One of the first things I really took note of about my guy shortly after we’d just met was a conversation we had about bats.
A tad crazy huh? Yeah I know…
In any case I was telling him how bats freaked me out- and his response was so beautiful and so childlike that years later I can remember exactly where and how he was sitting as he told me that bats were perhaps one of God’s most favourite creatures.
I can remember how he looked at me as though trying to help me see these little beings as God had intended for them to be perceived… beautiful, important in nature and so utterly harmless.
All my life I’d believed bats to be of the devil… I’d learned that they were evil and those that dabbled in the dark side used them only for witchcraft.
But as I listened to this rather weird and bizarre guy tell me how much God loved bats I was enamoured by how he expressed this belief.
He went on to tell me that one of the reasons he believed God loved bats so much was that God had made so many kinds of bat. There are over a thousand bat species.
Before then I’d always known of God to be this aloof Guy- sitting on the throne somewhere in heaven- and yet here was someone telling me that God loved bats.
As he spoke I imagined God walking through the forest and loving. Not only bats but ants and butterflies and earthworms… I imagined Him examining bark and grass and loving the nature that He had created.
As I chatted some more to this guy, I barely knew, what I knew for sure in my heart was that this was a man who loved God.
Years later I remember our discussion about bats- and this man I barely knew then is now my bestest friend in all the world. He is the father to my gorgeous children. He is my most influential mentor. More and more I find his wisdom to be such an essential navigator through life. And years later he is still such a strong force in pointing me to the God who loves bats; A God who is not far off but right here in my heart; A God who walks the earth and touches soil and dances in the rain.
I guess what I’d like to say to so many young women who may still be praying for the right partner is this- look for those simple moments of brilliance and Godly vulnerability that truly reveal a man’s heart.
It’s so easy for us humans to proclaim our “undying” love for God- but what I’m coming to discover more and more is that men who truly love God speak about His wonderful nature.
One of the most incredible gifts a man can give you as a woman is to point you to Jesus; To help you see yourself as God sees you and to remind you often that Jesus loves you absolutely and unconditionally. A guy who does that will be such a force in your life that you’ll have to put a lot of effort into failing with someone like that loving you.
I don’t know the formula for finding the right guy- but it is my very strong belief that a guy who will love you as a woman’s heart desires points her to God and shows her the God that Jesus came to reveal: A God of mad, crazy, love; A true Father you can depend on always; A Present Help in time of need; A Giver of every good and perfect gift; a humble King- a wonderful and generous Saviour.
My guy told me all these things in a simple conversation about how God loved bats.
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