Godstoppedby

Monday, April 11, 2011

What Does Love Look Like?

I spent most of the weekend at a conference. I didn't stay overnight at the hotel as it is too expensive, and I need to go back and forth anyway to take care of my family. It is a bit draining that way, but I don't really mind except for the last night, when I get so tired and would love to just go upstairs to a nice clean room and crawl into bed and sleep for a solid eight or ten or maybe even twelve hours. So I stayed late the last night, chatting with friends and laughing a lot. "A merry heart is good like medicine.."...apparantly Adam thinks so too because he was wide awake when I got home and stayed up until after four o'clock in the morning. He thought it was good to be awake at that hour, and was happy to see me. I was looking forward to seeing him too, but I was looking forward to seeing him asleep. It is funny how God stops by and works patience into me....we laughed a little bit and I gave him all the hugs he thought he missed out on in my absence, and then sat up and waited for him to go back to sleep. He sang and talked to himself for a long time after I left his room.
  One of the conference speakers, Heidi Baker, is one of the most humble and amazing people on the planet. Her love for God and people is truly inspiring to me. No matter how much the conference staff try to gently move her into the next venue, she will always take as long as is neccesary to touch and bless and love on every single person who is waiting for her. She signs the book that you just bought; she listens to your story and the desires of your heart and she prays with you; she will not be wisked quickly away or be protected by assigned body guards...God has more important things for her to do than lunch with a waiting crowd. Her actions remind me of what Jesus said one time to His disciples who were worried about mealtime "I have food that you don't know about....what nourishes me is to love the people that my Abba puts all around me." (gg's revised  version)
Her message this weekend? "Love looks like something...it's not just words...it's actions... it's what you do." I want to be one who loves in word and deed, who reaches my hand out to a broken and dying world; but in order to do that well, I need to have the eyes to see where my Abba is sending me. Or maybe who He is sending to me. I want to go to Mozambique and experience what love in action looks like there, but I think the Lord will show me where my lunch is right here on Long Island. I'm sure it will nourish me well.