Love is...

Patient.

Really? To me, that is bad news. This is not good. I am FAR from patient. But, I DO love my kids, my husband...etc etc.

I created this little piece of artwork, framed it, and set it in our bathroom. "Love is patient", it says. I told him that I think it would be a cute idea to go through the list in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, starting from the beginning. We would work together focused heavily on each trait. Then, once we both feel that the other has improved a great deal, I would create artwork for the next trait and frame it..so on and so forth!

Well, its been sitting on our counter for about a year now. And let's just be honest, I don't think it is ever going to come down. I think we are stuck at "patient. What the heck?! Why am I so bad at being patient? That seemed to take too long to answer. So, I think in order to answer that question, I have to "know my enemy"...what makes me IMPATIENT...? Well, that is much MUCH easier question to answer. Pride. Selfishness. Greed. Laziness...Oh My Gosh. The list goes on.

So, how discouraging is this? I am getting the feeling that some people are gonna read this and think, "Uhm, this doesn't apply to me! I love my husband/kids/insert-important-person-here no matter what, without fail, ALL.THE.TIME....I'm gonna call your BS. I'm sorry. Good luck with that, seriously. We are selfish and self-centered human beings. I honestly believe we really aren't capable of perfect love for that very reason. We are in love with ourselves more than anything. Even if we wish we weren't. Even if we don't think we are. Even if we try really-super-ubber-duper hard not to be. We fail...

Ohmigosh, Liz, this is depressing and kind of mean...

Okay okay. THERE IS GOOD NEWS! :) (Oh really...??)

This reminds me of a sermon I heard at Living Stones in Reno. They talked about Jesus (of course!) and His perfect love for us. He loved us perfectly and sacrificed His life so that if we loved Him, our "trying" would be enough. He knew we couldn't be perfect, but thankfully, Jesus redeemed us and has forgiven us for being imperfect. (*phew!*)

In addition to this, in the sermon, they talked about viewing others through a filter. We will call it our "Jesus Filter". Jesus loved us despite our imperfections. And he loved us perfectly...So what I am thinking is that, if we make a habit of viewing others through our "Jesus Lens", that we will be MUCH better equipped to Love the way we are intended to Love. Although, we know we will never be perfect, it is a huge relief that there is some ounce of hope.

And THAT, my friends is very, very, very

GOOD NEWS!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient, 

love is kind. 

It does not envy, 

it does not boast, 

it is not proud. 

It does not dishonor others, 

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.

Behind the Glass

As I have done probably hundreds of times, I went in to shower and brought the girls with me. I set them on the floor where I could supervise them throughout the duration of my shower. I made this one quick, but when I shut of the water, I decided not to come out. I leaned my back up against the glass and slid down. There I sat. I pressed my face up against the glass and just sat there. There they were. Babies under the age of 2. Playing with the toys I had set out for them, slapping their hands against the tub and toilet, climbing on top of the toilet and climbing in and out of the bath tub. They took equal turns coming to visit me. They pressed their faces up to mine and slapped the glass next to me. I stayed put. They couldn't get me. In that moment, I couldn't decide who was the animal in the glass cage... Me? Or them?

I stayed.

It wasn't until the girls started playing peek-a-book with my robe, which was looped on a precariously hung hook on the back on my door, that I beckoned the girls to calm down.

Adrianna immediately came over to the glass where I sat, opened her arms wide and hugged as much of the glass as she could as she cooed, "awwww..."

I got out.