We all want to be loved

“When God created Eve, as you recall, he took her straight from Adam’s side. None of us have fully recovered from the surgery. There is an aloneness, an incompleteness that we experience every day of our lives. How often do you feel deeply and truly known? This is our inconsolable longing—to know and to be known. It is our deepest ache, which we feel to be healed only in our union with another…”

“Aware of our deep failings, we pour contempt on our own hearts for wanting more. Oh, we long for intimacy and for adventure; we long to be the beauty of some great story. But the desires set deep in our hearts seem like a luxury, granted only to those women who get their acts together. The message to the rest of us-- whether from a driven culture or a driven church - is try harder."

“Unconditional love and acceptance is a major need in each of our lives. Love is knowing that they’re not perfect but unconditionally accepting them and loving them anyhow.”

I am learning how contempt plays a bitter attack on the life we desire and the life we were made for. Contempt makes me hate desiring love. Or wanting more. When really, feeling this way is normal.

I feel alive and rejuvenated in the presence of love again. Love from God, love from others and the mysterious way these two are interconnected.

"There may be no greater proof of God than the power of community."