Love by Listening and Learning

If you are like me, you are facing this Monday with a very perspective than last Monday.

COVID-19 has prompted calls for action that I have not previously experienced. We are walking a path we haven't walked before.

That said, here are two ideas that have been growing in my mind for what it looks like to "let all you do be done in love" in the midst of COVID-19.

First, listen to others.

My ideas of what this virus means have been changing. My personal risk (and my family's) is not high. But when I have heard the hearts of those who are in an extremely vulnerable position ... or are caring for those who are, my perspective on what it means to act in love have changed.

It has helped me ask this kind of question: "If I were the one caring for a child on immuno-suppression medication, how much would I want others to act with conservative, protective, proactive care within the community?"

Listening is also a way of caring for others in a season where some people are facing loneliness like never before. Asking for neighbors to reach out if they needed help or prayers has already created connections and shared stories that I didn't have before.

Second, be a learner.

Since much of what we are experiencing is new (new virus, new pandemic experience, new implications being realized each day), have the posture of a learner.

I'm not commending that you race to read all the panic-inducing updates on the spread of the virus.

Rather, listen to counsel. If your medical provider or government officials make a request or recommendation, take it to heart. If you see how your actions could be changed to be more protective of the vulnerable, make a change. Find trusted resources for wise action, and do not look out only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others.

There are some heart-breaking stories of the dramatic and widespread consequences of just a single person failing to heed advice. This is a time for humble hearts. Let's be good learners.

1 Corinthians 16:14 calls us to "let all you do be done in love." May the Lord grant us that grace.

To My Valentine

Dear Benjamin,

"All acts of love done in faith are small pictures of the gospel" (Miller, The Loving Life, 41).

You apologized somewhat sheepishly last night that you didn't have anything to give me today (but you're planning a dinner out next weekend).

But you were wrong.

You have given me many gifts today. Gifts that were costly, sacrificial, and uniquely fit to my needs.

Thank you for being on "wake-up duty," being the first smile and hug for our boys this morning, reading them their Bible story, getting them dressed for church, feeding them bananas.

Thank you for starting the car early, so it would be warm and ready to go to church.

Thank you for laboring to make the Sunday dash out the door as smooth and peaceful as possible... wrestling shoes onto wiggling feet, hats onto heads, mittens onto fingers, buckles on carseats, kisses on noses.

Thank you for praying as we drove, for asking God's help that we would each hear from Him and seek Him today.

Thank you for worshiping in spirit and in truth as we sang in church, for helping our big boy sit quietly, for giving him paper and pencils when he got fidgety, for escorting him up to his Sunday school classroom.

Thank you for holding my hand while we drove home, for sharing about your ministry (amid excited interruptions from the backseat), and for helping everyone get settled for naps.

"When I was explaining to a man I was discipling how death is the center of love, he recoiled from the thought. Then he laughed and said, 'Loving my wife with a dying love is like asking me to drown myself in a bowl of water on the kitchen table.' To put energy into the dying of self feels lousy. That is one of the many feelings of authentic love" (The Loving Life, 42).

Thank you for picking up your cross daily and following Jesus. Thank you for dying to self to love me.

Happy Valentine's Day.
I love you.