Elyse is sleeping soundly in her crib and Jase is sitting at the table across from me playing with play-doh. He is definitely mixing all of the colors which I think I should tell him not to, but some battles just aren’t worth fighting. I am looking across the room out the door to our deck and marveling about how much my Heavenly Father loves me. It’s truly amazing.

There was a time where we sat in an old church parsonage, with cracks beneath the doors, windows that let in more cold and heat then desired, and a home I couldn’t bring myself to love. I know it was a blessing to live there, to have a home for our family. We couldn’t have gotten a home when we first moved here on our own. Without the church parsonage, I don’t know where we would have been. I was thankful for it, even though I didn’t love it. I think that’s okay, we can be grateful for things even if it isn’t something we would have picked for ourselves.

I dreamed of the day we would own our own home, or even just leave the parsonage. A place we loved, a place that felt like our home. But staring at the budget each month I didn’t think it would ever be possible. I knew there was no way that our dream could become a reality and it felt as if it was slowly fading away.

But one day all of that changed. We were amazed out how our Heavenly Father blessed us in the situation. But it wasn’t just Him blessing us.

You know what’s incredible about our Heavenly Father? He loves us. Despite all our ickyness and the fact that we are so undeserving of His love, He still loves us. He didn’t bless me because I earned it. Just like he doesn’t answer some of my prayers because He doesn’t think I deserve it.

Our heavenly Father loves us.

God operates out of His love for us. Simply because He loved us, He chose to open the doors of providing a home for us. Like a gentle reminder that He is taking care of us and cares about the things that matter to us. Even when those things seem small and seemingly unimportant, He knows they matter to us. And in His love for us, He blesses us. No matter how underserving we are, He still loves us.

I know sometimes it’s hard to feel that love. Sometimes our prayers go unanswered, sometimes we walk through things we would rather not go through, sometimes the things we are dreaming and longing for don’t come to pass, and that’s hard. It’s hard to understand what God is doing in those moments. I’ve been there, I am there, and I understand. Some things we question why they are part of our story.

But there is one thing we don’t ever have to question, and that is that our Heavenly Father loves us.

If you could take a moment to just sit and close your eyes. Sit and breathe in deeply of the love the Father has for you. If you could think about the moments where your heart questioned your story or questioned why a prayer went unanswered, sometimes you can see what God was doing in the midst of it. Other times, if you look, you can see that He was just simply there. He didn’t have to be there, but He was, because He loved you.

God doesn’t bless one person more than another. He doesn’t punish you by not answering your prayers or reward you by answering them. He simply looks at you and says, “I love you.” You are precious to Him, and sometimes, because He loves us, He shows us that love in incredible ways. And sometimes, because He loves us, He walks with us through the hard days.

But the one thing we don’t ever have to second guess is that He loves us. Rest in that today.

Your Heavenly Father loves you. Don’t ever forget it.