4 Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. 5 It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail] I Corinthians 13 (AMP).
We often feel that once God has spoken within our hearts and we answer that call; that all the pains and sorrows will fade immediately away. We want the miracle to be instantaneous. In this I was no different. I wanted Pete to find Christ, be healed and live happily ever after. Soon I was about to learn that “loves endures with patience and serenity.” Endure!! The very definition is to suffer pain with patience. To add to it!! This verse is saying to endure with patience and serenity. It is like saying, “Love will patiently suffer with patience and peace” Patience was not the lesson I wanted to learn.
There would be those sweet and wondrous moments. Happy and joy filled moments. Pete could be the kindest person in the world. He did love the children very much. After all they had not come with instructions on “how to love.” The only instructions on being a father that Pete really had were those handed down from his parents. Though, he tried very hard to balance the strictness with hugs and days spent watching movies with the boys curled up in his bed.
Continue reading “How Can Love Endure with Peace, Hope, and Joy?”