Time to get real: I still keep my safety blanket on my bed.
Yeah, I turn 20 next Monday and the tiny blanket my grandparents gave me as a toddler still graces my pillow. It’s soft. It’s familiar. It’s comforting. And it’s wildly unpopular.
Although you might be questioning if I’m actually an adult or not at this point, stick with me for a minute.
Because God taught me something amazing about safety blankets.
My love is like a blanket…
Doubts about my adulthood aside (I pay rent/utilities, cook and clean for myself on top of working 50+ hours a week, so I think I pass the test), last year I felt God teach me something.
I planned on sharing it then, but I never did.
It wasn’t until a friend reminded me of it earlier this week (when God told her something similar) that I realized I really should share this story.
It was November 2023. A friend and I were driving to Ohio from Michigan late at night. I’d had a tough week with multiple panic attacks and I was doubting that God loved me.
It was a horrible end to a horrible week.
And I was praying. I don’t remember what I prayed, but while I stared out the car window at the darkness settling into the branches of the trees, I felt God answer. “My love is like a blanket covering you.”
“My love is like a blanket covering you.”
That’s what I heard.
And in my head, I saw a picture of the folds of my blanket covering me (the picture was not my baby blanket btw. It was a purple one my brother picked out for me years ago).
With the image, I felt such love.
You know your favorite blanket? The one you always grab when you want to feel cozy? The purple blanket in the image I saw is the one I almost always grab. And it’s interesting, because all my blankets and soft cozy things (which I love) were gifts.
Someone else bought them for me.
Someone else showed me love in that way.
And now God has too.
Open Yourself Up to God’s Love
For a long time, I struggled with this idea: If I don’t love all the parts of myself, why would anybody else? How could anybody else? How could God?
I felt unloveable, so I tried to earn love. (I don’t recommend either of those.)
Then at some point I realized that if I wanted to feel God’s love, I needed to open myself up to it.
Warning: opening yourself up to God’s love is dangerous. You might experience mind-bending life-changing love, make new friendships, and have Him heal broken parts of you. When I let myself fall in love with God, He opened my capacity to fall in love with guys.
Don’t let the risks stop you.
Set aside 10-15 minutes once a week to bask in God’s love. Sunday is a good time for this. Head outside or shut yourself in your room, close your eyes, and ask God to show you His love.
Even if you don’t feel something right away, I promise God will show up if you keep coming. He’s faithful like that. 🙂
