God loves you.

If you read my blog on a regular basis, then you know that Rick, the writer of "A New Life Emerging", is my blog idol. On Wednesday, Rick shared a powerful message about loving the world and about moving "beyond the fear and control of shame and into the messiness of love."

I encourage you to go to Rick's blog and to read his Wednesday message; but I'd also like to share a recent experience of my own.

The other day, I was helping a young woman with her GED studies. We've been meeting together for several months now. We study, we laugh, and sometimes we even cry as we share our lives.

Recently, "Margie" shared some particularly painful experiences that had occurred in her life which were related to spiritual abuse and abandonment. She was crying softly throughout and when she had finished she stopped crying, looked at me and asked, "Jerri, why do you keep meeting with me week after week? I'm such a freaking mess."

I took her hands in mine and I simply said, "The reason I meet with you Margie, is because God loves you and because I love you too."

"What?"

"God loves you."

She started crying again and I just sat there, not quite sure what to say or do next.

"No one's ever told me that before." she sobbed.

This time it was my turn to ask, "What?"

"No one's ever told me that God loves me before."

At this point I jumped up, wrapped my arms around her and I whispered over and over again, "God loves you! God loves you! God loves you!"

I later took some time to be alone and to process the enormity of what had happened earlier that day at my kitchen table. A beautiful young woman, who has loved and served God, who has been faithful to her husband, her family and her church, had never been told that God loves her.

But then, I don't think I've ever heard another human voice say, "Jerri, God loves you." either.

I had a different experience. My experience went like this....

I was having eggs and toast with Jesus. (Yeah, sounds crazy, but I do this often.) I was feeling especially low that day. I felt unloveable, worthless and I was very surprised that Christ had even shown up for our morning date together.

So there we were. I was crying in my coffee, literally. Wondering why Jesus would waste his time with me, when so many were worthier of his time than I.

I don't quite know how to explain this, but it's almost like there was a little bubble that began to well up from within in me. Call it what you will, a "soul bubble", a "love bubble", it doesn't matter. What matters is that when that bubble hit the surface of my consciousness, the words, "Jerri, God loves you!' were whispered into my very soul.

I don't know if other people have experiences like this; but I know that because I have, I cannot resist those unexpected moments when I feel compelled to grab a hold of another and whisper, "God loves you."

I don't know many things. I'm not a theologian. I don't even have a college degree; but I do know this much.

I know that God loves you.

I know that God loves me.

I know that God loves all of us.

Someone told me once that my "theology" smacks of the doctrine of universalism.

I'm not sure what to think about that. I only know what I know.

God loves you,
....me,
.....all who have ever been or ever will be.