Is love an item on a shelf with a price tag?
As our family tumbled out of the van and headed toward He..er..WalMart, we could detect the odor floating like a pungent haze over the big blue and white shrine. Making our way into the store it grew stronger and the acrid stench billowed out of the open doors where shoppers were burning an incense they did not own to the god of greed and pride.
Granted I am sure not everyone there was using credit for their purchases but I am sure we were among the minority who had the cash in hand to pay for our holiday surprises. But there were moments of temptation to buy more than we could afford. Yes, even moments when the children asked for things that we hadn't planned on getting, followed by brief episodes of sulking upon hearing our refusals.
Is it by buying them gifts with money you don't have?
This year has been a better year, yet we feel more circumspect about our decisions. We want to be sure that the love we portray to our kids isn't the kind that they will snatch out from under the tree on Christmas morning. It's the love that comes home from a long day at work. It's the love that bakes bread in the kitchen. And it's the love that gathers around the table and acknowledges God's provision for our meal. Daily love. Hardly artificial love.
How do you show that you love someone?
Bill and Glory
2 comments:
Amen to this one.
:)
That's one way.
It's amazing what one of these :) will do to convey the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by God.
There've been times when a genuine smile from an unknown sojourner has defused all the fear trying to snuff out that love in my own life.
There've been times after a smile when I've seen a worried face show signs of life and hope again where the being behind the face might have otherwise have thought he or she would drown.
I live for those moments. Smiling at strangers in Southern California is risky business. It's so worth the hundred scowls, though, to see that one ray of light and life and hope come to the otherwise drowning individual.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!! I've missed you guys and your thoughts, but no worries. I completely understand.
:)
Love ya,
Carol :)
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