Hello Bob,
My name
is Madison Rodick and I go to the University of Missouri. I read your book Love
Does during my senior year of high school and I would have argued then that it
changed my life, at least I thought it did. But one book doesn't change your
life, with the exception of the bible. More than a year after finishing your
book I look back and I can see that while your book didn't change my life, it
provided me a very important stepping stone to where I am at right now.
Sometimes
God has a different path for you than you have for yourself and I think that
was definitely the case for me. I seemed to take a roundabout path where I
experienced many things in order to figure out that what I always thought
I wanted in my life, were nothing but temporary. In order to
fulfill my deepest, darkest cracks I had to surrender myself and let go of my
burdens. Only then did I realize what I really got the most fulfillment out of
was my time spent praising and honoring God. What an awesome realization that
was, I now wake up each morning and devote my time to God with a devotional and
digging into scripture. It is something that I look forward to each and every
day and it makes me so happy to look at my life and know I seek my fulfillment
from God, because unlike anything else, that fulfillment and love I feel is
eternal. There is nothing like God, and most days I am without words because I
have trouble even trying to fathom just how great our God is. When I take the
time to look around, or even just looking up at the sky when I walk back to my
dorm at night, I find myself in awe of the beautiful stars. I think, why me?
What have I done to deserve such a powerful love and sacrifice. But then I am
reminded that God loves us so much that he gave his one and only son to redeem
us and wash us of our sins. God is so great, he believes that we are perfect
because he made us in his perfect image and I could not imagine anything more
wonderful or joyous than receiving a love such as the one we are granted.
It seems
as though everything has been falling into place lately. I think that is one of
the things that love does, love allows us to experience greatness.
I don't know about you, but when I look at my life I realize just how blessed I
really am. I find that all too often I take things, or even people in my life
for granted. I do not deserve this life and I wonder why it is that sometimes I
find myself being unhappy. I have no reason to be unhappy, and every reason to
be so grateful and joyous that all I can do is thank God over and over again
for choosing me. He saved me, and he saved you, and I owe everything to him. I
want to do something greater, I want to make a difference. I want to show
my crazy love for him, and point others in the same direction
so they may experience the kind of feelings I have been able to experience. I
guess that is really why I am writing to you, I want to make a difference and I
admire the way you have been able to do just that. I adore my God, and I can
not think of any greater way to express that love and adoration than to shout
it from the tops of mountains. Or in my case, publish it for the world to see.
Bob, I
admire your work in Uganda and your incredible ability to foster the idea
of love does in so many individuals. I hope and pray that God
would point me in a similar direction and allow me to serve others and honor
his name. Most importantly, I want to let others like me know that they are not
alone. In my most juvenile act, I thought that I was alone. I figured no one
could possibly be going through the same things as me, but I could not have
been more wrong. So many young people my age are going through this same transition
into adulthood and trying to find the balance in their lives; between their
relationships and their faith and everything else that college and high
school-age kids are facing. But that is where I think many of us make the
mistake, there isn't supposed to be some sort of magical balance, no, God
should be overflowing in every portion and crevice of your life. So much so
that you would be spilling your love out for God all around you, so that it may
spill over into those around you. That is how I believe you are supposed
to love God, you allow him to pour himself into every part of
your life. You make Him your life, it's not about following rules or
mechanically falling into habits of reading your bible without really reading your
bible. You are supposed to be like a sponge, at least that is how I feel,
except this sponge has no limit to how much love it can soak up. I feel like
then, when you reach the point where I am today, you speak about your love for
God and your faith as freely as can be, you are made radiant because of his
light, and others can see him when they hear you speak about his great love. I
cannot imagine anything greater than that kind of love.
So thank
you, Bob. Thank you for writing Love Does and thank you for
helping me to use it as a stepping stone to know God better. Without knowing
me, you helped make a difference in my life, and I hope that I may be able to
do the same for others.
Thank you
for taking the time to read this letter, I look forward to hearing back from
you.
Best,
Madison
Rodick