Week 14, Captivating.. again

Captivating, by John & Stasi Eldredge 
Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul

This book really is wonderful. If you haven't read it and are looking for a good book to dive into, I strongly recommend this one. It talks about the woman's heart and the desires of our heart and what God intended for our hearts, while making references to scripture. This particular quote really caught my attention:

God's Heart for Relationship

"The vast desire and capacity a woman has for intimate relationships tells us of God's vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships. In fact, this may be the most important thing we ever learn about God- that he yearns for relationship with us. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God" (John 17:3). The whole story of the Bible is a love story between God and his people. He yearns for us. He cares. He has a tender heart."

Elderedge goes on to make references to different places of scripture to back up what she is saying here. Then she says,

"What a comfort to know that this universe we live in is relational at its core, that our God is a tenderhearted God who years for relationships with us. If you have any doubt about that, simply look at the message he sent us in Woman. Amazing. Not only does God long for us, but he longs to be loved by us. Oh, how we've missed this."

Really, how can you not find that comforting? The fact the Creator of this universe, of all being, longs for a relationship with us? With you and me? We find ourselves time and time again being blessed and loved by God, though we are again and again so undeserving. It's awfully humbling. Just as we want to be loved, He wants to be loved by us. Just as we have desires, He longs to be desired by us.

This reminds me of something my dear friend said not too long ago. He was talking about a girl he liked, and they were hanging out in a big group. As he looked around, he realized he was getting attention from everyone except the girl he wanted to get attention from. And while he was so happy to be surrounded by all his friends, he wanted this one girl to just make eye contact. To say hi. To give him some kind of attention. Just when I was going to ask him what his point was, he said "You know, I sat there looking around and thought sh**. This must be how Jesus feels. Everyone is giving Him attention, except the one person who He longs to get attention from." That's just really been laying on my heart lately. We've all felt it. We know how it feels to be ignored by the one person you want to get attention from. The one hudred other people just don't make up for it.

Anyways, I've been putting off Crime and Punishment (oopsies..) for this book, so I can't exactly blog about Crime and Punishment. I hope everyone had a wonderful week off, only three more weeks 'til Christmas break!