Dear

I felt today as though someone in the Bible was writing to me, personally.

"And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love."

2 John 1:4-6

Frankly, I have been struggling a lot the past few days. I have not been walking in love, especially toward my own family. Micah has been so very difficult to deal with this past week, and it is incredibly hard to keep from getting angry and losing all patience with him. I've even ended up allowing myself to get far more easily frustrated with Scott, something that doesn't happen too often. I feel so filthy inside. Because I am. I am lazy, self-seeking, impatient, and easily angered. And a lot more than that, but I'll stop there before I'm deemed an unrepentant sister in Christ and cast out. ;)

Devotional time has not been a priority at all this week, ironically, because I am so gross. I was afraid I'd be faking it, not wanting to do it. But I felt inwardly prompted today to turn toward Him, and so I picked up His Word again. Just because I didn't want to spend much time in it still, I decided to pick one of the shortest books of the Bible I could think of, and this is what I got. Conviction, and suddenly, a lot more interest in God again. Isn't it amazing how He does that?

What really struck me about these words, is how gentle and kind they are. Dear lady. A gentle reprieve to obey.

I am still dear to Him, despite how ugly I am inside.