Love in Action

I was asked today to think about a moment when love in action changed my life. I didn't have to think hard to find a response, though there has been many in my life, there are a few from recent times that stand out in my memory, that cause me to feel warm and squishy inside and think fondly on the most horrific time in my life to date.

Yes, I am talking again about Josh's surgeries.

At the time of Josh's second surgery our church community rallied around us in such love and support that I felt for the first time that I was a part of a community there, and not just a person sitting in the pew. They have been faithful prayer partners in our journey, they ask every week how the boys are doing, and they are a constant source of encouragement in the harder times.

During Josh's second surgery a group of them got together and got Tim and I a hotel room for the time that Josh was in hospital, allowing Tim to stay close at hand during the nights that I was in hospital, so that should the need arise I could call him and he'd be there in minutes. It also gave me a chance to make the 2 minute walk over to the hotel in the morning when Tim had come to relieve me from bedside and get a few much needed hours of sleep, a shower and a quiet moment away from the CCCU and the machines that beep and hum to the rhythm of Josh's heart.

These same people came together for the same cause during the third surgery, once again speaking love in our lives with action, not just words. Others in the church set up a day of prayer and fasting, and then sent the word to friends and relatives world wide, so that before we knew what was happening we had numbers in the thousands praying for Joshua, for us, and for his doctors. They brought food, they sent flowers, they sent activities for Josh to do in bed. One created a book, readying him for the journey he was about to embark on, a picture book that allowed us to prepare him mentally and emotionally for the rough days ahead of him. They came to visit us, they emailed, they used facebook to communicate their love and support of Josh, and us as his family. They made a difference in our lives, one that many of them don't even realize they did.

To say to you that love is something you feel, is true, but the truth in love is actually more about the actions. It's not always easy to love, sometimes love requires more than just a pat on the back, sometimes it requires our most precious commodity. Time.

So, when I think on love in action I am reminded of what a witness this group of fellow travelers have been in our lives, and in the lives of all those who have heard about their acts of selfless love.What better witness can there be, than people loving one another by doing what maybe doesn't 'need' to be done, but just something that will make the journey easier for someone else?

How many times has someone made the time make a difference in your life? How many times have I taken the time to make a difference in the life of someone else? Love, without action, is not truly love. My hope, is that one day I can speak into the life of someone through love in action just as these beautiful people at St. Paul's have spoken into ours.