Saturday, July 16, 2011

Day Sixty Six: loving

DirtySexyMinistry is a blog I follow from time to time.  I love the way these women write but I also love what they write about, usually because it is exactly what is in my head at any given time.  Also because if it wasn't in my head, it gets there quickly after they've said it.  They are kindred spirits even though I've never met them (give it time, the Episcopal Church isn't very big!).

I came across this post recently on their site and really enjoyed it.  It has taken me on a few days' trip down memory lane of the past 4 1/2 years of parenthood.  What do we do for love?  Parents reading this have certainly had moments of full public humiliation to protect/entertain/discipline their kids.  There are the simple things I have done for my kids that 5 years ago would have sounded completely outside my realm of talent: nights sitting for hours in steam-filled bathrooms to calm croupy coughs, calling ANYONE I thought might be game in congratulating my 2 year old on potty success, saying things like: no sweetie, that's not Santa, it is supposed to be God" and "Get Jesus out of your mouth NOW."

Parents are not the only ones who experience this.  Spouses who make significant sacrifices, children who care for elderly parents, parents of four-legged friends who give over their hearts knowing that their hearts will be broken.

We are none of us Jesus.  But I do think we are at our best, and perhaps closest to Christ-like, when we have thrown caution to the wind in favor of loving someone else.  Life, Hollywood and the Bible will all tell you that love is not neat, easy or perfect, but if it wasn't difficult, it would hardly be worth working for. That is the message of the Gospel that rises to the top for me, like sweet cream, every time.

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