Oakwood Church Fresh Start Women's Devotional Encouragement for Today Hartland Delafield

Sweet Treat
By Jen Wollner

“…his love endures forever.”
Psalm 107:1

In my opinion, October is one of the best months of the year here in Wisconsin. The air is crisp, the leaves are colorful and fall festivities are in full swing. I look forward to our family tradition of going to a farm to pick out pumpkins, eating caramel apples, drinking cider and riding in a wagon full of hay. Actually, I’m not sure who loves it more…my husband and I, or our kids! There’s another October tradition that kids love. It comes at the end of the month and involves costumes and candy. Children of all ages get to dress up as their favorite superhero or princess or animal and run around the neighborhood in the dark, ringing doorbells and collecting candy. What’s not to love, right?

For a lot of us, though, pretending to be someone we’re not doesn’t end with childhood trick-or-treating. Many of us wear costumes of some kind or another throughout our whole lives. This seems particularly prevalent amongst us women. We often feel that we won’t be liked if we aren’t wearing our June Cleaver pearls and housedress. We wonder if others will accept us if we haven’t put on our Martha Stewart mask. And we fear that if people knew that we were really more like Peg Bundy than Claire Huxtable, they would look down on us. So, we carry on the charade, hoping that no one will discover the real us…or should I say, the vulnerable, imperfect side of us.

How good to know there’s Someone who doesn’t care what we look like without our make-up and hair done (or house clean, or kids perfectly behaved or marriage without kinks or…). As a matter of fact, He created each of us and knows exactly how many hairs we have on our beautifully-styled head. His name is Jesus. He can see right through our get-ups of perfection and poise…and He loves us just the same. His affection for us is higher than any mountain, deeper than any sea and wider than the heavens. His desire to have a relationship with us took Him to the cross. He simply adores us! That’s just the kind of unconditional love we are longing for, isn’t it?

No matter what kind of costume we’ve been hiding behind, today is the day to take it off and be real with the Lord. Let’s admit our struggles and imperfections and find freedom in His love and acceptance. He’s crazy about us, just as we are. No tricks here...just sweet treats!

Going Deeper:
1. What kind of “costumes” do you put on each day? Why?
2. Do you believe that the Lord loves you unconditionally and treasures a personal relationship with you? Do you seek Him and His acceptance or rely on the approval of others?
3. What are some ways that He demonstrates His love for you each day?

Further Reading:
Psalm 9:10; Psalm 45:10-11; Psalm 108:4; Romans 5:8

Jen and her husband are busily parenting three children under the age of 6. Jen heads Oakwood’s Fresh Start ministry.