What a blessing to spend the first week of a deployment with family. They provide all the right forms of distraction: laughter, busy schedules, comings and goings, and plenty of noise! This week was great, considering how much I miss my hubby. I will head home in a few days.
This week I have a break from my Master's classes. My next two start up on Monday. While I am enjoying this break, I am anxious to get going on my next 2 months of classes. This has nothing to do with the actual work. I am just feeling extremely impatient for the next two months to fly by. Oh, the things I would do for a fast forward button for life.. Or even the ability to nap for a couple of months. It's not that life is terribly unbearable without B, it just makes me so impatient because I know how much better everything is when we're together! How come when you want time to fly by, it takes forever, and when you want time to stand still, it races on faster than ever? My classes will serve as excellent distractions, and hopefully help the time to pass at a decent pace.
Random Pondering: love as an action. Lately I've been contemplating what it means to truly love other people. I believe this is our calling and purpose in life as human beings, but often feel that I am falling short. It is easy to love when we feel loving, or when someone is particularly easy to love. But truly loving others is much different, and much more difficult. Our culture seems to dwell more on the "feeling" definition of love, whereas God seems to emphasize the action: "Love is patient, love is kind, etc.." Thus, love is not just something we feel, but something we do no matter how we feel. I want to love like this.
More later..
I think love in action is service. We serve those we love, or even wish to love. Clean up the yard of a neighbor, babysit for a tired mom, make cookies for someone you know is lonely, and write letters to your husband who is deployed. He's serving too, because he loves his country, and what it stands for. You can love the homeless by volunteering in a soup kitchen, love the sick by giving blood. Service is always a sacrifice, but when done with a happy heart, is always fulfilling and rewarding. From the recipiants of your service, comes gratitude, respect, and often willingness to return that service. Not always- but to serve means to give of yourself, expecting nothing in return. And yet we always do feel good afterwords! Our perfect example of course, is Jesus Christ. His life was one of service. I've found when I am most upset or lonely, nothing heals my sadness more than serving others, or as you said, love in action.
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