I just finished reading an article titled, “What Remains The ‘Love Chapter’ for parents,” and it was awesome. In it, Cindy sigler Dagnan said, “If I have the gift of knowing which child attempted to flush the Hot Wheels down the toilet and which one pushed her sister, and if I have faith that somehow we’ll survive life’s emergencies, but have not love, I am nothing. If I save all my box tops for school and give outgrown clothing to the local shelter, and if I surrender my body to stretch marks and under-eye circles, but have not love, I gain nothing.” These are all so true, aren’t they? We can appreciate these moments, though, really by…1. keeping things in perspective, 2. laughing (a lot), 3. focusing on God’s love and 4. giving back the same type of unconditional love.
Love is patient when someone spills his/her milk, love is encouraging when your husband has a hard day, love is okay with the fact that your best friend just bought a new house. Love is not impatient or angry or snapping at your loved ones because something did not go your way. Cindy Sigler Dagnan puts it best when she wrote, “ Where there are sleepless nights, they shall end. Where there are diapers, Little League and dioramas built from shoeboxes, they will cease. Where there is knowledge of babycare trends, discipline strategies and boy-girl problems, it will pass away. Now these three remain: faith, lived out in my daily circumstances and instilled in my children; hope, of one day rejoicing with my family in heaven; and love, which covers over a multitude of less-than-perfect moments. But the greatest of these is love. It is what remains…long after I am gone.”
It is truly amazing what God can do once you let go of all the “stuff” that doesn’t mean anything and focus on the “stuff” that means a great deal. Take every moment and make it the best moment ever, use it to be the best you can be, use it to encourage those around you, and thank God for it because it is a gift.