I Wanna Live Like That

Well shoot, God can be pretty clever when He's trying to tell you something. Let me paint a picture for you...

Each day I go to work, I get there roughly around 6am. At that time, I have this one patient I go to see first, before all of my others. She's medically complex, and her condition is so severe, that no one can know for sure how long she will be with us. She has no intentional movements, does not communicate, rarely opens her eyes, and to be honest, we aren't sure what she is hearing or understanding.

Anyways, there's a back story. She has a husband. A husband of 50+ years. This man, who is relatively fragile himself, drives to see her every day at 6am, and stays until about 8pm. He comes in with his McDonalds breakfast sandwhich, two kids sized jugs of milk, and an OJ (because l

et's face it- he isn't home long enough to do anything other than sleep), alongside his entirely too heavy duffle bag that contains all of his notes he has compiled during his wife's hospitalization/rehab stay.

But what really moves me the most is that the VERY FIRST thing this man does is go to his wife and say, "Good morning sweetie! I love you! I'm right here. I'll always be right here," and he precedes to hold her weakened hand the entire time he is there. He says this EVERY MORNING! - to a woman he's not even sure if her mind is present, if she understands, or if it even makes any difference!

Now i don't know about you, but this relationship is something I strive for. However, up until today, I was only striving for this relationship to be the kind of relationship my husband and I have. I mean, who doesn't want that kind of love 50 years down the road?! Yet, today this relationship inspired me in another way.

The way this man loves, adores, and cares for his wife is the way God loves each and every one of us... except infinitely more. God loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life [John 3:16]. He wants a relationship with us even if we don't want it back. Although this husband is unsure if his wife is aware of his love and devotion to her, he continues to love her anyway, without needing her to express her love back. The same is for God. God doesn't need our love in order to love us unconditionally like He does. This doesn't go to say that He doesn't yearn for our love back. But no matter what, His love for us never wavers.

Just like this husband is, God is ALWAYS right by our side, wherever we go, even when we may not realize it [Joshua 1:9]. And just like this husband, God loves us so deeply no matter what we are going through, no matter what state we're in, and no matter the condition of our heart.

So yea, I want my relationship with my husband to be like this for the rest of our lives.. but WOW I want to reciprocate this relationship to God 10x more, each and every day! For God is L O V E and we love because He first loved us [1 John 4:9].

.

.

"No, in all theses things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:37-39

- Lindsey S Wiley