That was me to my guru (spiritual adviser), Kevin, yesterday. It was maybe a year ago. I called him asking how he predicted this statement when I called him all frustrated, sad, and emotionally hurting under my God tree:

“Neeks, you’re like a boxer right now. After getting hit (NOT PHYSICAL HITS) in your head like 10,000 times, you eventually get numb to the pain.”

Fast forward to a year later, your girl here has become numb to the hits! How did Kevin know this would happen? I have no doubt about it now; God speaks to me through Kevin. An ordinary human response would be to get out of the ring after 10 or 100 punches, Kevin encouraged me to stay even past the 10,000th punch, when I would eventually get numb to the pain. Who would advise such a thing? But that advice has paid off, and I’m super happy I stayed in the ring. True love has to be tested! (HUGE SMILE)

God has been teaching me that these hits were a part of the journey between Him and me, not between me and anyone else. He wants me to learn how to love unconditionally, then pass these lessons on to you guys. It has NOT been an easy journey (I’ve fallen like a million times), but I always felt I was doing it for the team (the entire human race!). To help us all learn these messy love lessons that God Himself would have us to learn.

God is love. He wants us all to abide in love with Him and each other. That’s what would make Papa God proud. The way Kevin has been supporting me and encouraging me to get back up when I fall with all His great advice has been all God’s way of showing me His deep love. And that’s my prayer for us, that we can all be God’s hands and feet and mouths in the world, His representatives, spreading His love wherever we go. Not easy, but God will be our strength when our human capacity to love and forgive fails. Our job isn’t to judge anyone, just to love and hopefully bring them closer to God, as Kevin lovingly has done for me.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35 NIV