It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, plagiarist, i know. Sometimes we realize that life is not all ups, that there are inevitably going to be some downs and there is no way to omit the undesirable parts of real life, but there are things we can do to survive them.
Sometimes i wonder what people do to let go. What horrible thing did one person do to another to warrant divorce or a split. Sometimes i see others who have turned their backs on God and walked away, taking back their own lives, to live as they desire, for their own momentary pleasures, to live by decisions they are comfortable with vs. abstaining, being self controlled, forgiving, etc.
It was a bad week. The culmination of a long stretch of time riddled with poor circumstances and hard times. We couldn't seem to land on the same page at the same time. I was disappointed and running out of grace and patience. (I'm sure there have been many times that he could say the same) I can honestly say, i contemplated every alternative way to make it end. Then i wrote him a love letter on his laptop, complete with bright decorative graphics and made an icon so he would see it the next morning at work. (according to him, it was so out of character for me, he initially thought it was our youngest daughter) It reminded him that i LOVE him, no matter if i am disappointed, hurt, angry or plummeting! It gave him renewed belief that our love remains/exists amidst the rubble of real life.
Who knew one little fun love letter would have such a profound affect on him. I say " I love you" minimum - once a day, yet, seeing is believing. I take care of him and myself and our life, family..etc.. that is seeing right? Perhaps we take "life" for granted... but, seeing the words on paper (screen), perhaps it was a guy thing, perhaps a (receptive) love language thing, but what ever it was. Fanning the flames of love is essential to it's survival.
Sometimes i think i understand what God was saying to the church in Revelation 2:4 - "This one thing i hold against you, You've forgotten your first love" Life happens and you may be managing with great integrity and perseverance, but do you remember what it was like, initially, in love?
I watched a young man pursue a young woman for close to two years, committed to courtship, he did not touch her inappropriately or even kiss her, yet, all roads led to her. He would do anything for her, go anywhere, no distance too far, no valley too wide! Protective, long suffering (she couldn't push him away hard enough), providing: she couldn't say she needed anything that he didn't materialize what ever it was. If she didn't want to see him, i saw his heart sink, you could almost feel the lump in his throat in your own as you witnessed the look on his face. He considered ways to make her happy, comfortable, amused. He thought about the future, what it would take to make it and worked toward it with noticeable advancement. He was constantly aware of her needs before she was, and most often offered to meet them. His was the most exhaustive pursuit of the object of love i think i have seen (besides my husband's : )
First love, do you remember what it was like? What you did, what you/he/she did while enraptured by it? There was nothing in our hearts and minds that matched the feelings, thoughts and/or desires that we had concerning the object of our affection. We would almost defy anything for him/her.
It's our responsibility to maintain the volume of energy in our relationships both with God and with our mates and loved ones. But one thing is for sure. "First Love" holds the key.
I don't remember when the last time was that i wrote him a love letter. He certainly didn't expect one on the week that i was probably the emotionally weakest that he has ever known me to be. What he expected was more of my fury, tightening of the ranks, nose to the grind stone work orders... What i resorted to was "first love". In my stretched to the extreme moments i realized, that if the tight wire snapped, i had no desire to let go of my first love, regardless!
Similarly, we must recall our first love feelings, ways and efforts, if we are to maintain our relationship with the Lord.. My letter said to my husband, no matter how i feel about the situation, the way i feel about you hasn't changed. That's all he needed was to hear that. What is God requiring of y our heart. Has it strayed, waxed cold, taken Him for granted, grown angry, impatient, spoiled?
First love: In all relationships, we must remember "first love" principles, if love is to survive
. . Remember
....It's our responsibility to kindle/rekindle the flames. Even an ember can be fanned to blazing flame. Who will take the responsiblity to fan to flames?... Many a cold winter's nights have bit upon a once cozy home because someone forgot to fan the fire before retiring to rest. Super cold times might take more effort. Someone might need to rise early or intermittantly through out the night in order to dispel the cold.
..One thing for sure.. even the bible declares that there are "times and seasons". So, this too will pass.
Now, whether we or our love for God (or our other covenant relationships) survive the season is another story.
...The race is not given to the swift or strong, but the one who finishes. In other words: There are not winners or losers, betters or lessors... Just finishers and quitters! We want to hear him say well "done" my good and "faithful" servant
...Don't kid yourself into believing that you will be considered a finisher in a luke warm state. A luke warm state is like a dying ember, it's just moments of time away from being extinguished.
...Be aware of "first love", no matter what season you are in. First love matters!
2 comments:
I love this!! It is in fact a true reminder of First Love. My husband and I have a secret code we use as a reminder of our love for each other. SHMILY, stands for See How Much I Love You. We place post-its in rare places. I once typed it over and over on a piece of paper, must have been 300 hundred times and stuck it in his luggage before he went on a long work trip. I kind of hid it. Didn't want him to find it right away. I wanted him to miss me and know I was missing him and after a couple of days he found it and he was reminded of our love.
Sherrie, your way with words is a gift. I am blessed by them so often. God bless you my friend.
“Life happens and you may be managing with great integrity and perseverance, but do you remember what it was like, initially, in love?” – What a great way to put that! I just had an in-depth conversation with one of the newer people at Freedom about what we, as a Church body, can do to revitalize our relationship with God and push forward as a Church in the area of evangelism.
I mentioned that, as I see it, there are 2 ways that a Church really moves forward: through a revival and burning passion for the lost (which usually fades away after a short burst), or relationships with one another in the Church body that strengthen our walk with God and allow us to sharpen one another. I think your post here describes this perfectly: it’s not that we are doing anything wrong, per se, but rather that we’re just doing what we’re doing without any passion or real forward motion. We have integrity and we have perseverance but do we really have that passion for God, that passion for the things that He has called us to do? A burning and unyielding desire to serve God from that “first love” mentality that you’ve so nicely described. It’s a constant effort on our part to keep that going but when it is, and when we walk in it, then it’s like nothing else in this world.
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