Love Alone

“But Daddy, I love him!” Ariel shouts to her father, protecting her statue of dear Prince Eric. My child mind thought, oh how sad her dad doesn’t understand love. My adult mind says, oh sweet goodness you’re 16 and you’ve never even spoken to the man. That’s not love! Obviously, my concept of love has changed over the decades since I first saw The Little Mermaid. The last year, even more so. I’ve experienced God’s love for me in ways so overwhelming that it has fundamentally changed me. And as I spend more time focused on love and what it means in this world, I understand why love is what remains, and why it matters so much. It’s not just a feeling for a pretty face or a delicious dessert. Love is action; it’s sacrifice, selflessness, and beauty in motion. “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

The tattoo I chose is something that’s been brewing in my heart for years, based on a Switchfoot song, Love Alone is Worth the Fight. And it is a fight sometimes, isn’t it?

Sometimes love is hard. Sometimes loving requires sacrificing yourself. Maybe not your life, but your desires, your selfishness. Real love is putting someone else’s needs above your own. My friends have been such amazing examples of love, sacrificing their time to help me adjust to our new normal. I’ve had friends clean my house, others bring food, some spend time with me talking and helping me find normal again, others have watched my children, and the list goes on. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

Love alone is worth the fight.

Loving our little Wonder Woman is a fight. I’m not saying she’s hard to love, look at her face, it is the sweetest! But opening yourself up to the eventual struggle and hurt, the unknown, that’s a fight. At her two month appointment I had to fill out the development check list and was confronted with how much our little girl is already falling behind in terms of development, it was hard and I sat watery eyed in the waiting room being forced to process this reality yet again. Loving her with our entire hearts knowing that they will be broken, that’s a fight. But love is worth it. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…” 1 John 4:18a

Love alone is worth the fight.

Life has become overwhelming. All parents know that being outnumbered by your kids is hard; having a preschooler, toddler, and newborn in the house is hard (in case you didn’t know, our kids are almost 4, 2, and 3 months– we might be crazy). Being needed by 3 kids, bouncing around from need to need to need with barely a moment alone, listening to 3 kids cry at once because of hurt feelings, spilled milk, and a pacifier that’s been spit out again, that’s borderline insanity. We’re not some stellar parenting gurus, but we are trying to fill our house with love and grace, because we all need it. We are teaching our sons that love is what’s most important in this world. We are being forced to live it out. One day they will grow up and it is my prayer that they understand this verse because they’ve lived it with us, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:1

I cannot tell you the number of people who are praying for our family, I’ve lost count. How amazing! Some people around us are able to show their love with gifts, food, and help. Others have been just as actively involved in showing us love by covering us in prayer. I know that they are having a positive impact on my family. I know that adjusting, bonding, strength for my family, more sleep, and health for my daughter are all being prayed for, and I am already seeing those prayers answered. Thank you for choosing to show your love in action by praying for us. It’s easy to forget that even though the tangible acts of service are incredibly helpful, prayer is still the most powerful thing you can do.

Mighty waters cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be utterly scorned. Song of Solomon 8:7

Prayer requests: Wonder Woman’s upcoming surgery, strength and health for our family (my husband and I have been running on fumes and have been especially susceptible to sickness because of it), and wisdom in our decision making.

**I still love The Little Mermaid even though I now see her for the overly dramatic teenager she is, and I can still belt every line of Part of Your World with the same passion as my 7 year old self.