Traveling Love

My passport is quickly filling as we found our way back to the British Isles in Scotland!

I am continually reminded of God's enduring blessings in both the big and small, simple and profound.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13

One of the areas that I am just starting to scratch the surface of understanding is what love really looks like. True, authentic, Christ-like love.

This became evident once our plane landed in Paris and we were bombarded with the sights of self-seeking love lined along the streets. Being a bit of a romantic myself, the couples enthralled with one another did not bother me much... for the first 3 hours!!! It did not take long to feel a sense of emptiness and sadness within the cafes and parks as we strolled through.

While traveling, and since a large portion of our time is spent on public transportation I have been reading two books. The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman is a book that I can honestly say I had summarized through word of mouth but never actually read through a single page of it. (If you haven't read it yet, you are more than welcome to read my copy at the low cost of one Iced Americano ;)) Rather than summarizing the book and sacrificing the possibility of a cold coffee, I will refrain from pulling a cliff-notes and summarizing each chapter.

Rather, I will tell you how great it was to read this book while traveling with two dear friends. The book was such a quick read that we all were able to scan through it and discover what our own individual love languages are and how that effects each other. Interestingly enough, we all have different love languages and it has been a challenge to choose to love in a manner that is other than my own primary love language.

I have to choose to hug Dana and rub her back when she is feeling down or tired. I have to choose to make the bed for Ness or carry her luggage up the flight of steps. Just as they both choose to encourage and affirm me verbally even when I think I lose my airplane ticket at the security desk of Heathrow airport (That last one is hypothetical of course.)

The greatest example of love came on a tattered cross, in which suffering endured. Such great love, that Christ took on sin which He had not known. An understanding I have yet to fathom, but am eternally grateful of it's immeasurably outstanding implications of my life.