Charie King and the Love of Our God

Last night, we split the girls and guys during our teaching time at night to do the "love" talk.  For those of you that grew up in youth group, you can assume what this means.  Basically I was expecting "don't have sex until your married" "marry/date a Christian" ect, which I am in no way saying are bad, and very important to hear, but not something that most of the girls hear have never heard before.  

I was wrong.

Charie, who is married to Clayton King, the official camp speaker and president of CrossRoads worldwide, spoke from her heart about the beauty and love our Lord has given us.  She shared a beautiful painting that I wish I had a shot of to share and explained that our talents and passions are what make us beautiful and what God has placed in us.  God loves us for who He has made us to be, and we should never settle for a man who loves us for any other reason.  She shared this passage from Ezekiel that really really spoke to me, and so therefor I will share it with you! 

(I got this from Biblegateway.com, a great reference with tons of different translations and a key word or phrase search)

This is the Father's love for us, and how much he cares for us

Ezekiel 16:4-15

On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. ⁵ No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

 ⁶ " 'Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" ^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} ⁷ I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. ^{b]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[b]} Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare.

 ⁸ " 'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

 ⁹ " 'I bathed ^{c]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[c]} you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you.¹⁰ I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. ¹¹ I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, ¹² and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. ¹⁴ And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

Its a little graphic, but is clear on one thing.  God has made us beautiful, and he is our Romancer.  v. 8-14 is also how a husband loves his wife.  Marriage becomes a reflection of God's love in this passage.  What a beautiful woman God is making us all! What a mighty loving and beautiful God we serve!