely, I’m lost on how to help in this situation,’ and ‘Lovely, why did I say that?’  I started to trust Him with the emotions behind my actions.  And now it’s ‘Lovely, where should this story go next?’  And ‘Lovely what am I going to do about this guy that just showed up in my life?’”  She smiled.

“He listens to all that stuff.  He smiles at me a lot.  God said call me Lovely, and I fell more in love with Him that day.  I had this huge open hole inside that so desperately wanted love, and God filled it up with himself.  His name was reminding me He loved me.  Every conversation just adds another certainty to that.

“Lovely is His character.  And Lovely is His company.  And Lovely is how He treats me.  Lovely is God.”

Full Disclosure, Dee Henderson, Pages 366-367.

Book Excerpt Part I

Recently I read a book by an author I greatly enjoy--a mystery romance novel.  I wasn't looking for anything other than a good read.  And I wasn't disappointed!  But after I had finished the book, a few sections lingered with me and rolled around in my heart and mind for a bit.  Those sections delved into the main character's relationship with God.  As I read, I found myself drawn by those descriptions.  I took those ideas and longings and discussed them with God.  Just as these sections prompted conversations with God for me, I hope you too will find yourself dialoguing with God.

Enjoy the read!

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Ann glanced up from her pad of paper.  She smiled.  “What?  You’ve got that look that says I’m a puzzle to you again.”

“You are, but I like figuring out puzzles.  I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

“You’re quiet, Ann.  The more time I spend with you the more I realize that.” 

“I thought that was pretty obvious.”

“I’m curious.  Are you as quiet inside your mind too?  When you’re with friends you trust, do you have a lot you want to say?  Or is your mind as still and quiet as you often are?”

“What a wonderful question.”  She tilted her head, sat up, and set aside the pad of paper.  “I’m pretty quiet.  Even when I’m not tired, the real me is pretty quiet inside.  With people I’m not shy, not timid, but I am quiet.  I listen.  I hear what’s being said.  If it’s someone I trust, I’ll return confidences in kind.  When someone risks with me, I’ll risk back.  But I rarely initiate, even when it’s comfortable, safe surroundings and a group of friends.  In tennis terms, I prefer to return rather than serve.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t like being in the spotlight, even when it’s with friends.  I am most comfortable one-on-one, when the topics are going where someone else wants to direct them.”

She hesitated.  “No, let me modify that.  I am comfortable talking with God.  I initiate conversations with Him all the time, on easy topics, hard topics, what’s going on, and with the emotions I want to express in full color.  If you really want to know, the Ann inside speaks freely and often only to God.”

“You’re safe with God.”

“I am.  So that’s where I thrive.  It’s not that I hide with my friends.  There are very few subjects, if any, I haven’t shared with at least one friend.  I trust friends with my secrets.  I talk about what matters to me all the time.  But there are large chunks of who I am, of what I think about and talk about, that reside only between myself and God.  I don’t think that will ever change.”

“How have you learned to trust God like that, Ann?”

She shrugged.  “I’m God’s daughter.  He’s possessive of me.  I like that fact, that certainty, that God chose me and considers me His.  So I give God me.  When I have something to say, when I want to talk, He’s listening.  When I need a friend, He’s there.  When I need something, God’s got it covered.  God and I are good together.  We’ve got a relationship.” 

Full Disclosure, by Dee Henderson, Pages 230-231.