Memorable Moments

Me: I love you.

My wife: I love you too.

Me: I love you so much.

My wife: I love you more.

Where does this dialogue end? Who can outdo or surpass the other when it comes to expressing their love for the other? Love should always be growing in each of us and then directed outward to our spouse. We never stop finding words to express this deep-seated heart connection.

I would like to introduce you to one who has trumped us both in the "I love you." department. This is mom. She is 85 years young and has lived in the same three story farmhouse since 1959. She doesn't always remember so well and she repeats herself a lot. She has severe macular-degeneration and has lived most of her life with one leg 3-4 inches shorter than the other. She is tough, she is soft, and she is a spiritual giant in our family.

She knows how to make you feel loved. How do I know this? It is because of her refrigerator. Two of the four sides of her fridge are covered with pictures of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, cousins, second cousins and some relatives I personally have never met.

There are magnets from places that she and dad visited and there is even a magnet from a cereal box from the early 70s stuck on this fridge. I believe the name of that character was "Cowmumble". Do you remember "Freakies" cereal?

There are baby pictures, graduation pictures, and trinkets that some of us gave mom, grandma, and great grandma. She finds a place to display them. It helps her remember us and she treasures them as though they are made of pure gold. Because she treasures them so much, we know how much she loves us. It doesn't take any special prowess on our part to get posted to the refrigerator. We are on the fridge because mom loves us.

I think it was Max Lucado who once said, "If God has a refrigerator, your picture is probably on it. Imagine how big our love is. Then pause and consider how big God's love is.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19, NIV)

The apostle Paul ran out of dimensions when trying to describe God's love. He mentioned the following:

*wide

*long

*high

*deep.

Just think about those four descriptors for a moment. I suppose our love is somewhat flat and singular in its dimension, compared to God's all encompassing love. So, when we say we love God, it is probable that God whispers back, "I love you more."

Our love comes from God and is empowered by His Spirit. Jesus instructed his disciples and by transitive powers he encourages us to love. See if today can't be an opportunity to demonstrate godly love to another person. Maybe you can start covering your fridge with memorable moments.