relentless love

Dear Maliyah,

This picture says it all.

It depicts the vital key to our existence. It is the reason we have hope. It is all that matters and all that we need.

My girl, it was forever one of my favorite moments.

All six of us were deep out in the ocean basking in the power and glory of the waves. I so vividly remember looking over at you and finding such joy and peace with the image I saw.

With your snorkel mask on, you had a grin that extended from one ear to the other. You were laughing your contagious and most real laugh. You were so content, so full of joy, and so fully immersed in the moment.

The waves were towering over you and were coming in quick intervals. As a big one would begin to roll near us, your laugh would grow at the fun you knew was coming your way, and as soon as that wave hit, you would dive right into it and let it take you. The wave would forcefully shove you back and down towards the ocean floor, and then always your head would come popping out from the water, and your grin and laugh would be right there with you. Then, you would instantly prepare yourself for the next wave.

You weren’t timid. You weren’t afraid. You didn’t shy back because of the wave’s power.

You didn’t try to fight the waves. You didn’t attempt to run from them. You didn’t ignore them.

You simply let them cover you, wash over you, and overtake you time and time again.

And those waves are the exact and most accurate representation of your Father’s love for you.

His love for you is powerful. It is immense, unrelenting, fierce, endless, and constant.

It is undeniably the most glorious, beautiful, and dominant thing in this world.

Maliyah, it is no secret that life isn’t always a stroll through a flower field. Oh no. You will have seasons of perfection where you are feeling especially happy, relationships in your life are going well, and you are finding joy in all that surrounds you. But, you will also have your fair share of those moments where you feel as though nothing else could possibly go wrong. You may be in a place where your attitude and treatment of others isn’t something to be praised, a relationship in your life might be creating a lot of hurt, or a situation might be causing you a lot of stress.

Life simply doesn’t go the way we always want it to. Our Father assures us of that.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

But He also assures us of His constant and unfailing love.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

Maliyah, I made a pinky promise to you to pray for you everyday. Some days the weight of my prayers for you are far too heavy for me to carry or even verbalize, and so I fall back on one thing- that you would know you are loved.

You are covered in His unfailing, unrelenting, most pure and wholesome love. Forever and always.

No bad decision can stop it. No act of hate can stop it. No mistake can stop it.

Nothing you do will ever cause His unconditional love to stop washing over you.

Just like those waves, His love is relentless. It extends out as far as you can imagine.

And whether or not you think you deserve it, it won’t stop.

In His love you can find refreshment. You can find peace, joy, and goodness that is boundless.

In His love you can always find a place to belong.

People will fail you, I promise. You will be hurt by someone. You will be rejected by someone. You will be betrayed by someone.

Situations will fail you, I promise. A job will come to an end. Money will cause stress. Plans will fall through. You will fail at something.

But His love will never fail you, He promises you that.

He promises to always be waiting with arms open wide, ready to receive you in your ugly broken state where He will restore your wounds and heal your heart.

And so my girl, rest in that love. Find joy and peace in the truth that just like those waves on the beach never stopped washing over you, neither will His love.

It is Boundless. Unconditional. Extraordinary. Relentless. Fierce. Powerful. And Constant.

You are loved. And that will always be enough.

All my love,

Sissy