November 14, 2012 Twelve Years Ago Today…

“Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically. Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful.” Romans 12:9-12 (New Living Translation)

 

     Twelve years ago today, right about the time I am writing this (7:30 am), my life was changed forever and for the better with your birth.  Now, today, for the first time in your young 12 years, I celebrate here on the island without you, so as the apostle Paul did with his churches back in Bible times, I write this letter to you, to encourage and uplift you on this most momentous occasion in your life.  The verse above is what Paul wrote to his friends in Rome to share the love of God, who called them to be his people, and it is the one I wish to share with you, so you will know and feel our love in the same way. 

     I thought the words in Paul’s letter were very apt for you today as you are already such an example of the traits discussed in the verse.  You have taught me so much about love and how to love genuinely, just by being you.  You love your friends unconditionally, stand up for what is right when you are with them, and work hard to do your best in school and in life.  Continue to do so because God is planning so many wonderful things for you.  You have already been so patient with the troubles in your life, amazingly so.  I have learned from you on that count as well. You rarely complain about problems, although you have them just as we all do, and you are the first to remind me that we need to pray at bedtime if I forget.  So, even though I am not with you physically and able to pray sitting next to you on the bed, don’t forget that I am still with you in heart, mind, and spirit, and I am praying for and with you from afar. 

     Twelve years ago today, you changed my life, and I am so grateful that God entrusted you to my care. You are a joy, blessing, an old soul, and my sweet “Have It” baby boy.  I look forward to seeing the young man you are becoming and will become as you continue to grow.  It has all happened way too fast, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Each experience has enhanced our time together and shown me how very insightful and sensitive God has created you to be.  Believe in yourself, treasure all the special gifts God has given you, and use them for His good purposes and to change the lives of others for the better, just as you’ve changed my life.  I love you, sweet pea!! Happy Birthday!

October 29-November 9, 2013 Benefits of Much Love…

“Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven-for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:44-47

     There are so many wonderful stories about Jesus during the time his human feet walked in the dust of this earth that’s it’s no wonder the saying, “What would Jesus do? -WWJD” was so popular just a few years ago. This particular story about what happened when Jesus stepped into the home of Simon for dinner one night is one of my favorites.  It illustrates the great compassion of God and the tremendous grace extended to forgive those of us who are the greatest of sinners.  In the eyes of man, the woman in the story who came to Simon’s house to see Him was not worthy to even touch Jesus’s feet. She was a “many times over” sinner, but she did not care what anyone else thought about her. She only wanted to please and praise God.  She wanted to be forgiven and loved unconditionally, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this “man” was the only one who would and could do that for her. 

     Unfortunately, she was one of the few who truly believed in and loved Jesus as unconditionally and faithfully as He loved her. There were so many who did not recognize Jesus as God’s son when he lived on this earth. They simply refused to believe that the religious traditions and laws they had been diligently keeping as God’s chosen people could be put away so easily by this one man in his short 3 years of ministry on earth. And they certainly were not willing to accept that this Son of God would come to extend His love to all people with the sacrifice of His own life for us. This changed everything they had known or thought they knew about God and what He wanted from them as a people. 

     Those living in the days of Jesus’s ministry failed to see that God recognized our weaknesses and our inability to remain faithful in the letter of the law over the centuries he fought with the Jewish nation and tried to show them through numerous prophets, leaders, and devastating wars and events that he was the only God they should be following and when they did not, trouble was sure to plague them.  He decided to change it up a bit with the message His son brought to His people and eventually to all people, regardless of their former race or religion. 

     His message was simple: I love you no matter what you do, no matter how many times you mess up, and I am not going to expect you to do all the right things any more.  What I do expect is for you to love well, to do your very best to make Godly choices, and to come straight to me for forgiveness when you make a mistake. What I do expect is for you to have a pure heart, right motives, and a contrite spirit, understanding how very much you have sinned and how very much you have been forgiven by my unconditional love.  I expect you will mess up, and I expect you will learn from that how to love more and love better. For he who has been forgiven much, loves much. 

     If we do not recognize our own imperfection and sin, then we cannot understand how to love others unconditionally because we will be too busy judging them for what they have done wrong and considering ourselves better than them.  If God, who is perfect, can change his whole strategy, negating the “legalities” of the Old Testament and tearing down the divide between Himself and His creation in order to give us eternal life and internal peace, how much more should we be able to love each other without judgment, without pride, without them having to show us they are worthy, but only because they were made by God just like us. 

     Commit yourself to loving much today, and when the urge to judge others for their decisions strikes you as it does for me many times a day (unfortunately it’s a very human failing), think about what Jesus would do and choose to love them anyway and instead of passing on that judgment in your words to them or others, stop and pray for them and for yourself too. J  Remember, the more we have been forgiven and recognize our need to be forgiven, the more we learn how to truly love without reservation or restraint.