The smell of His breath...

Like most little girls, I dreamt of being "in love" for 99% of my childhood.  

I fell for every Prince Charming, from the cartoon version to the kid sitting next to me in the lunch room.  I was a mess.  (I recall a page in my first grade journal, declaring that "his breath smells like love".  No lie.) 

In the years that followed, I met Jesus and fell in love - a different and more wonderful brand of love than the lunch room variety (thank goodness).  

And years later, gazing down at a handsome guy on his knee with a diamond ring, I said "yes" to the kind of love the 5-year-old in me still longed for.  

But it wasn't until later that I realized exactly what my heart had been really pining for:  A life lived "in [His] love".        

His love has existed from the beginning.  From before, technically.  So explosive and passionate that it had to take form.  Knowing full well that we might not reciprocate the feeling, he gave birth to his love and named us.  He got down on his knee.  He wrote in his journal that our breath smelled like love.  Ok, maybe not, but you get the point.  

And if we will just choose to live INSIDE of THAT love... in love with the creator of love... every. single. thing. will change for us.

Have you ever seen a kid so secure in their parent's love that they are free to dance... grow... laugh... take risks?  

Have you ever seen a husband so secure in his wife's love that he is free to explore... romance... breathe... lead? 

Have you ever seen a wife so secure in her husband's love that she is free to create... play... blossom... dream? 

Have you ever seen a person so secure in their maker's love that they are free to really live and love those around them?  

It's a powerful thing:  When a mom figures out exactly how precious she is to God, her home becomes a brand new place.  We can stop trying to impress and woo our kids and husbands through our own devices... they will be secure in our love as soon as we're securely living in God's love.  

Let yourself fall securely, contentedly and blissfully in love... in HIS love.  

Then (and I promise you, ONLY then) will you find what the 5-year-old romantic in you has been craving all along.  

Carrie Fay is a wife and mom who is discovering daily what it means to be... a wife and mom.  She is grateful for the chance to have experienced motherhood biologically (read: epidural) and through international adoption (read: 30 hour flight with a sick baby you just met), and is proud of being a part of a family that doesn't match physically.  She makes up for having a terrible memory by obsessively taking photos of her family and other families, and documents her kids' lives through blogs at allfordaniel.blogspot.com and amarobaby.blogspot.com.