So Loved - Love Week Recap

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." Psalm 63:3

Precious Friends,

It is with so much joy that I am writing this today as I perhaps have never felt more loved than I have these past two weeks. The week of Valentine's Day was Love Week at Allen High School. As Matt and I have said before, the International Baccelorette program at Allen High School (where I used to teach physics) chooses someone each year who needs a 'little extra love' to be their Love Week recipient, and this year I was chosen! The IB kids have been working tirelessly since Novemeber to make the week a success. I wish everyone of you was here so you could see how incredibly thoughtful and selfless these high school kids are. It is all so humbling and overwhleming! There were fun events every day at the high school to bring awareness to breast cancer and to fundraise for us. There was a Muffin bake sale, in honor of McKinley, whom is known as Muffin around here:) There was Chick-Fila day, different dress up costume days, Tape-your-teacher to the pole day and a Love Week concert showcasing our Allen High School talent. It was all so much fun! I am so overwhlemed with how great God is that he would use all of you to show me how sweet His love is every day. Thank you for teaching me so much about Christ's beautiful love. I know so many have selflessly sacrificed their time, energy and money to bless us. It is such a beautiful picture of how Jesus loved everyone of us so much that he gave His life so that we can live. I get to truly live every day because Christ loved me; and you all have been my daily reminders of that. Thank you. Your love has meant more than I could ever express. Below are some fun pictures of friends and family all over the country repping their Love week-shirts.

The first couple of pictures are of Matt, McKinley and I at the Love Week concert! (isn't it incredible how fast my hair has grown! lol:)

This is a picture of Matt and McKinley with his darling parents and grandparents at the Love week concert. Four Generations... so much love!

This one is of us doing the Twist at the Love week concert- so fun!

Here are some of our awesome friends at the concert. We are so blessed!

The next two pictures are of my Mom, Dad and baby brother, Lance. How cute are they repping their love week apparel from Highlands Ranch, Colorado! My mom told me that Lance even wears his t-shirt to school (he is a senior in high school)! How precious is that!

These two pictures are of my older sister, Rachel, and her oldest son, Tony, who live all the way in Minot, North Dakota. She is the mom to four darling kiddos and still finds time to love on us:)

This picture is of my younger sister, Ryli, her wonderful boyfriend, Jase, and their sweet friends supporting 'Team Randi' from Denver!

This picture is of my youngest sister, Ranai and all her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters at Colorado State University. Just looking at it brings me to tears! Forty of Ranai's sorority sisters ordered Love week t-shirts and surpirised Ranai (and me) with them! Unbelievable! I was completely blown away! I never thought I'd say this, but I Love the Kappas!

This picture is of some of our former Young Life kids who now go to Texas A&M University! How incredibly sweet are they?!

As I look at these pictures, and the many others that we have been sent, my heart melts. I smile and cry all at the same time. I wish I could fully describe to y'all how much your thoughtfulness, gernerousity and love has meant to us. God has taught me so much about love through you. In 1 Corinthians13:4-8, it describes what love is: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." I love Love. I am a hopeless romantic, the Cinderella/Prince Charming type:) I have always dreamt of the fairytale type of love where the hero swoops in and rescues his princess and they ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. I would love to think that all love stories play out just like that, but then I look out at our world and see so much pain, hurt, and broken hearts. As I really read what true love should look like in 1 Corinthians, it almost seems impossible... "Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27 Amen! We can't truly love until we know what love truly is. "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16 God is love. We will never know true love apart from God. He is the hero that swoops in and rescues us and captivates our hearts for the rest of our lives. He is the half that makes us whole. He is the author of love; He is the only one who writes true love stories. And the greatest love story ever told was that of Jesus on the cross. The perfect man, literally sent from heaven, laid down his life to save ours. Its the perfect love. Its the love we spend our whole lives searching for. Stop searching! Fall in love with the creator of love. Let yourself be rescued and loved for all of eternity. Only then will we be able to truly love each other. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:10-12 Friends, I know the sweetness of God's love in such greater depth because of the love you have shared with us. Thank you for loving us. I pray that you know the God of love and that you deeply feel the love of God. And if you know that love, I enocurage you to share it with someone today. How you love someone could be their picture of God. Love others like Christ loves you: selflessly, sacrifically, passionately. "We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19

I pray I can love others in this way. I do hate this cancer, but I love how it much it has taught me about God's perfect love for us. I pray that whatever you are facing today, you would run to the the only hero who can ever truly love and save you.

I have round 3 of chemotherapy tomorrow (Tuesday, February 28th). My sweet little sister, Ryli is here to take care of us, which is such a treat! I have felt so healthly this past week, which has been an incredible blessing. I am so thankful for my healthy weeks! Although I still have 14 rounds of chemo left, I am halfway done with the really bad treatments. Praise God for that! Please keep me in your prayers this week that the side effects would be mild and that in my weakness, I would run to my hero. I love you all so very much!

Joyfully in HIM~

Rands

PS- If you ordered a love week t-shirt, will you please take a picture of yourself and send it to us?!!! Oh, I would love that!