Toy Stories: Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head — Beauty and Mystery vs. Boring and Monotonous - Friday
Today’s Verse
Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (ESV)
“Hello! You must be Connor,” he smiled. “Come on in!”
Ed lived in Hillsboro Village, an area of Nashville where I first worked as a loan officer. The house was nothing special, but the property value made him the perfect candidate for a home equity line of credit, my specialty at the time.
“Linda’s excited to meet you,” he said as we made our way into the kitchen to sign the closing documents. “Oh, yeah. I’m excited to meet her!” I said nonchalantly, having only ever spoken to them on the phone. Ed left the room and returned a few moments later, pushing a woman in a wheelchair.
“N..nice to meet…meet you…” she said with a slurred, labored delivery. I smiled, doing my best to carry on as normal. “It’s nice to finally meet you too, Linda…”
Three years into their almost forty-year marriage, Linda suffered a stroke, leaving her almost completely paralyzed and entirely dependent on Ed, who became her primary caregiver.
Most lines of credit I did were for home improvements, but this one was different. I soon learned that Ed’s plan was to pave a path through the backyard so that Linda could be closer to her rose bushes.
“She’s going to love it!” Ed grinned as I notarized his final signature. “Linda, you won’t ever wanna come back inside now, will you?!” he teased, kissing her cheek. She smiled, tears rolling down her face.
“Thanks so much for all you’ve done for us, Connor!” Ed beamed. Choking back tears I searched for words, shaking his hand proudly.
“No, Ed. Thank you…”
Most of the time when we think of examples of marriage to follow, we think of are patient spouses who never raise their voices, retired couples on a beach still hopelessly in love, or an elderly man and woman slow-dancing together at a wedding. Those aren’t necessarily bad things to strive for—but they’re the kind of things most of us naturally want.
But when I think of the kind of example Paul lays out for us in scripture, it’s a kind of love that serves sacrificially—the kind that’s for better and for worse. The kind of love that gives ourselves up and dies daily for the sake of someone else. That’s the kind of love Jesus has given us, and the kind of example we’ve been given to follow.
Several years later, I stood on a stage and made a promise to Hannah to stand by her side for better or worse—because that’s what Jesus has done for me.
And as I spoke those words, I thought about Ed.
APPLICATION
How can you serve more sacrificially? Identify one opportunity to serve someone who may never be able to pay you back.
PRAYER
Jesus, thank you for giving yourself up for us. Thank you for the perfect example of what love looks like.
