Love is in the air, you hope, as you eagerly check your physical and digital mailboxes for signs suggesting you are loved. Perhaps you’re hoping to hear from that one special person whose devotion means so much to you, if only they would let you know?
Maybe you are nursing a broken heart as you sit grieving for the love you have lost? Or you feel lonely, distant from family and friends, wondering if anyone thinks of you now and then. Perhaps life has wounded you, given you deep inner pain and a growing unease because you think you don’t deserve the kind of love you want to receive?
However this day finds you, my friend, may you be encouraged by knowing you are very much seen, paid attention to, and devotedly loved 24/7, year in year out by God. He longs for you and I to sense His loving presence and love Him back.
God yearns for us to know that even if we’re rejected by the world, unwanted by our families or distant from anyone who truly cares for us, He is here. He waits for us with deep longings in His heart. God has cherished us since before our birth. You are special to Him just because you exist.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” — Psalms 139: 13-16 NIV
Crafted with love
I read the words,
scanning all too quickly,
and then I pause
as I allow them to sink in.
They tell me I am seen, noticed
by God, deliberately made,
lovingly shaped before my birth,
I’m given love, value and worth.
Knowing my own history,
the way I came into the world
was not the best—born too early
and unwanted by my family.
They brought me up
with great strain and stress,
more than lavish love and grace
or tender care and kindness.
Maybe you, too, sense
a kind of disconnect
and fail to love yourself
because you’ve been rejected?
Maybe you have also known
the painful sting of not fitting in,
how you felt like a lost stranger
and yet you longed to belong,
to be at home in your own home?
May we take comfort from this:
that our existence is not a mistake
for we are unconditionally loved
by God, and enabled to rise above
the shame and pain of our past.
© joylenton
May you know how very special you are, dear one. Simply because you exist. God calls you His beloved. Have a listen to the Father’s Love Letter that was written for you. Let the words sink deep into your heart. Because you are known. You are cherished. You are unconditionally loved, today and always. ❤ ❤
Poetry Joy 
Dear Joy,
This is just so beautiful today. Thank you dear friend for sharing these thoughts that cut so deep into my heart. It is so easy to move through the motions of having to deal with the pain and weakness, of asking for His help to get through the moments. But all the while He is right here, just loving and holding. May I pause and let His Words sink in again:
“They tell me I am seen, noticed
by God, deliberately made,”
Nothing is a mistake or mere happenstance of nature here. He is still bringing His purposes of love alive right here. Blessings, love and hugs to you too, my dear friend. xoxo
Dear Bettie, it’s the “But all the while He is right here, just loving and holding.” that fails to register with me too at times. We might slip away out of distraction, anxiety, pain or busyness, but God never does. All we might rail against is but a curved rod to bring and hold us close, not a large stick to trip us up. I see God “bringing His purposes of love alive” in you, in the words you write and the loving, prayerful compassion you exercise. It’s wonderful to be able to behold these things as heart evidence of God’s loving presence in your soul even if you might miss them yourself.
Our pain and weakness almost act as barriers to such comprehension but they also serve as clear markers of God’s caring presence with us as He upholds, relieves and sustains. May you continue to have your eyes open to His presence, your heart receptive to His love and your ears listening attentively to His voice. Love and hugs, and a Happy Valentine’s Day to come! xoxo ❤
This is so beautiful, Joy. Such an important and hope-filled message! I love it! Thank you for the encouragement! Love and blessings to you!
Oh how delighted I am to have been a means of encouraging your heart today, Trudy! I’m so glad it spoke to you as it did. That kind of response was my hope and prayer. Because we all need to know we’re loved, and it’s even more amazing that God is the one who is loving us most ardently, continually, unconditionally, and faithfully of all. Such a gift! Such a great God to get to know! May you rest in being His cherished child, His precious beloved one from now to eternity. Blessings, love and hugs! xo 😊❤
Wow, Joy, God spoke through your words. Theres trauma in my past of the emotional neglect kind. Just coming to terms that it was trauma as I write my first book. But oh His love you describe so beautifully. Thank you, Joy. Praying you receive a double portion of rest. In Christ, Julie
Oh, Julie, I can so identify with having to come to terms with emotional trauma. I’m intrigued to hear you’re writing your first book. My first one was definitely cathartic as it reads like a poetic memoir in places. How marvellous to know you’ve been blessed by the Father’s love for you as you read this post! That was my hope and prayer as I sent it out. No matter how long or short a time we have walked with the Lord, we could all use a reminder of the wonder of such holy love. My soul and body gratefully receive the “double portion of rest” you so kindly blessed me with, because sleep has been fitful and far from restful of late. May blessings of peace, contentment, and a continuation of your birthday joy and gratitude rest on you, my friend. xo 💜