Katie Roberson, a former student from Tallowood, shared with me one her essays for a recent Christian college application. I asked her if I could share a portion that really touched my heart.

There are those who thirst, those who are consumed by hunger, those who are imprisoned with eyes without sight and ears that cannot find sound. Every last soul crafted by the hands of God shall hear of His name. It is our mission as a family and foundation of Christ to prove to this dying world that kindness continues to dwell among the thresholds of those who have been rescued by love.

Love is not only ours to keep but to give away. It is a well submerged in a sea of compassion, grace and sacrifice that society today seems to sail by without recognition. Human nature so often forgets that love is not infatuation with lust, love is no amount of money, love has no relationship to judgement nor a companion to selfishness. Love is no amount of time nor an item which can be bought. Love is sacrifice. Love is now. When pieces break, when hearts are shredded, when all that is seen is a veil of black, what is better than that of God to unmask the translucent culprit of darkness? Love will defeat the absence of light. Behind such walls of temptation do we hide. Come and listen, unlock the heart, and let the light of God illuminate every fiber of your being. Through obedience will those walls submit to the hand of God.

Thanks, Katie, for a profound guest post!

God's Love Letter to You

My Child,

I know everything about you, I know when you sit down and when you rise up. I am familiar with all of your ways, even the very hairs on your head are numbered. For you were made in my image, in me you live and move and have your being. For you are my offspring, I knew you even before you were conceived. I chose you when I planned creation. You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, I knit you together in your mother’s womb And brought you forth on the day you were born. I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me. I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love And it is my desire to lavish my love on you simply because you are my child and I am your father. For I am the perfect father, every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. My plan for your future has always been filled with hope because I love you with an everlasting love. My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore and I rejoice over you with singing. I will never stop doing good to you for you are my treasured possession. I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul and I want to show you great and marvelous things. If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart for it is I who gave you those desires. I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine, for I am your greatest encourager. I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes and I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus, for in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. He is the exact representation of my being. He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you and to tell you that I am not counting your sins. Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me and nothing will ever separate you from my love again. I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen.

Love, Your Abba, Almighty God

Barry Adams


My Child, I know everything about you…Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up…Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all of your ways…Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered…Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image…Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being…Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring…Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived…Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation…Ephesians 1:11-12

Stressed?

Projects piling...homework mounting...college decisions multiplying?
Not enough hours in the day?
STRESS, STRESS and more STRESS!
Did you know that deep breathing will help you cope with all that stress? Next time you feel it mounting, notice your shallow breathing or that you actually hold your breath!
Deep, even breathing relaxes you and is a great stress-buster, but I've found an even better way to reduce all that tension. Have you thought of inhaling
scripture? CPR for the soul!
I'm not suggesting squeezing in a verse or two, but turning off your cell phone (no fair using a Bible App!), your TV and reading God's life-giving Word.
Start with a psalm and slowly read it several times. That's your part! Now close your eyes and let God speak over you.
Scripture reading is a two-way activity!
I know, I know, you're thinking, "I just don't have time for this." God is always a better manager of your time than you are and He makes your "To Do" list a lot easier to handle when you commit time to visit with Him.
God's word is alive and active. Inhale!

Launch the dvd and I melt.
The heart, so guarded, yields to memories.
I struggle to seize the sweet ones, but I know they simmer deep in my being.
Little girl hugging daddy's neck...once upon a time, there must have been affection.
Lasting images collapse the reserve and the dam breaks.
I gasp and choke with pain and regret for recent photos scream his numbered days.
Did this weathered man's heart yearn for the sweet ones as well?

"I still love you."
Words on a birthday card; words that sear my soul.
A phone call, girded with prayer and hope for reconciliation, fails to connect.
Again, disappointment bruises my heart.
Dial once again? Or simply let hope find its way on parchment wings?
Time runs out...wavering misses the deadline.
Guilt punches me again and again. Did his heart cry regret and yearn for one last conversation?
Betrayal fades slowly...forgiveness often comes too late.
Can affection reach the heavens?

Words refuse to flow tonight; only toss and tumble from my pain.
I stand before my God small and fragile. My friend says it's the little girl in me; Joyce Landorf describes it as the little bird who has lost her song.
Broken, hurt, empty is all I can muster.
A frail charge who desperately yearns to be loved, but finds the prize beyond her reach.
Love can't even slip through outstretched fingers when love has never cradled them.
Stark reality leaves me orphaned and lost.
Fatherly love should swallow us, but sometimes the fathers can't find such gifting within them.
My hope crushed now that the flame no longer flickers.
Tonight I struggle to feel Heaven's parental embrace.
I know it abounds, but grief blurs the senses.

Our eyes told it all...cancer was mounting its final assault.

Hours spent storming the gates of Heaven...His plan was Heaven bound.

I knew you, Tina, because you knew the Holy One.

I heard your stories until my sides ached from laughter.

I suspect you laughed with joy right into His arms.

No more prayers for you...only your own.

Til we meet again, may Hope resound.