A few days ago I saw a video of an elderly man, Bernie Mills, picking up his wife, Carol, from the airport with flowers and chocolate. The couple, who married in 2010, met on eHarmony after they both lost their spouses. Carol had just returned from a family wedding, while Bernie waited for over an hour to greet her with gifts and his affection.
Watching this video brought tears to my eyes because it is so evident that these two care for each other deeply. You can see the excitement in both of them when they finally get to hug after a two-week separation. This video really caused me to think about relationships, and what we value in them.
I read a book last year called "Love Does" by Bob Goff. The book, which is bound in a cover full of bright balloons on a vibrant blue sky, focuses on how important it is to show others the love of Jesus through our own display of love. I think this video helps to demonstrate this by showing us a pure and true act of love without other motives.
I've heard people complain about the task of having to drive someone to the airport or pick them up because of the disruption it poses to our daily routine. We don't want to be inconvenienced by someone else's trip or lack of transportation. It's easy to isolate ourselves and put the world on our own axis rather than focusing on how we love others.
That's what makes this video, and this couple, so touching. Bernie Mills turned a task that many dread into an opportunity to show appreciation and love for his wife without regard to his own wants. Isn't that what love is? Being there for people, even when it is inconvenient to ourselves. Turning a trip to the airport into a greeting that would thrill anyone is one way to pour that love into those around us.
What if we treated every day, every encounter, every person with that same attitude? What if we turned dreaded drives to the dentist into concerts with our kids? What if we turned those group projects that we all hate into chances to appreciate the strengths of those around us while sharpening their weaknesses? We don't have to show love through extravagant displays of affection that go viral, we just have to show people that they are always loved and appreciated.
The biggest lesson that I took from reading "Love Does" and saw demonstrated with the Mills' is that love is not a feeling we have when we grow close to someone, love is an action and a way to show those around us what Jesus has done for us.
John Mayer said it best when he wrote a song titled "Love is a Verb." It is an action, it is a display of appreciated, and it is an embodiment of Jesus. We should be displaying the love we so graciously experience every day to everyone around us. Turning menial and often burdensome tasks into a way to show that steadfast love is something we should all strive to do.
