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Yesterday morning I drove to a local beach and had a lovely long walk. The beach was littered with shells after the recent storm known as the Beast From the East and you could tell there had been some quite violent weather.

As I walked I reflected on this day a week ago when I was in Manchester in the delivery room with my daughter and son in law awaiting the birth of my beautiful granddaughter.

It seemed like we had been waiting forever, when finally the day came for her to make an appearance.  It’s not easy to watch someone you love, someone you’ve steered through life and taught how to care, how to love, how to respect and how to go big for their dreams struggle in pain and discomfort knowing that there’s nothing  you can do.

Things didn’t go smoothly at times and at one point the room was full of medics of the highest caliber looking after my daughter and her daughter! I kept a brave front on but inside I wanted to fall on the lead midwife and plead with her to make sure they were both ok.

When that little girl was born it was like my world and my heart were turned upside down, inside out and back to front. So many people who had grandkids told me to expect a love like no other but nothing can prepare you for this. It’s a fierce protective love that causes me to feel physically sick at the thought of anything happening to her or her mummy and daddy. It’s changed our relationship, I am in awe as I watch them navigating the newness and mysteries of parenthood.

I would do anything for that little girl and if I could have taken the pain of labor on myself instead of my daughter Anna I would have gladly done so.

So I’m reflecting on all these things as I’m walking along when God suddenly breaks into my thoughts and whispers “I feel exactly the same way about you, you know” and suddenly it all makes sense!

This fierce love that beats in my heart is the same love that beats in His, only His is flawless and perfect! I totally get why and how He could go to the cross for me. Me with all my imperfections and hard heartedness, me with my attitudes, insecurities and awkwardness with others and life.

There is no greater love than this. He’s given me the gift of faith to believe that He is ALL He says He is. He’s my protector, my deliverer, my provider, and much more.

It took the birth of a child in this season to help me to see how the birth of another child in another season was the greatest gift I could ever receive.

And so it is with you! You are the apple of His eye, He loves you with a never ending love, it’s a perfect love that isn’t governed by how well you behave, achieve, measure up etc it’s governed by the fact that God is love. Pure and simple. He is love and therefore He can only love! He weeps when we weep and He laughs when we laugh. He watches over us and He never sleeps so we can rest assured that we are covered by His goodness.

We were made to experience and reflect His glory. When Moses asked to see His glory God said “I will cause my goodness to pass before you” God’s goodness is so pure and so full and extreme that it is glorious. The people in the temple were singing about His goodness and His love when the cloud of glory filled the temple and no one could stand! His goodness is overwhelming.

So in the words of Paul I pray that “you being rooted and established in love (Christ) may have power, together with all God’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Much love to you

Angie xx