The greatest lover

One of the stages of a man's journey is the "Lover" stage. But it's about more than loving a woman. It's also about loving nature, cherishing what God has created, and receiving love from Him. John Eldredge tells a story on p. 182 of The Way of the Wild Heart about a time when he felt love from God while in the mountains:

I was still kneeling in the shallow water [of the stream], and as I looked down, my eye fell upon one small stone in particular, as if it were somehow illuminated, which is not quite right because it was one of the darker stones in the mosaic, almost black, so it could not have stood out for its brightness. But those of you who have had this experience will know what I mean, when in a crowd of people one face stands out to you almost to say look at me, or when you are reading a passage and one sentence causes you to stop and linger while all the rest of the page fades into the background but for that phrase. The stone was in the shape of a heart.

A kiss from God. A love note. I was being romanced.

God is the greatest lover. I felt the love of nature when I went pheasant hunting with my dad for the first time this past fall. While I really enjoyed looking around for pheasants, it was just great to be tromping around in God's country.