The agreement was blue.

I was supposed to wear a dress with blue accents and changed my mind last minute.

So when I showed up to our engagement shoot with pink instead, I could tell he was disappointed.

By that time, it was too late. We moved forward and posed as the photographer directed.

I remember being in a rush to the shoot.

My hairstyle wasn’t to my satisfaction despite spending a fortune at a stylist.

The drive to the location was a long one.

We were going to choose a shot to display at our wedding, we wanted to do it right.

So much pressure!

Over a decade into marriage now, I realize that those little disappointments were insignificant compared to all the challenges a long-term relationship brings.

Careers, dreams, children, schedules, morning-get-out-the-door routines, bedtime routines, personalities, habits.

Bigger things than not matching for a photo shoot.

The good, the not-so-pleasant, the disappointments, the brokenness, the frustrations. My husband knows me better than anyone else.

And he still loves me.

When I read through the challenging prophetic books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Hosea, I see a theme.

A thread that actually runs through ALL the books of the Bible.

God loves broken people.

God loves people who make mistakes.

God loves people who disappoint him.

God loves imperfect men and women.

God loves me.

Just as I am.

As much as God PROVIDED FOR, LOVED, PROTECTED Israel, they chose SOMETHING ELSE to worship.

They rejected Him.

How painful.

And yet, God STILL pursued her.

Loving someone who constantly rejects you, then accepts you, then rejects you again.

It’s a love I can’t explain.

Marriage is just a picture of it, but human love cannot be explained in the same realm as God’s redemptive love for His people.

For you.

God loves you so much in a way that cannot be explained.

Read Hosea. He was called to marry an adulterous wife, Gomer.

She ran away from him and found someone else to love.

God asked Hosea to take her back and to continue loving her.

You’ve disappointed God time and time again.

But He is pursuing you today.

Still.

He always will.

Even if we mess up again.

He is our Redeemer.

And he loves you so much.

I pray that you pursue God.

And I pray that as we move into this beautiful Christmas season, you dwell on the truth that God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to earth to live a perfect life and die for your sins so that you can live in eternity with Him.

No greater love.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16