This I Believe

last week a friend from school shared some essays with me that brought me to tears. She is asking her students to write their personal "This I Believe" papers and as i was reading some from the website submitted by other adults i sat at the front desk and cried like a baby! In front of God and everyone who walked through the front door, i found myself moved by certain individuals' ability to put on paper their very soul and the essence of what they believe and live by. and .. i've been pondering since that day, on what I Believe .... just what IS my passion and motivation for why i do what i do ....


Conclusion: All i know and model in my life is based on The love of a Saviour. Parents and friends have made contributions along the way, but the core of my motivation and inspiration is based on the selfless abandonment with which Jesus Christ loves His children and even those who have rejected His love. We all live to hear the beauty and peace and acceptance of the phrase "I Love You" but when you hear that phrase, followed by a tangible expression, the marriage of the two solidifies the meaning. When i look at the life of Christ and realize that He WILLING surrendered His life to die so that i could live .... what greater exhibition could there be of genuine love? Romans 5:8 reiterates it like this: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." God's love for us is pro-active, not just a passive statement or occasional/random act of kindness. And perhaps this is where i get my Martha vs Mary mentality.

It's easy to say "i love you" when you know you'll hear it back .... however, Christ willing died and left our response up to us. His gift came with no strings attached but eternity promised to those who received it. And while there is no gift that i could ever offer that could begin to convey my love for someone to that degree, i have come to realize that This I Believe: i love to serve, and my motivation for such is that i live to love those around me. Did you know that a single pair of knitted socks contains 10,800ish stitches of I Love You? and consider this: a slice of homemade pound cake contains 120 calories of I Love You (before you add the extra ice cream). And the next time you share a "simple" washcloth with a friend, you will be sending her 459 stitches of I'm Praying for you as you go through your day and do the tasks that you are called to do. Love is Hard .... Love is Easy ... Love is a Real .... Love is Yarn ... Love is Time .... Love is a Song ..... Love is a Gift ... and is mine to give ...... the perfect harmony and beautiful DUET when shared.

I John 4:19 We love Him, because He first loved us.

Actions may speak louder than words but should never be a substitute - Loving in word AND deed gives Labor Day a whole new spin .... a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in baskets of silver.