Last weekend I went to Lake Tahoe with some good friends and you know what I got? A big, fat early Valentine’s Day card from God. It came in the form of pouring rain, magnificent boulders, a river of water streaming over our rocky hiking path, a gushing waterfall, a shimmering and misty lake, and gorgeous snow-capped mountains. He took my breath away, and I felt his love as tangibly as I ever have.
Just a few days before leaving, I had been reading a book where the author talked about beauty. She describes the beauty in a canoeing trip, the beauty in nature, and the beauty God surrounds her with to show His love to her. She told the story of how her husband once went out to spend some time on a beach alone. Right then and there on the California coast, in the wrong season and closer than was normal, he saw a whale! He was overcome with appreciation for this unexpected gift that God gave him, and felt that God was showing his love by allowing him to enjoy the whale.
So what did she do? She asked God to show her a whale. Yes. To shower her with love by showing her a whale.
…Really? I thought to myself, God’s going to love you by showing you a whale?
But I read on. The author went on to share how she goes to the beach, hoping for her own whale sighting. When it doesn’t happen, she’s accepts it and heads in another direction, only to come across a brilliant starfish. She’s smitten with it, and continues only to realize that the beach is covered with beautiful starfish. She’s overwhelmed by God’s love for her and the beauty he allows her to experience.
Hey, so can I just ask for some beauty and get some?? I mean, I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so maybe “experiencing beauty” is up to me… but now I really wanted some. I felt my insides ache to experience God’s beauty in nature, so when my friend Dan asked if I wanted to join on a hike up in Tahoe, I was in, and uncharacteristically responded, “I want to see beauty.”
Later, I actually waffled about going– the forecast called for 100% rain, and for some reason, a hike in the pouring rain didn’t sound very comfortable to me. Which is silly, now that I think of it, because most of my life, I would have loved nothing better than to take a walk in the pouring rain.
I’m glad I ended up doing it, because I felt like God brought me out there and gave me a big fat squeeze: JOELLEN! I LOVE YOU!! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU COULD KNOW!! HERE’S YOUR WHALE! HERE ARE YOUR STARFISH!! DELIGHT IN BEAUTY.
I did, friends, I did. I drank it in and let it fill me to my chilled fingertips and toes.
It came in the form of pouring rain and trickling streams.
I saw it in the snow-capped mountains and evergreens.
I felt it in the magnificent boulders and patches of snow.
I breathed it in with the misty lake, serene and still.
I heard it in the roaring waterfall, wild and powerful.
I soaked it all in on that mountaintop, with His arms wrapped around me as he repeated, “I love you!!”
It was breathtaking and majestic. We walked back in high spirits with snow falling around us like a perfect winter wonderland.
Jesus loves me, this I know.
Maybe you are battered and worn and tired and yearn to experience some beauty. It doesn’t hurt to ask. You may find it in the sleeping face of your child, or in the tired lines across your spouse’s forehead. Maybe it’s in the comfort of pulling the blankets around you, or in the sky as the sun disappears at dusk each evening.
Even though I’m back home, I continue to see beauty everywhere around me. The sky has never looked so gorgeous, nor the grass so green, and my daughter’s laughter tickles me from the inside out.
I hope you will ask for beauty, and I hope you see it.
16 responses to “A Love Letter”
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Gerard Manley Hopkins said in one of his poems “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” I love that. Thanks for the reminder that sometimes we have to change our perspective to see it!
That is beautiful 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Those images are still really crisp in my mind (well except the waterfall part, haha), but seeing the images through this lens makes it all the better. Thanks for sharing!
Let’s go back up someday! I think that’s my new favorite spot in Tahoe.
Dear Joellen,
I just discovered your blog and, though I don’t teach as a profession, enjoy reading your posts about kids and lessons and other things so much. This one in particular is beautiful! I’ll be coming to the U.S. in Fall for college, and now I’m looking forward to visiting Tahoe one day too!
As a Muslim, I completely understand that feeling of God’s overwhelming love. Sometimes it feels like things happen just to make me happy and remind me of Him. When I went hiking recently, I felt his greatness in the butterflies that passed right in front of me and the breeze that kept me cool in what could have been scorching weather. But also, I wonder if you can consider the idea that that is God the All Mighty, the Creator of everything, who has reminded us of His presence since Adam until now through messengers, among whom Jesus was one. In fact, one of the greatest.
Thank you so much for expressing your beliefs. I wanted to share some of mine 🙂 I hope I haven’t been offensive in any way!
Again, love your blog.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Nadine. I appreciate what you’ve shared and also that you appreciated what I shared! I hope you have a great time when you visit!