Discoveries 173

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
1Corintians 13:7

We can love, because God loved us first- inspite of ourselves.

After many months of trying to arrange a visit to our house with the express purpose of helping us with painting and renovating the exterior of our house, my sister and brother in law finally were able to come. We were so looking forward to it, but I must confess that there was a certain degree of apprehension, and at the risk of speaking for them, the apprehension was unanimous.
I was the youngest of my siblings, and my sister Jodi was able to "escape" the nest, getting married (that's another story altogether) when she was 18, and I was 9.
There was a half of a generation between us, and we barely knew each other.
Of course, we knew the facts about each other and our spouses, but really didn't know one another. There is familial love, the kind that people have for their relatives, because it's family,  but I'm not sure that we could say we "liked" each other. There is not a great deal that we had in common... especially regarding the unmentionable paradigms (politics and religion).
Lisa and I are quite a bit different from Jodi and my brother in law, Kurt.
Light years apart in fact.
Although unspoken, we determined, and I felt they did also, not to allow these different paradigms and philosophies to keep us strangers. We would be together under one roof for 3 days (Kurt's 3 day rule, not to overstay a welcome or allow stress to arise).
I desired to have the kind of love Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13 govern and nurture our time together. I didnt want our individual opinions to get in the way of relationship. Opinions can act as wedges that split relationships, becoming nooses that choke off life, preventing love and acceptance from flourishing
There was quite a laundry list of things we needed done, and because of my disabilities, I was not able to help. Kurt started some days before 6am, and persevered, sweating it out in the summer Tennessee heat, Jodi and Lisa, and even 10-year-old daughter Elli was painting and helping as things progressed. There was time to get to know each other in greater depths, and to love and appreciate one another. Kurt is a writer/blogger, and an excellent storyteller; we got to gather around and listen to a few of his great stories.
Kurt ending up breaking his 3-day rule. When they finally departed we had enjoyed each other for 6 days, and we have finally kindled a meaningful relationship. It was the longest we had ever been together, just us, and we all really enjoyed each other.
This is how love operates.
It covers a multitude of differences, providing a rich "soil" for relationship and respect to thrive, in spite of differences.
God is love, and real life is found in loving Him, and loving other people the same way Jesus did.
We hope to have a chance to visit again soon with Jodi and Kurt, not a perfunctory "have-to' visit, but an opportunity to share life together.