There Is Love, Love, Love...

After the last tear falls
After the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves
And the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

After the last disgrace
After the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician
After the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales

'Cause after the last plan fails
After the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last "this marriage is over"
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales

'Cause after the last tear falls
There is love

-Andrew Peterson



What a fascinating concept-When all else fails, there is love. When the world failed, there was love. When Christ had to die for us, there was love. When sin pursues and entangles us, there is love. When to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be, there is love. When I've made mistakes, there is love.

When I'm broken on my knees, there is still love.

The love of God is something that no man can comprehend or even begin to imagine. It is deeper than any ocean on earth's surface, higher than any mountain on any planet, and wider than the universe's whole expanse. It is pursuing, captivating, encompassing, and enduring. It follows us on whatever path we choose to take.

As I sit here in my room on a Monday afternoon, I'm watching the snow fall thick and fast. Watching snow has never made me think about it this way before: There is a covering so white-white as snow-that hides our blemishes and faults from a just and mighty King. And the only reason we are covered by this holiness is because of a man that hung on a bloodstained cross for our iniquities. By His stripes we were healed. By His wounds we are forgiven. And by the thorns that pierced the skin on His head, we will be called sons and daughters of Christ. Watching this Indiana snow fall, I am more and more enthralled by the idea of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness-By the idea that grace falls like rain and His love covers our sins, to give us the purity, innocence, and wonder of a child that sin stole away. We're made white as snow through a sacrifice of blood.

Someone loves us an awful lot.

Faithfully Waiting,
-Rinny

(This weekend has been really fantastic! On Saturday, I did the boring ins-and-outs of dorm room cleaning, weekend homework, and reading assignments. Then a few girls on the wing watched "Up" and we talked til wee hours of the night. On Sunday, I went to church at IWU's College Church (a bit of a traitor thing to do, I know) and actually loved it. Really great message and wonderful worship. At lunch, I talked with Jamie, our DA, and it was really awesome hearing about her experiences at Taylor over the last four years. She encouraged me to put my roots in Christ, and not in Taylor-something she said she learned the hard way. Later Sunday night (besides celebrating the Colts play-off win!), Megan and I went to a Latin/Zumba dance class at The Well (our on-campus fitness center-super nice!) to get our "dance bug" out. It turned out to be really, really fun and we're hoping that we can make it a Sunday night work-out! I believe that's all the fun stuff for now-Please be praying for us as we have a final on Wednesday, then we head to Michigan until February 1st. Thanks!)