Perfectly Loved

Perfectly Loved -- even though my hand or fingers are in a Lot of the pictures I take!

This past little while I've been experiencing something I don't remember ever experiencing before.  Morning alarm rage.  My alarm goes off and I want to throw it across the room, especially when I can't seem to get it to stop.  One morning I started yelling at Alexa to stop.  I think I told her four times in increasingly grumpy tones before I remembered that my phone is my alarm, and she has no control over it.  Last night I turned the alarm off and so this morning I woke up a bit late, but a lot less angry:-).

Even when I wake up without being angry, I often just don't feel like getting up and so I have turned to my friend -- music.  Either when I wake up unready for the day, or feel sad, or just discouraged, I ask Alexa to play "Perfectly Loved" by Rachael Lampa.  Some songs are gifts for the moments I am in need.  Right now this is the song that has helped me get going. Here are some of my favorite lyrics:

In the hands of the Infinite
As the wounds of the world became His
See the kindness Heaven has for you
And how He's always been drawing you in

So many open doors (so many open doors), so many miracles (so many)
That have followed you all of your life
Looking for the truth (looking for the truth), look into your eyes (oh)
And you'll see its been there the whole time

Ooh, even when you were running
Even when you were hiding
Never been a moment that you were not perfectly loved
When you barely believed it
When your eyes couldn't see it
Every single moment you've always been perfectly loved

I have believed in God my whole life and I know that I am loved as a child of God, but sometimes I just need to hear it over and over.  It's easy to see how He could love young innocent me singing Primary songs out loud on my way home from elementary school, or as a teenager trying so hard not to be "typical" and "rebellious".  I can even see Heavenly Father smiling at the freedom I felt during my first couple of years of college, knowing of my strong desire to please my parents, and the relief of being too far away to be seen.  I still tried to choose the right, I guess I just worried less?  

Honestly, I can see that I am still so much of a child now compared to God that He can still smile at my attempts to control things that aren't mine to control, or my desire to please everyone while still managing to choose the right, stand up for truth, and never make mistakes.  He can see that I am learning, even when I am learning at a much slower rate than I want to!  He can see that I am trying, even when I am tired and worn out.  He can see that I love people, even when I am a bit unsure how to love them perfectly.  Everyone is perfectly loved, not just me, and this is a wonderful thing to remember.

I can't handle everything, but God really doesn't expect me to.  Every moment He is loving me, and you, and is hoping we will do our best to love Him and each other to the best of our ability.  He's okay with the fact that we will mess up and need to try again, and when I can remember this, it is a great relief and helps me smile and keep going.  There is comfort in being perfectly loved!