"I Wanna Know What Love Is...."

It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.

1 Corinthians 13:5 

 Since Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, we're going to continue taking a look at what love TRULY is.  

I have a sign in my cubicle that says: "Coffee doesn't ask silly questions, Coffee just understands."  I LOVE coffee.  Coffee is not offended by anything I say.  Coffee doesn't get upset when I get up early or when I'm out later than usual.  Coffee is not suspicious when I use a different cup.  Coffee understands.

My bride is one of the most wonderful people God has ever brought into my life.  Just so you know, she puts up with a LOT from me.  We can talk about anything.  We laugh a LOT.  And when she rolls here eyes because I've made some bad pun or done something stupid (yes, it's true.  I need a support group for People Who Do And Say Stupid Things), I know she loves me.  She gets me, and I get her.  Are we perfect? Not by a long shot.  Do we get angry with each other? (Have you MET ME?) on occasion.  

She listens to my sermons without falling asleep.  She listens to my jokes and even laughs at some of them. She knows that I can't dance without looking like a drunken giraffe, and she's okay with that.   But we have our differences as well. I have learned what buttons NOT to push and I know that waking her when I come home from a night ridealong is like poking a badger.  We don't agree on politics.  We differ in our styles of dress.  We have different tastes in furniture. But we still truly love each other.

True love is a decision.  And true love puts the other person ahead of yourself.  True love doesn't get angry (and stay angry) but is quick to resolve any issue.  True love is not hard, it just takes making a conscious decision.

Caution: Old Friends Laughing!

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
    until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
    I will carry you along and save you.

~Isaiah 46:4 

 

 I remember listening to stories at family gatherings.  Most of them I didn't understand, but I remember the laughter.  I remember listening to my Grampa talking about his friends and seeing his face light up as he remembered some funny tale of their exploits.  Watching he and his friends together laughing as they reminded each other of the stories of their lives was always priceless to me.  I still didn't get all their jokes, but I liked seeing them laugh.

 

This week, tomorrow as a matter of fact, I celebrate the fact that God has taken care of me for another year.  Looking back it's hard to believe the years have slipped by so quickly.  Looking back at the antics I had with some of my friends it's hard to believe we are still alive and not in jail.  But I also look at how many of my friends from my youth have already been called home.

 

A couple of weeks ago I saw a couple of old guys (no, I'm not one of them) sitting together and they were enjoying telling stories of their younger days.  I overheard one of the guys say, "Yep...God's been good to me in spite of me."  When his friend's wife came and took him off, I sat next to this older gentleman and told him I had heard his comment.  He smiled with a twinkle of impishness and said, "You know what Heaven is to me?  Sitting on a bench like this swapping stories and laughter with God."  

 

He must have noticed how his statement gave me pause to think because he chuckled and said, "The bestest friends you have are the ones you have no secrets.  If you are honest with God, you have no secrets and He is your bestest friend, so you can laugh at your mistakes without shame." 

 

What a relationship to strive for!!

A Time To WHAT?

A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.

~Ecclesiastes 3:4 

 

I must confess that I am what the some might call "rhythmically challenged" when it comes to dancing.  'Dominicam saltationibus sicut marinis' would be a more appropriate description (use Google Translate if you wish).  But when I was younger and even into my current dust encrusted age, there is one group dance that I cannot seem to resist.  I openly admit to watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the midnight movies throughout most of High School, College, and whenever it comes on television.  Doing the Time Warp was not only fun, but you cannot help but laugh seeing others doing it with you.

 

The writer of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, reminds us that everything has a time and a season.  Meaning nothing is permanent!  There is a time to cry, but there will come a time to laugh!  There is a time to grieve, but there is also a time to dance!  Our lives are in a constant state of movement and change.  Just because we decide we've had enough and park our rump in the chair in the corner to pout about life not being fair, does not mean time stops!  Life continues with or without us!

 

I have had people tell me that Jesus was always serious because Scripture never says Jesus was happy and never tells us that He laughed.  Scripture tells us that He wept and got angry, therefore Jesus was ALWAYS serious!  And the people telling me this looked as though they had never smiled or even considered smiling.  They made me wonder how their dating life went if they were so serious all the time. Sorry, that's just how my mind tends to wander.

 

I am very suspicious of people who are serious ALL the time.  I am even more suspicious of those who talk about gloom and doom constantly. Why would God permit Solomon to tell us that there IS a time to laugh and a time to dance if that were not true?  This might offend some, but Jesus went to parties!  His first miracle was at a wedding celebration! 

 

Remember, right now might be a time for you to cry and grieve, but there WILL come a time for you to laugh and dance (however badly you want to dance).