To Love Like He Loves...

I've always considered Ace an excellent judge of character.  Well, for the most part (we love Uncle Evan and Uncle Titus, and can't figure out why Ace cried at the sight and sound of Evan and the sound of  Titus for a while.  Maybe it was their voices or maybe they were uncomfortable around him and he sensed that?  Who knows).   Usually, Ace is pretty slow to warm up to people (no clue where he got that); however, there have been a few people he really flips for.  And, interestingly (or maybe not) enough, those people tend to be people Mace and I adore.  There have also been a handful of people in Ace's nearly 20 months that he has flipped out over, though, and (with the exception of Evan and Titus, who are NOTHING like the others in this handful) those people have always been people we either already knew were annoying/evil/psycho/nasty or people who turned out to be prison-worthy.  Not kidding.  Ace isn't cautious about much in life, but people, he is a little hesitant about.  I call it perceptive, studious, and inquisitive, but others call it judging.  And it looks something like this...

But then there's B... B has been a part of Ace's life, from time to time, from the beginning.  B is a damaged, hurting vessel who is hard to love.  B is antagonistic, two-faced, demeaning, controlling, self-righteous, and is always the victim.  Interaction with B for most people can be stressful and exhausting, at best.    But not so for Ace.  Ace loves to be with B.  Ace adores B.  Mace and I have often wondered, lightheartedly, "how does Ace not see behind the facade...why (and how) does Ace love B so much?!"  We've never really given it much thought, because it really just baffles us.

And today, out of nowhere, it hit me.  Ace loves B like we are supposed to.  He loves like Christ loves.  Unashamedly, wholly, without judgment.  No matter what anyone has or has not done.  He loves.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34).

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28).

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse (Romans 12:14).

Oh.  That's why.  And how.  Ace has been a shining example to us of Christ's love.  No matter what B has done or does, Ace overlooks it and embraces B and wholly loves B.  Ace's feelings have been hurt before by B, but he goes on loving (I like to think it's not just because children are resilient).  Not because it's easy.  B isn't always easy for those of us who are quick to see flaws to love, but that's not what Jesus said.  He said love your enemies and those who persecute you.  We are to love as Christ loves us.  Whoa.  (Gulp)  He died for us(you know...because He loved us).  Love, love, love.  That's what we are called to do for B.  Easier said than done, but God never said it would be easy...but He showed us, and shows us how it is done.  We aren't always easy to love, either.  Probably harder to love than B, most of the time.  It's a moment by moment choice, to love the hard-to-love.  We must.

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble (1 John 2:9-10).

Thank you, sweet boy, for showing us how to love like He loves...and for reminding us where the light is...

arms wide open...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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  

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Feed My Starving Children

Today, we were reminded by Jon Weece that we are supposed to "fall in love with Jesus every day," and we are to "follow Jesus every day."  As a church, Southland is following Jesus' example in John 6 and we are feeding the hungry.

Here are some staggering statistics from globalissues.org 

Over 25,000 children die every day around the world.
That is equivalent to:

• 1 child dying EVERY 3.5 SECONDS
• 17-18 children dying every MINUTE
• A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 1.5 weeks
• An Iraq-scale death toll every 16–38 days
• Over 9 million children dying every year
• Some 70 MILLION children dying between 2000 and 2007

The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

This week, Mace and I will be "sacrificing a little, so someone else can gain a lot."  We are so excited about and encouraged and inspired by what is going on at Southland.  We are changing the way we think and changing the way we live.  We don't have income right now, but we have a lot of time.  So we are giving what we have.  And we are giving it cheerfully and with great love.

“We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.” 

- Mother Teresa

October 25, 2007

Two years ago today, we found out we were having a baby BOY!!

October 2009

 Mama got over her disappointment that you were not a girl relatively easily.  You are such a light, such a joy.  How fortunate we are to have you!  We adore you, darling boy!

Boo-boos and Compassion

It seems to be the case that the older Ace gets, and the greater his agility and speed, the more he gets hurt. Not rocket science, right? He got his first skinned knee (so sad, but harder on us than the boy for sure) the day we got to Kentucky, and, for the most part he has had at least one ever since...kind of like wakeful nights, early mornings, superwoman multi-tasking, early dinners, Back at the Barnyard, balls, Cars, bugs, ear infections...well, you know(I adore being a mama and a wife), they're familiar now. We have gotten kind of used to them happening and being around.

Well, we all got a boo-boo or two while we were moving(note to self, bedside table has drawers and when you turn it toward you, gravity has ridiculous consistency and has a nasty follow-through on the shin). Up until this time, Ace has been a child alarmingly unmoved by the distress of others...except his mama's. Kids would cry and he would make fun...mimic them and laugh(Mace, Jr., people!!). After his skinned knee, I noticed him finding other people's boo-boos and becoming visibly concerned, compassionately "tending" to us, and loving on our boo-boos while making the connection between his hurts and ours. It makes me so proud to see his new response to other people's pain.

I have noticed that with every new boo-boo Ace gets, he becomes increasingly aware of the boo-boos other people have. His 18 month old compassion has grown leaps and bounds through his pain. He frequently "relates" to us through his pain and with ours.

It is excruciating to see him get hurt. We guide him and he has boundaries (which he likes to test, of course), but life happens. He falls down the stairs all the way from the top, trips over his new shoes, the stroller flips and I fall on top of it! I don't ever want him to experience pain, but he will. We all do. I just pray that if he must experience pain, it causes his compassion for others to grow immensely. In experiencing hurt (which, don't forget, because I love him, I wish he didn't have to experience, but we live in an imperfect world), I pray that he sees the pain of others more swiftly and feels more deeply the heartache in another's heart. So, I have been thinking a lot about God's love for us and how He feels when we get boo-boos. It doesn't answer why late (or any for that matter) miscarriages happen, or cancer rips a baby from her mother's arms, or storms destroy cities, or why someone we thought was better is still very sick. I know He hates seeing us get hurt, but I think it helps out healing process, though, when we see someone else's pain and have compassion for them and tend to their boo-boos and love on them. Even if it doesn't even make a dent in our hurt, it can bring a little healing, comfort, and peace. Here's hoping my boo-boos, our boo-boos, can help yours.