This is Love

In the last several weeks, spending time with my physically and emotionally exhausted parents as they worked their butts off and weeded through a life-time of memories, memorabilia and material possessions, so much of it tied to great adventures and real-life stories and loved ones past and present...in the midst of all the work in their letting go, we were blessed to experience a most beautiful and holy thing.

We saw LOVE face to face.

LOVE in the gathering of family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to help where they could, loading machinery (my dad's garage was an outdoors-man's and engineer's dream), stopping by with food, calling to get together one last time, reminiscing, not wanting the relationships to come to an end.

LOVE in friends who were family, who showed up day after day just to be there and make sure everything was going okay.

LOVE in the exchange of phone numbers over lunch just so we would have them.

LOVE in grown men tearing up and holding hugs and buying mugs with my dad's name on at the garage sale so they could always think of him when they drank their coffee.

LOVE stepping in and making sure my dad's Harley and my grandfather's pitchfork and all the other things that mattered but couldn't go along would have a good home.

LOVE in the new owners who fell in love, not just with a house, but a home, and wanted all of us to be part of the deal.

We saw LOVE like never before in the baking and sharing of bread (and pizza and cinnamon rolls), in the serenading with kazoos, and in the shine of eyes and hearts and words...and sometimes the inability to say anything at all...of everyday, loving, beautiful and hard-working people whose children even cried when we all said Good-bye.

LOVE working out every detail no matter how small, and constantly confirming with peace and hope that "this" was the way to go.

LOVE loving and caring for one another in the beauty of friendship, promising and making plans to see each other again. And I realized, there is no greater thing! When we love and are loved, we create a place for God to rest.

...Or is it this? God has created a place in us that we may know Love and invite every other to join us?

This LOVE never ends. And never gives up. For Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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 keeps going to the very end...and beyond.

LOVE is what holds us all and brings us back together. Love never fails. ♡