Tuesday, September 17, 2013

What Is Love?

                                                           What is Love?           
      
         Mom is scurrying around the kitchen making her wonderful crème brule French toast and quiche. Dad is outside shooting baskets with their two children. When the food is done cooking, she calls everyone in for dinner. The family sits down, says grace, and digs into the delicious food. At the table the family talks about each other’s day, and even plays the “would you rather…” game, filled with smiles and laughs.
         Taking time out of your busy day for a family meal together…that is Love.
        
         Jalynn’s best friend, Naomi, is sick and had to miss school. Jalynn tells the teacher that she’ll grab Naomi’s books and homework information, so Naomi doesn’t fall behind. Before Jalynn stops at Naomi’s house, Jalynn gets Naomi a little gift and brings her some warm chicken noodle soup and a Sprite. Jalynn surprises her best friend and offers to help with homework and stay awhile. Naomi thanks Jalynn for the soup, Sprite, and gifts. She also takes Jalynn up on helping with homework and staying awhile.
         Being there for a sick friend and helping out, when you don’t have to be…that is Love.

         On a beautiful summer day a gorgeous woman in white, gets escorted down the isle by her father, all the while, she has her eyes glued to a handsome man in a tux. Their hands embrace and they happily tell each other their vows; vows that put the other first in sickness and health. They say the two magic words “I Do”, and seal it with their first kiss as man and wife.
         The act of a man and woman becoming one through marriage…that is Love.

         A happily married man and woman, have been trying to have children for years but can’t. They decide they want to make their house a home. They start doing research on the Internet, through church, and friend inquiry. They decide on an agency and go through the long and thorough process. Then on a beautiful winter day, with snow glistening in the sun, the couple waits at the airport. Each minute feels as long as an hour as they count down the minutes of the plane’s arrival. Finally the plane rolls into its gate and a flood of people start rushing off to continue on with their lives. At the end of the line they see an agent holding an infant from South Korea. As the boy gets handed over to the married couple, they become a family and their house becomes a home.
         Adopting a child and taking him as your own…that is Love.

         A twenty-eight year old is surrounded by relatives and close friends as she holds onto his wedding ring in one hand, in the other she holds a Curious George stuffed animal. All the while, his life will never be the same, as he goes under the knife to remove a perfectly healthy kidney. In an operating room nearby the owner of the Curious George toy is waiting to receive a new kidney from the only perfect match they could find…his father
         Giving a kidney for the possibility of having a healthy child…that is Love.

         Tina is finally feeling that she has friends at her new high school, because she got invited to a party with the popular girls. When Tina asks her parents if she can go, they talk to her about the girls she is now friends with. They also discuss how excited their daughter is to be “popular”, but are old and wise enough to know that these girls are fake and probably up to no good. They tell Tina she can’t go. Tina is furious at first, but later found out that the “popular” crowd pretends to befriend someone just to make fun and humiliate them.
         Parent’s saying no to a party, they just know won’t end up good…that is Love.

         Lucy, a young single mom, was living paycheck to paycheck with her little child, trying to survive. She was trying to get them on their feet, but she couldn’t hold a job, because she kept getting fired because she’d run to her best friends alcohol and methamphetamine when life was too much to handle. She hit rock bottom and decided to give Teen Challenge a try, to give God another chance. She checked herself in, while her young son, went into foster care. After a hard, but successful recovery, she found a stable job, and found a place a small but good apartment for two. After, she had proved she was back on her feet; her little boy was able to return to her.
         Checking into rehab to get clean to make a better life for you and your child…that is Love.
        
         Melody is a high school student who loves the outdoors and looking at God’s beautiful creation. She believes it is important to take care of what God has given us. Every Monday morning she heads to school early and picks up the trash around the campus. Nobody is telling her to do this; she does it as an act of worship to God.
         Taking care of God’ creation because of your adoration for Him…that is Love.
        
         Just a boy, barely even eighteen, enlists himself in the army.  He had dreamed about being in the army ever since he was a little boy, as he wanted to defend his country that allows him to praise the name of the Lord without doing it in fear of losing one’s life, who gives him freedom to go to college, and choose his career instead of it being chosen for him. He wanted to fight for his country like his father did.  Little did he know this childhood fantasy of defending what he believed in and becoming a hero, would soon become a reality. As soon as he was done with basic training he was deployed to fight in the bloodiest World War of all time: World War II.
         Fighting for your country and possibly giving your life for it…that is Love.

         Violent whips breaking the skin, lash after lash. Thorns intruding into the head, with blood flowing fast. He was ordered to wear a robe, even as the blood dried and then was forced to take it off reopening the wounds. He dragged a large, heavy piece of tree uphill, after being beaten and flogged. He was mocked in the worst kind of ways. He was laid down only to have nails pounded through His hands and feet. Only to be placed vertically on a cross, with no water to drink, and it becoming harder and harder to breath. Taking the final breath and saying “It is finished.”

         Jesus died on the cross for YOU and me that we may live… that is TRUE LOVE.

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