Romanced by God?

So Sarah and I are still reading and discussing this same book and this week’s chapter is also very controversial. The main idea here is that God is romancing us – like a lover pursues his interest! Now I have to admit that thought is a bit disturbing to me, but don’t tune out yet. The authors talk about being “kissed” by God and a few other ideas that just seem wrong, but in trying to read it objectively, I think they’re trying to put into human terms something we have a difficult time comprehending.


The thing that stood out to me most in this chapter is the idea that God wants to love us intimately. Don’t go all ewww on me! I really don’t see this as a physical thing. Think about your most intimate relationships here on earth…what do they look like? Trust? Honest conversation? Strong desire to spend nearly every moment together?

We’ll come back to that idea in a moment, but I want to mention another significant idea in this chapter first – how we view God’s love. Many of us are stuck in one of the following mindsets:
    •   Childlike, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”
    •   “God loves me because He has to”
    •   “God loves me because I _____” (you fill in the blank)
But are any of those truly how God loves us? Several times in the New Testament, we are referred to as the “bride” of Christ. Does a husband love his bride because he’s obligated to? Is that what love looks like?

What is your view of God’s love? This chapter has helped me see that I have been viewing God’s love as rather impersonal. More like an acquaintance than even a friendship. Certainly not intimate. He’s my Savior…the Lover of my soul…and at best I ask him for stuff. Some days I don’t even think about him at all. How sad is that?

Granted, I thought this chapter was a little weird, but I think I got the message. God wants an intimate relationship with me. He desires ME! Why won’t I respond?

This book has given me a lot of insight to myself and I am very grateful for the challenges it’s brought to light.

Do you treat your peers and coworkers as people loved by God?

One of my least favorite questions Sarah and I discuss when we meet is "Do you treat your peers and coworkers as people loved by God?". There are times the "peers" part is difficult for me, but right now, it's the coworkers part I don't like admitting to.

I've been working on a special project for the past 6 months or so. First it was my project. Then the boss I worked for was moved to another company and the person who inherited ownership of the project decided one of his managers needed to run it. Then that manager left and the project owner decided to assign another of his managers to the project. Then that manager left and suddenly it's my project again. at this point, I had only about 8 weeks to get it all done. Each time someone else took over, we started over again - to do things their way - and we lost a lot of time. I explain all this in an effort to help you understand just a small bit of the frustration I have toward the whole thing at this point. There's A LOT more too much frustration, but this is a public blog and not the appropriate place to vent.

In order to obtain our project objectives. Each team representative has had to give a little for the greater good. Some teams have been very ready to compromise within reason and make the project a success. Where other teams are concerned, it's been a battle. One I've repeatedly lost. We finished our project Friday in some ways it was a success we accomplished our main objective - but that's the only one - we did not accomplish all the project objectives. I tried, I really did, but there was opposition at every corner. It's very difficult to try to do your best and achieve goals for the greater good only to have key stakeholders complain to your boss that you're not considering them, making life more difficult for them, being rude and combative, etc. Are you painting the picture in your mind? Getting an idea of why this is not a question I enjoy discussing at this point?

I had a conversation with my boss a couple weeks ago. What's in store for me next, now that this project is finished? I found out that my next project is going to be completing the objectives I didn't achieve in this recent project. All those battles that I lost, all the people that hate me - yep, I get to do it all over again. On the plus side, I fell like I'll have better backing to get things done this time, but am I ready for another round of this emotional roller coaster?

I'm getting to a point, I promise. :) So, what does it look like to treat your coworkers as people loved by God? I had to confess to Sarah the last time we met that I honestly don't think I know. This week I really tired. I took Sarah's suggestion and reminded myself "My coworkers are people loved by God and I need to show His love to them." when I got frustrated. In my mind, I did a great job of being kind and patient and listening and addressing their concerns. Then again, the last time I thought that, my manager got complaints. I don't want to be one of those cold-hearted people who doesn't care what others think about them, but at the same time I know I can't be everyone's best friend all the time. But how do I show God's love to people that HATE me? Especially the ones who like to offer backhanded complements - I can't stand that - and there's a human part of me that wants to respond in turn.

This is still an area of struggle for me. Don't get me wrong, I work with some people I like very much, but they're not the ones standing in the way of me achieving the goals I've been given. When you think about it, please pray that I will learn how to treat my coworkers as people loved by God. Also, if any of you ever see me interacting with them, please provide feedback. Thanks!

How do you treat your coworkers as people loved by God?

What significant thing did you do for your boyfriend?

Another of the accountability questions Sarah and I ask is "What significant thing did you do for your boyfriend?" (or in her case we change it to fiancé...Congrats, Sarah! :D). It's about being intentional in our relationships.

So, what did I do since Sarah and I last met? I made comments to let him know that I was paying attention. Sometimes it seems like something so insignificant it's not worth mentioning, but it was intentional on my part.

• Allowing the family with the squirming toddler to go in front of us in line.
• Holding the door for the elderly couple.
• Returning the glove dropped by a child.

He doesn't think about these things, he just does them. I even asked him "What's one thing you did for someone else this week?" He thought about it for a while and then made a joke. He's gotten so used to doing it that he doesn't even think about it anymore. Can you imagine what the world would be like if each of us made it a point to help out others even in the little stuff?

This week I intentionally pointed out this behavior when we were together. I wanted him to know that people do notice the little things and they can make a huge difference in a person's day.u