Let’s just say I was given the chance to spend 80 minutes with any person alive today. I would choose someone that I already know. And I would choose them again and again and again. This person is what God must look like in human form. Today I got 80 minutes to talk with him on the phone and it was more precious than gold.

If you have ever read “The Shack,” a plump black woman named “Papa” helps the readers imagine what God must be like and how wonderful God must be. This person is my “papa” – the human I think of to remember how kind God is. They are the person I remember when I need to figure out what humility and grace would look like in a situation. They are the person I imagine when I think of whom I want to become.

There is a quote I often think about, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” When I interact with this “papa” in my life it is like liquid love and freedom washing over me at the same time. I have such permission to be me and I am challenged by the presence of love to be more “me” than I was before.

I will never forget how tangible grace feels in his presence. But, I also won’t forget what he says and what he does. Because his words and actions echo love so loud that you can’t forget them.

These are the scribbles of notes I was taking today during our conversation.

Think of the kindest person you know. God is more kind than that.

“The only time you will find God in a box is because he wants to be where we are.” –Paul Young