Love is all around

What a beautiful season we are in! I love everything about the Christmas season- the presents, the food, the joy, the giving, and most importantly, the love. It's hard to be present in this season and not feel the love all around.

Coming to Spain was the best decision for me at this point in my life for many many reasons but one in particular. I'll avoid all of the details but I'll allow myself to be a little vulnerable in this post. Before coming to Spain my heart was broken (shattered, really). Before this happened, my intentions for coming here were to travel, to learn, to experience, and to enjoy this gift that God has given me. Those intentions still remain, but then I found myself seeing Spain as a way of running away. My heartbreak couldn't have happened at a better time (not that there is really ever a good time for heartbreak). So here I am three months later, still running and still healing.

This season is beautiful because we celebrate when love was born. Love that reminds us that we are never alone and that we are unconditionally desired. Love that was born into this world with the purpose of sacrificing himself and dieing for us. My sweet friend, Julie, sent me a special Christmas devotional. I've been reading it each day but the one for today really touched my heart.

Dear God, The moments I spend in prayer with You inspire me to be a living expression of Your love in the world. The deep desire of my heart is to express Your love in all my thoughts and interactions. I pray that Your love within me will be an invitation for others to grow in the awareness of Your love within themselves. Wherever I look, I see Your love being expressed through welcoming wreaths hung on doors, colorful packages carefully wrapped for friends and loved ones, Christmas carols sung by smiling choirs, and friends and family gathering to celebrate this season of love. Thank You for the assurance that I am never alone, that Your love is always available, always within me, always supportive, always comforting, always reassuring. Thank You, God, for Your love.

I am a firm believer that sometimes God brings you to different places to teach you something you may not have learned where you were. God knew what He was doing bringing me here long before I knew. I am thankful to be learning and healing in a new and beautiful environment. I am also grateful for the reminder that I am never alone and I am so loved. The night before I left for Spain I was talking on the phone with one of my best friends, Mary Hannah. She is one of the wisest people I have ever met in my life. She very boldly told me, "Kerianne, this is going to be the year that God shows you just how beautiful you are." I'm holding on to those words and, with an open heart, seeking His wisdom.

Take a moment this Christmas season to reflect on the things in life that really matter. I promise to do the same. Always know that no matter what, you are truly never alone and you are so loved. Praying and loving each of you.