Crazy Love

God shows up in the smallest of nuances and as he hangs out in those areas paradigms shift and lives are redefined. The impossible become possible and hope is restored.

Last year I had my first major surgery. I needed to have a double lumbar fusion in my spine after a slip-n-fall left me a bit humpty dumpty-ish. In the months that followed my still on-going recovery I had too much time on my hands. Time, for a person who over thinks everything combined with idle hands can leave a person like me feeling a little lost and a lot of stir crazy.

To busy my hands I remembered a book I read about circumstances, and the story of an out of work husband who took the idle time to dig deeply into the word, solidifying his trust that all things would be ok. I have remembered that part of the story the most. Therefore, I took the idle time I had and really studied the bible. I spent a good month on the book of Colossians learning more about Jesus and the renewing of the mind than I was expecting.

As I learned more about the character of Jesus, my heart broke open for people in a way I had never experienced and it has made all the difference. I learned how to love extravagantly and pointedly. I learned love is expensive, and our greatest investment. The other day I came to the revelation the only commodity we can take to heaven with us is people. Considering people are my favorite currency, sounds like a good investment to me.

Investing in people however, costs everything. It costs your time, your money, your space, your comfort, and sometimes it feels like your mind! The thing I find amazing in the investment however, is it really makes a difference. Last year I invested an offering for a friend of mine who was ready to end her marriage. She had faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the short time she had been married and was ready to cut her losses and move on. I don't know why I wanted to see her marriage work. I really believe in marriage. I believe in what it stands for and I believe in the power of relationship. I also believe in letting your yes be yes. For all these reasons, I started to encourage and believe in her marriage even though she didn't.

I loved this girl for a year. It was tumultuous, rocky and at times I wanted to beat her head or mine against a wall. Last fall after a move away, she came back to visit. When she got here she was splitting her belongings with her husband and working out details on when they would file for divorce. I remember her telling me she didn't want it to work and for me to stop trying. She got around my friends and they loved her too and as a united force with no agenda we loved her purely just because she was just her and worth our love.

She went back home for a week and a week later she was back up here. During the second week I had the amazing privilege of praying with her in my car in a Harris Teeter parking lot to recommit her life back to Jesus. It was AWESOME!!! The next day she woke up and started pouring out ideas of how to sow into her deployed husband’s life and remind him she was in for the long haul and she wanted it to work.

Yesterday, they celebrated their second year anniversary. It was a beautiful aspect to an amazingly beautiful Easter. My point however, is she and her husband had yesterday because a whole lot of people invested, including them selves. We prayed, believed, and watch God restore a marriage. The lot of us who loved on her will stand with her in heaven and celebrate the power of love and she will bring her own people with her. She will help restore marriages and she will have people sleeping on her floor with no agenda but to love them and have them know they are loved.

It's cyclical, love. I love because I am deeply loved, she was loved and in turn is loving more deeply than she ever has. Who are you loving today? Are you willing to count the cost of the investment and believe for a mighty return? It's not in vain, it's not wasted, and his grace will lead you through it.

Grab someone today, in a world devoid of genuine selfless love, show them the love you know. It could make all the difference.