Friends & Family = FRAMILY
How do you give and receive love? Do you love well? Lately, I am learning I have so much more to learn about love. What does love look like? I used to think love was all about how others helped me to “feel.” My definition of love reflected the fact that I was the center of my small world. Much later I learned through God’s word that God is love (1 John 4). If God is love what does His love look like? Does God’s love look like the feel good self-centered love I created or is His love much different than I could have ever imagined? You only have to go as far as the cross to get an idea of the depth and intensity of God’s love. God sent His only son to die on the cross for my sin. The cross was horrific, messy, and required complete sacrifice. True love is like that. Jesus was God’s tool for His redemptive purpose. One thing our family prays toward is being the hands and feet of Jesus. That means loving and being loved may get messy, be horrific, and require lots of sacrifice.
Our family is on the road again, traveling east to spend time with family. As we got ready to pull out of the driveway on our thirty hour drive across the United States we had two sets of friends show up unexpected. Neither knew the other was coming, but both were very intentional in their mission to love us well. Tina Abney had done her research to learn what my wife’s favorite snack was, so she came bearing the gift of chocolate. Tina told Jodi that as she ate a piece of chocolate she needed to remember that Tina was praying for her. Needless to say, Tina was on our mind the whole trip across America! Our other precious friends, Jeff Grachus and his daughter Hope, came with words of encouragement and life. Jeff showered us with blessings and prayed over our family and trip, bringing peace that passes all understanding. Jeff and Tina were willing to sacrifice their time in the early morning to love us. They made us a priority, and we were blessed and encouraged.
On the road again
As we drove across America our goal was to make the trip in three ten hour days. On the second day as we drove through Memphis we decided it was time to stop for the night. We pulled into a hotel and asked for a room. The hotel person laughed and told us that it was Memorial Day weekend and there were numerous events in the area, so “there was no room in the inn.” We drove on and on, stopping at hotels along the way, each with the same story. It started to feel like the Christmas story, and we were Joseph and Mary looking for a room at the inn. After three hours of searching, I excitedly told the family that God was all over this, and He had something special in store for our family. Then it happened in Tupelo, Mississippi around 11:30p. I walked into a hotel, and the young lady behind the desk looked back at me with huge saucer like eyes. She was terrified and shaking as I walked up to her. Sadly she had received a threatening phone call from a man a little before I showed up. She thought I was the man who had called and was coming to live out the conversation. It took a few minutes to calm her. I was able to pray with her, and God restored her peace. She was so thankful that we just happened to come at the exact moment she was crying out for help. God was allowing us to be His love, but in order to be available we had to sacrifice hours of sleep. We had to be willing to get into the messiness of someone else’s sin and meet this young woman where she was – alone and terrified. We got a room for the night and before I went to bed I made sure help had arrived for her to be protected the rest of the night.
Bible Time
God is good. Our family desires to grow learning how to better be His love and also how to receive His love. We have dear friends, Nathan and Jane Phillips, who have taught us how to better give and receive love by speaking words of life over others and then saying “I receive that in the name of Jesus” when someone speaks into our lives something we want to allow in. Holocaust survivor and author Corrie ten Boom took receiving love even farther, “When people come up and give me a compliment—’Corrie, that was a good talk,’ or ‘Corrie, you were so brave,’ I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of each day I lift up the bouquet of flowers I have gathered throughout the day and say, ‘Here you are, Lord, it is all yours.’ Lord help us to be like Jesus, being a tool in the creator’s hand, willing to get messy and sacrifice all for your glory. Then when we are praised, to collect it all as a beautiful bouquet of praise to you.
Mrs. Jane - Loving Well
Play Time
