Like I never left. . .

Okay so i went for training today, basketball training, after not touching a ball nor hitting the court for over 3 months. Yeah it had been that long and in that period, I'll be honest, i considered more than once leaving the sport when things normalise after lockdown and finding something else to keep me occupied. I was okay with just watching games and screaming from the stands because a part of me felt like I'll need to work so hard to get back to where i was before. I was ready to let it go at some point, until one day i was sad for a reason i won't mention and all I craved for was the ball going through a hoop in endless buckets- for days- i missed that and i knew it would make me feel better but still, i was reluctant about going back to balling. In all honesty i was more than ready to let it all go but when my coach hit me up with that "Training tomorrow, I'll pick you up" text  i couldn't resist nor contain my excitement. I was looking forward to the morning, to wearing my sneakers and bending down to tie the laces, to holding the ball; catching it, passing it, dribbling it and listening to it bounce and everything surrounding that beautiful round thing! I was looking forward to that and in that instance i forgot that i wanted to let it go. 

Fast forward to the court, man it was bliss; the panting, the crossovers, the shots...the shots!!!!, the reverse layups, posts, passing, jumpstops, pump fakes, jab steps and triple threat..  Man it was like I had never left, like I've been training the whole time. Not once did it feel like i had 3 months to make up for. To say i wasn't alive would be a lie. I was home! And that got me thinking that maybe its like this; 

In life, the things we love are not far from us, they stay in us. 

We think about them, we remember every detail about them, we miss them, we crave them and keep yearning for them because they are and will always be rooted in our souls no matter how much time spend away from them. We always find a way back to them and its always like coming home, you know where the cutlery is,  where the bathroom or kitchen is. Its automatic honestly and we always feel more alive when our surroundings and feelings are in tune with those things we love. They calm us, empower us, keep us going, challenge us and make us strive to be better versions of ourselves . . . they make the best out of us; satisfying our emotions, bodies and souls . . . 

Imagine loving God like that?? Truth is in our own might we are not able to. I urge us however, to try with that little capability we got, just give Him all that love and make Him the center of our universe. With that love, no matter how flawed He will dwell in us. Whenever we get lost or get discouraged to even read His word and pray, with that love He will be in our souls rooted deep... And when His Holy Spirit strengthens us, it will be like we never left, falling in perfect sync with Him as we live in this confusing, demanding and tempting world. If we love Him, He will stay in us, everytime. Never will we feel unfit for Him because when we eventually find our way back to Him, it will be like we never left!

He is the God who loves us. We matter to Him, He loves us! Whenever we sin and deviate from His ways and even go as far as thinking and acting like we don't need Him, His love for us doesn't fade. He is one with us in His abundant grace and everlasting love. No matter the time spent away from Him, He still doesn't give up on us and He never will. It doesn't matter how much you have shut Him out, He will stand by the door and knock, all you gotta do is let him in. He won't ask you what took so long, He won't be moody and grumpy, He will come in and dine with you and it be like you never left . . .