“I cannot fix the hour,
or the spot,
or the look,
or the words
which laid the foundation.

It is too long ago.

I was in the middle
before I knew I had begun.”
~ Jane Austen

I love taking pictures.  It’s really to my detriment.  If we happen to be perched on our chairs, chatting over a cup of coffee, beware.   Right before you take a bite into your cinnamon twist, I might just ask you to hold it right there.

Falling in love is a lot like taking pictures. 

As it’s happening, it’s hard to freeze the moment and capture it in a still.  A big part of good photography comes from learned and practiced skills.  There is an essential element in a great picture, however, that has nothing to do with the equipment and everything to do with the feeling.

Falling in love with God is like snapping that great picture.  The feelings of first love, many might judge as being too flighty.  But, it was a moment I understood with great feeling and unmistakable emotion.

Before My First Crush

I fell in love with God long before I had my first crush with a sandy brown-haired boy in third grade.  I was eight years old.

The night I met Jesus held a couple elements of romance.  It was at night, and I was unsuspecting.  It was so dark, I tripped over the uneven trail that led to the meeting place for that night’s evangelistic meeting.

Hey, this was back in the Seventies, when the kids’ program for church was sitting in the back of the room, eating candy and playing Hang Man with your buddies.

I didn’t want to play any games that night.  I didn’t have a Bible.  So, I flipped through the pages of the King James Bible, that the ushers had put on top of the chairs.

I was a young reader, advanced for my age.  A lonely child of a working, single mother, my closest companions came to me between paper and print, wherever I went.  I knew about protagonists and soliloquies.

A Story Punctuates

So, when the preacher started telling the story of a prince who left his palace, to experience daily life with His people, I sat straight in my chair and listened with hungering curiosity.

I thought the story was pretty predictable, until it got to the part where the prince was maligned and condemned to death for a lie.  Surely, this was the time for our hero to break in passionate monologue and be rescued from his plight!  Even if he were to die, it was certain our main character would break forth in passionate plea.

Instead, he died.  Hung, on a tree.

I was struck dumb.  No way!  I could not believe it. That’s it?

The only explanation was the one that was given.  The one I believed.

This prince was God’s own son, Jesus.  And He was sent to die for us.  Because He loved us.

It was the word, LOVE, that punched through young skull, into my mind, translating into an ardent fire in my chest.

I wanted to be… and felt… loved.

Some say love is a choice.  Others say it’s a feeling.  I say it’s both.

~~~~~

Oh, yeah — about that great picture. Candid pictures are the best, really.  One day, we’ll go to heaven and drink the wedding toast with Jesus.  He’ll open up a photo album of pictures.

There I’ll be captured, in a divine snapshot, young and in love, with a tender smile on that eve.

~~~~~

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
~ God (Jeremiah 31:3)

“But you walked away from your first love – why? … Do you have any idea how far you’ve fallen?”
~ God (Revelations 2:4-5)

~~~~~

What is your divine love story?

Was it love at first sight with God– or was it slow development of images, that added to a picture of love?

~~~~~
Share your story — in the comments below or write a blog post, and include a link. I’d love to read and enjoy it.

I'm irresistibly walking through 14 Days Of Love !
To start at the beginning, click here:
Day 1:  14 Days of Irresistible -- An IntroDay 2:  Falling Divinely In Love
Day 3:  Friendship Is Like Dating
Day 4:  Are You A Book Lover?  14 Books That Changed My Life
Day 5:  What Does Your Name Mean?  A Name Between Two Lovers
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