Pastor Mark's message was great this morning. "God demonstrated His love for us..." (Romans 5:8). A demonstration is more than a feeling. It's more than a desire. It's more than a good intention. A demonstration of love can be seen or heard or felt by the one being loved. A demonstration of love makes a practical difference in the other person's life. So I decided, during the sermon this morning, that I would find ways to demonstrate my love today. Nothing passive or hidden! So here's what I did.
First, I took Karen out to lunch. Kind of a no-brainer on Mother's Day, but it was a good demonstration of love. It was something she could experience.
Then, later in the afternoon, I engaged Karen in a conversation about how we might change things around our home over the next few weeks. As Concessions Manager at The Falls (Cedar Falls' public swimming complex), Karen has to have things up and running about 10 days before her high school job ends for the summer. It's going to be a challenge for the next three or four weeks. So I started a conversation about me picking up some of her responsibilities at home during that time - like me doing the grocery shopping. (I thought about offering to cook as well, but I'm not sure my cooking could, in any possible way, be received as an act of love! There is an urban-legend in our family about me burning the hotdogs one night as I was boiling them. It never happened, but don't try to convince my kids of that! They all remember it in detail, and rightly or wrongly, all of them are highly skeptical of my culinary skills! So I stuck with offering to do the grocery shopping.) The offer was a good demonstration of love because it was something Karen could hear. (If you want to see a funny sight in the near future, hang around Hy-Vee and watch me wander ineptly up and down the grocery aisles looking for confectionery sugar or the right-sized can of Crisco! I don't even know what Crisco is used for! Kind of pathetic, isn't it?)
And finally, an hour or so after that conversation, I tried another 'demonstration' of love. I gave Karen a hug and said, "Just think, all of this work you're involved in right now is yours because YOU WON THE JOB! THEY WANTED YOU more than anybody else!" It took a few seconds for that compliment to sink in, but I think it did, which is what made it a good demonstration of love. Karen was built up by a sense of achievement and by my acknowledgment of her achievement!
So, I think I did pretty good today! Nothing spectacular. Certainly not on the same level as God sending His Son to die for us "while we were yet sinners" (Romans 5:8 again). But it was a reasonably good effort to demonstrate my genuine love for Karen. And in a small way, I reflected a bit of God's character today - His desire to 'demonstrate' His love. Imagine that! Me, resembling my heavenly Father. How cool is that?
First, I took Karen out to lunch. Kind of a no-brainer on Mother's Day, but it was a good demonstration of love. It was something she could experience. Then, later in the afternoon, I engaged Karen in a conversation about how we might change things around our home over the next few weeks. As Concessions Manager at The Falls (Cedar Falls' public swimming complex), Karen has to have things up and running about 10 days before her high school job ends for the summer. It's going to be a challenge for the next three or four weeks. So I started a conversation about me picking up some of her responsibilities at home during that time - like me doing the grocery shopping. (I thought about offering to cook as well, but I'm not sure my cooking could, in any possible way, be received as an act of love! There is an urban-legend in our family about me burning the hotdogs one night as I was boiling them. It never happened, but don't try to convince my kids of that! They all remember it in detail, and rightly or wrongly, all of them are highly skeptical of my culinary skills! So I stuck with offering to do the grocery shopping.) The offer was a good demonstration of love because it was something Karen could hear. (If you want to see a funny sight in the near future, hang around Hy-Vee and watch me wander ineptly up and down the grocery aisles looking for confectionery sugar or the right-sized can of Crisco! I don't even know what Crisco is used for! Kind of pathetic, isn't it?)
And finally, an hour or so after that conversation, I tried another 'demonstration' of love. I gave Karen a hug and said, "Just think, all of this work you're involved in right now is yours because YOU WON THE JOB! THEY WANTED YOU more than anybody else!" It took a few seconds for that compliment to sink in, but I think it did, which is what made it a good demonstration of love. Karen was built up by a sense of achievement and by my acknowledgment of her achievement!
So, I think I did pretty good today! Nothing spectacular. Certainly not on the same level as God sending His Son to die for us "while we were yet sinners" (Romans 5:8 again). But it was a reasonably good effort to demonstrate my genuine love for Karen. And in a small way, I reflected a bit of God's character today - His desire to 'demonstrate' His love. Imagine that! Me, resembling my heavenly Father. How cool is that?
And then after you offered to grocery shop...you took mom to see the float planes in Alaska? Just checkin. The picture, ya know.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to you burning the hot dogs, that happened.