God loves you dearly! Brennan Manning tells the story of a man named Ed Farrell, who traveled from his home in Detroit to spend a two-week vacation in Ireland to celebrate his uncle’s eightieth birthday. When the great day dawned, Ed and his uncle rose early to greet the sun. They walked along the shores of Lake Killarney, loving the emerald green grass and crystal blue waters. For twenty minutes they watched the scene together in silence. Then the uncle began to do an unusual thing for an eighty-year-old man: He began to skip along the shore of the lake, smiling like a schoolboy in love. Ed was puffing hard as he tried to catch up with him.
“Uncle Seamus, you look very happy. Do you want to tell me
why?”
“Yes,” said the old man, tears streaming down his face. “You see, the Father is very fond of me. Ah my Father is so very fond of me.”

Max Lucado writes the following: “If God had a refrigerator, your
picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart. And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you.”

I hope you will take a moment and savour just how much God loves you:
* You are a princess daughter to the King of the Universe and He loves you more than words can express (1 Peter 2: 10)
* Psalm 42:8 “Day by day the Lord also pours out his steadfast love upon me (and you!)
* Jeremiah 29:11 ” I know the plans I have for you, declares the
Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
* Psalm 34: 18 ” The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
* Matt 11: 28 ” Come to me , all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

It is so important for you to know and recognize how deep and broad
God’s love for you is. Not only has God forgiven your sins but He has removed any guilt and shame from your life and given you the gift of heavan and the power of His Holy Spirit to live.

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your aunt -and best friend.
Death is hard and it leaves us feeling alone and lonely. I lost my
mother about a year ago and I still miss her very much. Its important for you to know that you are grieving though - and that explains some of the confusion you are feeling. Again turning to Jesus in the midst of your questions is the best comfort I know of. God loves you so much that He aches with you over the loss of your aunt -and He is waiting with His arms of comfort to enfold you and love you.

God loves you and wants you to experience His peace and His presence - the comfort of the relationship that you spoke of. We are not by nature at peace with God - because our sin causes us to live as if God were not important. By ourselves we can’t find our way to God - but God loves us and makes a way for us to be right with HIm - He sent His son Jesus to live on earth and then to die so that our sins could be paid for - and to rise again to give us victory over confusion and death and life’s ugly circumstances. God invites you to be part of His
family. All you need to do is:
* admit that you need God
* confess your sin and be willing to let God show you betterways
* believe that Jesus died for you on the cross - and rose again to give you victory
* receive the gift of God’s love and forgiveness -receive Jesus as your saviour -and know that he will come and live in your heart if you ask him.

Here is a prayer for you to pray: Dear Lord Jesus: I know that I am a sinner. I believe you died and rose again for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and ask you to come into my heart and life. I recieve you as my personal Lord and Saviour. Thank you for saving me. Amen.

If you pray this prayer you can be assured that you are saved; you
have eternal life and you have God’s presence in your life to help you.

If you pray this prayer I want to encourage you to tell someone about your decision - someone who can help you in your spiritual life - I would love to hear back from you! I would also encourage you to read and study God’s word and to pray to God to seek wisdom and comfort.

Prayer is God’s invitation to talk to him about everything in our world - the happy; the sad; the big things; the small things. James 15: 16 says - When a believing person prays great things happen. I want to encourage you to pray -

When we pray - we should do these things:
* Identify the problem/concern/request we have. And in doing so we clarify in our own minds what is needed
* Present it to Jesus. We know He’s happy to help; and that He’s always listening.
* Do what he says - No matter how illogical it sounds .
* Trust in Him - Just trust. Not direct. Or question. Or yank the steering wheel out of his hands. Our job is to pray and wait. Nothing more is necessary. Nothing more is needed. “He is my defender; I will not be defeated” (Ps. 62:6).
* Know that God is true to us even when we forget him. God’s blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith. “If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful, because he cannot be false to himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). This is why He continues to give good gifts even when we don’t pray - because He loves us and is gracious to us.

I would encourage you to continue to grow in your faith by doing some ot the following things:
* continue to pray even if you don’t fully understand it - The
bible tells us to “Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes 5: 17-18)
God invites us to talk to Him about our needs; the needs of others; in praise and thanksgiving and in confession when we need to get our hearts right with God. Here are some prayers in the bible:
for blessings 1 Chronicles 4:10
to express thanks to God Psalm 52:9
for direction Psalm 143:8
in praise Psalm 145: 1-2
for daily needs Matthew 6:11
for everything Philippians 4: 6-7
for anything 1 John 5:14

* the bible is our source for life!! I would encourage you to start reading in the new testament - maybe with Luke or John - and stick with it. Start to act on the things that you understand - and feel free to write with any questions!

* build friendships with other committed Christians. You can do this online using the sites listed below and I would also encourage you to join a church community where you can celebrate the love and friendship of other christians. You might check the universtiy where you are studying for a chapter of InterVarsity - they would be able to help you and encourage you.

* here are some internet sources to help you:
* I would encourage you to work through the study Knowing Jesus

Personally, which is located on thelife.com:
http://thelife.com/study/knowjesuspersonally.html
If you would like to do this study with me - just write in answer to
question 1 that you want Lynn Gergens to be your study coach

* I would like to encourage you to connect with other believers.One way that you can do this online is to visit: http://www.thelife.com
http://www.christianwomentoday.com
There are many good articles, encouraging life stories as well as
opportunities to interact through a discussion board and a chat room.

* The Alpha course is an opportunity for anyone to learn moreabout the Christian faith in a relaxed small group setting. To locate a course close to you.
http://www.alpha.org/

I will continue to pray for you -
Dear Jesus - please help this young woman who is hurting and grieving the loss of her aunt. Come into her heart right now and give her peace - and help her to experience the joy of having a personal relationship with you. Guard her heart from despair and loneliness - send her Christian friends who will love her and help her. Give her the assurance of your salvation. In Jesus name, Amen.