Today’s “How He Loves” post is from Bianca Juarez. Bianca Juarez is a fireball. A fireball. A fire ball. I don’t know when, if ever, I’ve encountered someone whose light shone as bright. I met Bianca briefly at Catalyst West and have loved keeping up with her online, but can’t wait to have some more face time.
Find her blog here.
And her twitter her.
How He loves us, oh how He loves us.
How He loves us so…
The plane creaked loudly as we ascended into the clouds for a two-hour flight back to Los Angeles. To the left of me a thin Japanese man with wire-rimmed glasses neatly placed his feet on top of his black slip-on shoes. To the right of me a young, Midwest guy wore his sunglasses inside the plane and ordered a BudLight before takeoff. I hate sitting in the middle seat, I said to myself as we reached cruising altitude.
The Japanese man smiled and slightly bowed his head, an action I knew indicated a greeting. I spoke the few Japanese phrases I knew. He spoke the few English phrases he knew. And, please don’t ask me why, I spoke louder and slower as if he was losing his hearing like all Americans do when speaking to foreigners.
The pilot came on the PA and interrupted our hand gestures and hilarious communication tactics to inform us we were approaching heavy turbulence.
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy…
The plane bounced so hard the flight attendant slammed against a seat as she scrambled toward the back of the plane. The Japanese man immediately went pale, his white knuckles clutching the armrests. Mr. Sunglasses was all but silent until we took a massive dip and he let out a high-pitched yelp of fear. Immediately I began to pray with a fervency I haven’t felt in months.
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way
In that moment of sheer panic I frenetically whispered, “He loves us, oh how He loves us. He loves us, oh how he loves us.” I repeatedly sang out the words with my eyes closed until the violent shaking and tumbling stopped.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.
No one moved until the pilot broke the silence. “It’s all good, ladies and gentlemen. Sometimes we go through some rough shaking, but rest assured. You’re in good hands,” he said with a confident laugh.
All of sudden I felt the overwhelming love and power of a God who fiercely love us. Yes, us. My Japanese brother, Mr. BudLight, the lady with the crying baby in 13D, all of us. Like the pilot said, sometimes we to go through rough shaking, but in those moments of shaking, rest assured. We are in good hands.
Oh how He loves us. How he loves us so…
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