There are many opportunities to see LOVE in action, and a few will be revealed through the following paragraphs.

First the Scripture and then the scene.

The day had been one filled with joy.  It was a Sunday, one of the seven best days of the week, an opportunity to join together with fellow brothers and sisters-in-Christ.  In Sunday School, we were gifted with the opportunity to deeply love fellow believers who were grieving the loss of their child, and then we shared in worship and praise to the Father through the evangelist’s message and altar call.

This particular day was also one of birthdays:  our niece, our brother-in-law, our dear friends, and our cousin’s.  It was a special day to celebrate precious people, so we had a party.  It was a time filled with fun, with laughter, and with food and the opening of gifts.

As the night wound down, and as the clean-up began, dishes were washed and put away, ready for the next gathering.  Tables were wiped clean of residues that lingered from the delicious food consumed, and leftovers were packaged and shared for many to carry home.  Then came the opportunity to bathe the children.  First came the smallest one, a sweet little girl who needed a bath more for the foods she had splashed on herself throughout the day, foods like ice cream and watermelon.  After this sweet child came her older brother, a young man who just happened to have an upcoming birthday later in the week (and another party to enjoy and attend).  As he played in the bath water, we chatted about life, about his friends, and about his upcoming week.  It was a BIG conversation for a boy of four, almost five years old and his aunt, a lady of fifty-nine, almost sixty-years-old.  When he was washed clean from his adventures of the day (dirt from running in the field, filth from playing in the treehouse, and grime from stomping across the rain-soaked backyard) he was dressed in his PJs and eating a bedtime snack of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  That’s where we found ourselves enjoying a deep conversation about faith in Jesus, the love of God, and expectations God expects of His children.

It went something like this—

“Are you excited about your party this week at school?” I asked.

“Yes, and my friends will be there,” the four-year-old replied.  At this, I noticed his mother’s eyes roll a bit in her head, and so I asked:  “Does he not have many friends at school? and Are they going to attend his pool party?”

“Yes, he has a few boys who are his friends, who play with him, but he also has some boys in his class who are mean to him.  I am NOT going to invite those boys to a fun, pool party at our house.”

The little guy was listening (as children often do), and he said, “Mommy, God says we are to love our enemies,” reminding us both of the lesson found in God’s Word—“walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, . . .”

Yesterday was a day of remembrance, one willed with the decorating of graves, the placing of American flags on military gravestones, and of ceremonies to honor the memories of those who gave their all, the ultimate call of duty.

We drove across the county to the military cemetery, parked our vehicle, and walked across the street to attend the eleven o’clock Memorial Day service.  There was a presentation of colors, the singing of the national anthem, and a few who spoke words written to help everyone present—remember.  With each part of the ceremony, tears leaked from my eyes and ran down my cheeks.  Earlier in the day, we had watched a Memorial Day presentation on YouTube, and even then, the tears ran down my face.  Tears come easily when I consider the ultimate sacrifice the military gave for our freedoms.  Courage.  Determination.  Duty.  Honor.  Sacrifice.  These are the terms that best describe the men and women who wear the uniform.

After the benediction was offered, we walked across the cemetery, headed in the direction of my grandmother’s brother, my great uncle, a man I never met and one who lost his life at Pearl Harbor after he was injured when his ship was attacked as they tried to leave the harbor after the Japanese attack.  We walked past many gravestones, all military, knowing this was the place our bodies would one day be placed when our lives were finished.  Then we stepped the last remaining feet to Uncle Lawrence’s grave, and my deceased grandmother’s words filled my head, as I recalled the tears that ran down her cheeks.  “I remember the day we buried Lawrence.  All that was recovered from the wreckage was a small box of his things.  That was the last time I came to his grave.”  Grandma had spoken those words some seven years ago when we had visited her brother’s grave, as yesterday, on Memorial Day, her words filled my mind as I stood recalling his sacrifice, recalling God’s Word—“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”