In His Likeness w/ AntTBri

Love Endures…

My eighth grade teacher, Ms. Moran told me “people will notice your smile but they’ll remember your dash, because when your gears get going it’s a heck of a ride”. While running track, I discovered relay races were my niche. Although I preferred to be first leg, my coach often had me post as anchor…which was perfect when paired with strong runners but that was not always the case and I was forced to master the catch up and then surpass your opponent’s effort. A few meets in, she then thought I’d be good at the 100 yard dash (easy peezy)…it was the long race that pushed my limits and caused me to forgo joining the cross country team. Love depicted as the Bible defines it requires endurance. My goal is to keep my exhibited effort, energy and expression the ride of a lifetime. I hope to inspire others in the same pursuit. Let’s journey on in the God kind of love.

Riding in the car a few weeks ago, on our way to Medford OR (which is 2 1/2-3 hours away from Crescent City, CA were we now reside) I asked my housemate’s daughters which are 13 and 14, how does your mom help you vision God? Totally thrown off and unprepared to share in my thought process they said in unison “umm, I don’t know”. The gears of my mind were in overdrive (grinding) because I could not endure another replay of Doja Cat and Megan the Stallion (and I like most of their music) but too much of anything is over kill. Note to self create more than one playlist to drive through the mountains (got it!).

Thinking I didn’t phrase the question correctly, I rephrased it and illustrated my point for clarification. “What characteristics does your mom posses that reminds you or makes you think of God? For example, she’s very accommodating, she makes the adjustment, listens when I talk and incorporates the things I tell her I need or desire into our treatment of each other (she’s relational). That’s the way God cares for me, He listens to hear and addresses my concerns and He’s intentional about giving me what I need. So I see God in every exhibited effort she extends to reach me at the point of my need for connection be it just sitting next to me as we watch our shows, her randomly coming in my room to chit chat, her making sure I have cherry Pepsi and ice cream when I’m sick, making coffee every morning or when she touches my hair when I’m upset because I told her touch during stressful moments help me not feel so alone. She helps me vision God in that she’s caring (she cares for me according to my need) and she’s sure to gift me with presence. Our independence, differences and even preference doesn’t impede our ability to coexist peacefully and that helps me fathom the love of God’.

As the girls were expounding and we were expressing how each of us image God to the other it occurred to me that this perfect moment would not always be. I started to ponder the significance of right now and the inevitable occurrence of tomorrow. It’s not the start of relationship that challenges me, more so it’s the longevity of relationship that causes me unease. There’s this internal question of how long will this last…do I have abandonment issues? Can I handle if and when things change? Wait, am I apprehensive about the presently new because it’s unfamiliar? Am I weighing it in the balance of what I’ve grown accustomed to? Is this why I have stayed, stuck with and stood in situations that were detrimental to my well being?

Maybe I’m most equipped for the hard places of life and love and I’m prepared (know how to deal with) for the absent, abusive and self absorbed personality. Maybe God is ushering me and you into something entirely different; opposite our experience thus far and we need only to make the mental adjustment. Yes, I definitely have to seek the Holy Spirit for the tools, know how of this new place and experience because length of time in a “thing” doesn’t equate endurance and I feel ill equipped for life and love in the current. In all sincerity I don’t know how to respond. I’m lost for words and trying to regain my footing.

Endurance As the Word ascribes (1 Cor. 13:4a) is the ability to maintain the correct heart posture throughout the progression of relationship (happy and hard places). That is the determinate…Love is (1 Cor. 13: 4 NASB). Agreeing with Ms. Moran yet? It’s ok, (picture my smile and add a wink). It’s my heart to continually gift you with the God kind of love and I’m actively allowing the Word to condition my practice, proclamation and positioning. We’ll get there and be the better for it. We’ve been graced for this opportunity and everything we need to succeed at it is within us. We simply need to follow the Word’s direction and walk it out.

Is this me, projecting meaning (purpose) or is this my persistence that you and I should experience and express life and love as God desires we have and give it? If that’s the goal then we should be inquiring does my current experience establish and encourage the standard of the Word? Has the lack of continued effort, unreasonable expectation and exploitation of our heart to give (the God kind of love) rendered us surprised, ill equipped and impressed by current acts of kindness and tenderness? Shouldn’t this be the norm? Have those prior to our new understanding really made it that easy for those experiences and expressions that are here/coming? Who cares? We’re positioning ourselves to coauthor the story the Holy Spirit is penning which is brighter, bigger, better, and the absolute best for our future endeavors and movement. There’s life in that! Love in that! Look forward to that! If so, we are graced to endure the process of life and love becoming more and the gift we give can help another fathom the very heart of God towards them. On your mark, get set, go…run the race set before you and rest assured your effort, energy, expression wont go unnoticed. If imagining God is the gift we’re cultivating then we’ll be well equipped to endure without fizzling, freaking and falling out? Love endures…1 Cor. 13:4 AMP

So as the conversation of being graced for this shifts in thought process and our subjective motors get going lets endeavor not only to be a blessing because how we display love is the derivative of how we acquiesce God’s love but fortify those areas that reinforce what love is not (see 1 Cor. 13 in it’s entirety). Be it our love towards God, ourselves or others we really need to contemplate what situates, settles and secures us in endurance. What facet of relationship prevents us from exacting the excellence of love as discussed in 1 Cor. 13? Are we fearful of failing at love? Is our promise of love fragmented by personal fears, past experiences, the many possibilities of sharing life with another that are unforeseeable?

It makes me wonder if life and love in Him IS LIMITED BECAUSE WE PREPARE FOR THE RIDE (DASH) and are ill equipped for the journey. Maybe life and love WAS NEVER intended to be just a ride or a quick dash but the enjoyment, fulfillment and manifestation of all things promised can only be discovered through endurance. Our depiction of love could very well help someone vision God’s heart toward them. Many of us have the tools to exceed the requirements of the dash. However we struggle or find it difficult to navigate cross country terrain therefore we avoid the depth of it. But here on out we’re stepping differently, appropriating the Word in matters of the heart especially in the areas that can potentially threaten our connectedness. So let’s be proactive and prepare for the promise of always…love. What an extraordinary opportunity for those of us who have been graced for this endurance. You and I are going to be great at it~AntTBri