it's a love story.. just say yes.

It may seem like I have a slight obsession with Mother Teresa as of late.

But guys, she's just the coolest.  

"You are precious to Him. He loves you, and he loves you so tenderly that he carved you on the palm of His hand. When your heart feels restless, when your heart feels hurt, when your heart feels like breaking, remember - I am precious to Him, He loves me. He has called me by my name. I am His."

I just find this so beautiful. 

Confession: I have such a strong desire to be loved. 

I think most of us do.

I want to be loved by those around me. But sometimes, I expect too much and then when I don't receive it? It upsets me. 

However, I'm slowly learning that the love I'm searching for... the love that never fails, never disappoints, never leaves... that love can only be found in Christ. His love is the only love that can satisfy all of my expectations. It is endless. It is eternity. 

Christ loves us. It's a beautiful thing. 

But it doesn't just end there. We can't just take the love He gives us and call it good. We have to love Him back. 

"After this Jesus, knowing all was now finished said, 'I thirst.'" 

::John 19:28::

Mother Teresa had a very special way of looking at this verse. She wrote a letter to her Sisters to try and explain it. The letter is called, Mother Teresa's "Varanazi Letter"and she wrote it on March 25th, 1993. It is a bit long, but SO powerful. I'm only going to take parts of it but I would highly encourage reading the entire thing. In her letter she said..

"My dearest Children,

Jesus wants me to tell you again, how much is the love He has for each one of you - beyond all that you can imagine. I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus - one to one - you and Jesus alone. We may spend time in chapel - but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love? Do you really know the living Jesus - not from books, but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words he speaks to you?"

It goes on to say..

"Not only He loves you, even more - He longs for you. He misses you when you don't come close. He thirsts for you. He loves you always, even when you don't feel worthy. Even if you are not accepted by others, even by yourselves sometimes - He is the one who always accepts you."

Later she says..

"Why does Jesus say 'I Thirst'? What does it mean? Something to hard to explain in words - if you remember anything from Mother's letter, remember this - 'I Thirst' is something much deeper than just Jesus saying, 'I love you.' Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you - you can't begin to know who He wants to be for you. Or who He wants you to be for Him."

The last paragraph of the letter closes with..

"How to approach the thirst of Jesus? Only one secret - the closer you come to Jesus, the better you will know His thirst. 'Repent and believe,' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor - He knows your weakness, He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you. He is not bound by time. Whenever we come close to Him - we become partners of Our Lady, St. John, Magdalen. Hear Him. Hear your own name. Make my joy and yours complete."

I was really overwhelmed when I got done reading the entire letter. 

Of course, I had always known that I was supposed to love Jesus. Why wouldn't I? 

I think... I was just so blown away by the idea that Jesus actually thirsts for our love. My love. 

He thirsts for it. Longs for it. Wants it. More than anything. 

Jesus thirsts for me. For me. For Rachel Elizabeth. 

When that resonated in my heart, I felt something change inside of me. I had been searching for love for such a long time... but in that moment after I finished reading that letter, it was like I had found it. I had never felt so happy. And guys? Guess what? Jesus thirst for you too. Just as much as He does for me. 

Mother Teresa says to come closer to Jesus in order to really understand His thirst. 

It took me a lot of searching... but I know that I'm really ready to jump headfirst into the greatest love story that ever was. 

And I'm not looking back.

I'm saying yes. I will love Him with everything that I am. I'm all in.