The Power of Love
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was August 21, 2023, and I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It was the day we were scheduled to move all of the contents of Hope 4 Lake Highlands, our ministry that serves those experiencing poverty in the Lake Highlands section of Dallas, from our old location to our new one. To save money, we rented a U-haul truck, and several of the staff and a few volunteers decided we would do it ourselves.
But it was August, and the temperature had been in the triple digits for days. It was miserably hot and very hard work. At some point I experienced intense pain in my left foot and took my shoe off to discover blood. I had lost a toenail. I didn’t have any other shoes with me so I crammed my foot, minus a toenail, back into my shoe and kept going.
At noon I received a call from my internet provider. My internet was scheduled for cut-off for non-payment.
I very arrogantly informed the lady that was impossible. I have a credit card that earns travel points, so all of my bills are paid by that card the day they are due, and then I immediately pay it off.
She said, “Ma’am, you haven’t paid your bill in two months.” That was when I remembered that, two months prior, I was out of town keeping grandkids when my credit card company called to tell me that someone had fraudulently ordered menswear in the Czech Republic with my card. The card was canceled, which meant I didn’t have access to the online account, so I had to try, from memory, to remember every bill that was automatically paid with that card. Apparently, I forgot the internet bill. I apologized and immediately paid the bill with another card.
I had to leave early that day because I had a 4:00 appointment. I took the back roads to avoid the construction on the major highway, but I didn’t realize I was approaching an active school zone until I was almost on top of it. I hit my brakes as much as I could since a car was on my tail and, as I crossed the line, a policeman jumped out from behind a bush and motioned for me to pull over.
I have heard of people who get warnings, but I have never received one. If I get pulled over, it is a guaranteed ticket. I got my guaranteed ticket for doing 26 in a 20, and when the police officer was done he snapped his book shut and said, “Have a nice day.” With shaking hands, I pushed the button to roll up my window, eased back into traffic, and shouted to no one in particular as I slowly drove away:
“No! I will not have a nice day because I am busy having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day – and it’s not over!”
By this time I was crying. No. That’s a lie. I was sobbing. Because my 4:00 appointment was to have my dog put down. My beloved Gretl, my dog of 14 years, had cancer and it was time for me to let her go.
I got home, still sobbing, scooped up Gretyl, and headed for the vet. They were wonderful. They gave me as much time as I needed to be alone with her. As she lay there sedated, I laid on top of her and sobbed and sobbed, with my head nestled in her neck, letting out all of the day’s pain out on her. And when my sinuses were completely clogged and I could no longer breathe through my nose, I hit the intercom and croaked, “I’m ready.”
When the procedure was done, I left the room and on the counter there was a candle burning, and a sign that said, “If this candle is burning, it means that someone is losing a loved one.”
I don’t know how I made it home between sobs, but I did. I got a text from a young friend who had been renting a room in my home for years. She knew about my 4:00 appointment, and she wanted me to know that she was bringing home barbecue because it is my favorite. I thanked her and told her, “No, I can’t eat.” She got to the house, and then the doorbell rang, and there stood another young friend, holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers. This young man served with me on the praise team, and we had also been on mission trips together. For the next couple of hours, I experienced a force greater than my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I experienced the power of love.
Love is the ministry of presence. Love knew that I did not need to be alone. And yet, love understood that no words were needed. Love in the form of these two young friends who came into my home to simply be present with me in my pain. Love sat with me. Love listened to me. And it was powerful.
Every Sunday, we set aside time to reflect on the powerful love called Jesus. Jesus IS love. Love permeated everything he said and did. His life ended with his ultimate love power-move: sacrificing his own life for our eternal lives.
As followers of Jesus, the best we can do to be like him is to make love a decision. Sometimes that means sacrificing our time, our money, and even our comfort to show love to another. I am so thankful for these two friends who became love for me that evening, redeeming what had been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
