Love
By Tom Barrett (02/17/04)
I am writing about love on Valentines Day; no big surprise. But the holiday is not the reason I chose this subject. Love is on my heart because this is the anniversary of the day I met the love of my life, Ana. As a couple, the two most important days of the year are September 4, the day God joined us as one, and Valentines Day, the day I first saw her beautiful face.
The 13th Chapter of First Corinthians should be required reading at all wedding ceremonies. (In fact, all you married readers should go get your Bibles and read it with your spouse right now.) It is commonly referred to as The Love Chapter, because it describes the qualities of love. It tells us that love is patient, kind, generous, humble, modest, unselfish, mild, holy, longsuffering, believing, and hopeful. And it tells us that love never ends.
Now of course these are ideals. There are not too many of us that show love in all of these ways. But I can honestly say that I know one woman who comes closer to these ideals than any person I have ever known. Her name is Ana, and I am blessed that she is my wife.
Love is patient. If you lived with me for a week, you would either learn patience or go crazy. Ana is one of the most patient humans on earth; she has lived with me for years! She is patient with my idiosyncrasies and foibles. She is longsuffering in her support when I juggle a dozen projects at once. She laughs at my jokes though she has heard them a hundred times.
Love is kind. Ana is consistently kind to everyone she meets. She has compassion for those in need, and sound counsel for her friends. If you ever meet her, you will find she has one of the warmest hearts you have ever experienced.
Love is generous. Love is unselfish. Most people are generous in some ways. Ana is generous in all ways. She is generous with her time, with her money, with her support, and with praise and encouragement. If she has a selfish side, I have not discovered it in all these years.
Love is humble. Love is modest. My wife is a very intelligent woman, accomplished in many areas. Her degree is in Electrical Engineering. She worked in that field as a Computer Systems Analyst for eleven years. She held her own as the only woman in her group, and was respected for her professionalism by the men with whom she worked. She is home-schooling our daughter in many subjects, including sciences and languages. Yet you will never hear her brag about her accomplishments; she’s just not like that.
Love is holy. Ana’s walk with the Lord is an inspiration to all who know her, and particularly to those who are fortunate to be close to her. Again, she would never boast of her devotion to the Lord. But she is very serious about the “quiet time” she spends with the Lord every day reading the Bible and praying. And no matter how busy she is, she always has time to share her faith with people hungry to know the truth.
Love is believing, and hopeful. In other words, love nurtures faith. Ana has had pain in her life, as we all have. Her first eleven years were spent under the heavy hand of Fidel Castro in Havana. Her beloved mother died shortly before we met. Her father died a few years after we married. But Ana is always full of faith and hope, trusting that the Lord is in control, and that He knows best.
Do I make Ana sound like a saint? She’s not. She has her faults (though they are far fewer that mine). But the love she bestows on me, our family, and our friends outshines her faults. Sort of like trying to see the light from a flashlight when the sun is shining brightly…
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