Well, yesterday was Micah's second day. His big sister, Abby, spent the afternoon here at the hospital with him again. She had a wonderful time. Like the day before, she was smitten. About all she could say was, "Baby Micah is so sweet" and "Let's take him home" ... "Let's go home...whole family, let's go home." For her, it was love at first sight, but that love didn't go away. She still felt just as strongly the next day. She couldn't' quite tell how to express this love appropriately. Her expression of choice was to rub her cheek against his face and then kiss his head. She was literally overjoyed. To say he had no idea what was coming is a major understatement. Abby was just captivated to be with him. She would stare, do the lines quoted about, rub his face against her, and order everyone around the room to hold him. It was pure, raw, unorchestrated, authentic, genuine, heart-felt love. The kind of love people dream about experiencing and spend their lives chasing.
I learned some things watching my 3 year old over the last 2 days -- I learned some things about love and God and being a part of the Kingdom. Scattered all through the scriptures are these references to Christians being "brothers and sisters." When sinful people turn from sin and turn to God, they not only get connected to God, they get connected to his people. They gain not only a relationship with God, they gain relationships with all of God's people. Masterfully, God chose to help us understand that by the imagery of the family - brothers and sisters. I knew that in my head, but after watching Abby and Micah, I now know more of that in my heart. What if we, Christians, treated each other like Abby's been treating Micah? Not the face rubbing part (that might get really strange!) or the "so sweet" part, but the genuine, raw, self-sacrificing love. What if we loved each other that way? All too often we fight over dumb things, pretend like everything is fine, and tend more to our own needs than each other's. But what if that changed and we genuinely loved each other more than ourselves? I can only imagine how God would be honored and how much greater his kingdom would spread. Let's pursue that together, brothers and sisters!
"By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - Jesus (Jn 13:35)
