Embrace the Moment Monday #2

This is quite the post to follow up the Chicken & CPR post. LOL.

FYI: The giveaway post will come later this evening and will close at midnight on Friday.

When I think of the word love the first thing that comes to my mind are the people in my life that I love. Then of course I am drawn to the true source of love and that is Jesus. There have been times in my life that I would love to forget. I literally shudder when I think of those awful hurtful memories. However, I also embrace them because they make me face that amount of grace & love that God has had over me & my life. I am truly overflowing with gratitude for the protective coverage that He has had over me. Seriously, I have trouble forgiving myself for many of the ignorant choices of my past and I work every day to forgive those that have hurt me. So needless to say, I can't understand, but am extremely thankful for His love & grace.

Have you ever felt like things couldn't get any worse and, of course, they did? I unfortunately have experienced that way too many times. However, each and every time I was given strength to overcome each and every obstacle. God has always been a part of my life (I just wasn't always a good listener and not as obedient as I should have been). Like any loving parent will tell their child, "They have set rules & boundaries for their protection and if the child will follow those rules and learn what the parent is trying to teach them, then life will flow a bit more smoothly. PLEASE don't get me wrong here... I am not saying that when someone tries to do everything right that nothing wrong will happen in their life... not at all. I love the idea of potty trained puppies that stay small, cute & cuddly & rainbows 24-7, but we all know that is unrealistic. Instead, they will have peace to make it through the situation because of their faith in God. (AND they won't receive AS MUCH trouble by bringing more hardship upon themselves).

Like most females (I said "most" I left room in there for the exception), I enjoy being pursued, sought after, thought of, and I enjoy feeling loved. I can honestly say that I have felt very loved by God. There were times in my life that I flat out rebelled, but He always pursued me! Times when I felt abandoned by those I cared about here on Earth, but through my tears, I knew that I was not alone. When I simply would take a walk through the park, and would feel overwhelmed by the beauty that God created just FOR US... I felt LUCKY and very thought of! And when I think back to all those "close calls" and unanswered prayers, I thank God for loving me so much that He protected me and for holding out on those prayers with something better in mind for me. I honestly can't think of ANY greater love than this! I would love to spend the rest of my life showing HIM just how much that I also love Him!

TO GOD: Thank you God for everything that you do in my life. I really appreciate you in so many ways!!

P.S. I am terrible about praying in front of others (easily embarrassed) so this is probably the closest that I have come to that. Thanks for sharing this first with me!!

Please join us, link up and share your Love Story on Embrace the Moments Monday with Mr. Linky below.