A Love Like This

I thought I knew the love my dad and mom had for each other.

He saw her across the way, her long brown hair, her hazel eyes, her beautiful smile.

He knew he had to talk to her.So he did. After four dates, he proposed. She thought he was crazy to do it so quickly.

He proposed a second time. Again, she thought he was crazy.

After two months, my mom said to her roommate, “If Tom asks me to marry him again, I’m saying, ‘Yes.’”

He asked, and she said, “Yes!” 48 years later, they love each other like I’ve never seen.

I thought I knew the love they had for each other. But, lately I’ve seen it so much more clearly.

My dad was an avid runner, until he got covid in December. He’s been in the hospital since fighting for his life, and is one of the strongest men I know. Our hope and prayer is that he can come home soon to recover and thrive.

I’ve seen their love by how my mom has stood by his side through it all. Through. It. All.

I’ve seen their love by how my mom holds his hand day in and day out. Again and again and again.

Eight months being in the hospital, being told time and time again that he wouldn’t make it but then rebounding each time, my mom being by his side, every fiber in her being believing that he will get better.

That. Is. Love.

I thought I knew the love they had for each other.

But, I have seen the beauty of their love flourish even beyond the heights where it’s been.

Sometimes the world can tell us love looks like pleasure, the momentary, the self-satisfaction. But, it doesn’t.

Love looks like selflessness, like holding your loved ones hands through the deepest tears you’ve ever cried, through the highest heights you’ve ever experienced, through the lowest lows you’ve ever seen.

True love is commitment, devotion, loyalty.

Love is of God.

And when we love like God loves, we experience a connection that is beyond this world.

A connection my dad and mom have.

I thought I knew the love they had for each other.

But, it’s far more than I ever could have imagined.

Love like this.

May we love those right beside us with love like this.

With this kind of selfless, committed love – a love like God Himself has given us.