"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.
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