{written 5/6/13}
Of all the things I love, here are some I REALLY love:
- my friends
- talks about faith
- flowers
- road trips
- coffee
- water
- walks
- adventure
So driving 85 miles, sipping an iced mocha, exploring the edge of a river, and walking around Corvallis and talking about Jesus while trying to find wisteria…. is my kind of day. and it happened, and it made me happy.
But I didn’t take any pictures of it. I watched beetles mate, tried to learn how to skip rocks (basically I just throw them), debated building a house in the bushes, tried to build a bridge out of rocks, and got my hands dirty. and it’s all locked away in my heart, stored up for a tired moment when I need to draw a moment of peace, pause and purpose. Just being. That’s what we did all afternoon. We just were.
As we were walking around, we started talking about where we’re at in our faith journeys, because that’s naturally what Bradley and I talk about. We started talking about love. and how that’s it. That’s how it’s all summed up. It has nothing to do with all of the stupid parameters we put around it… like loving with an agenda or goal or condition. It’s just love.
It’s easy to keep love on a short leash, to keep it close to us and safely guarded. When we love without abandon, we are going to get hurt. Not just at the hands of people who we love, but at the hands of people who hurt those we love. and that’s what it’s about, is being vulnerable and ballsy and brave enough to love.
The other day I needed to go to Safeway because Miss Charlotte asked me to get 3 cans of whipped cream and 4 medium onions. As I was preparing to leave, I threw out the offer to take a few of the girls from my church. They came with me. I got them a bag of cheetos, and we saw Phil Laeger. and I thought… that was probably the greatest act of love I could show them, asking them to just come along the mundane tasks of life because I want to be near them, and want them to be near me.
I think that’s what love does. Maybe not invites you to Safeway, but just invites you to come with someone. In life. My friend Elijah wrote this song that says “I’ll spread out my arms to reach you, I’ll spread them out real far. I’ll spread out my life to teach you, I’ll teach you what I know.” and I just think that’s love. Just spreading your arms out and saying “please, come in and come as you are.” That’s what Christ did and does for us, and what a great teacher for us to learn from.