Love is a powerful thing!

This past weekend was a really special opportunity for me. My youngest daughter, Joanna, works as an esthetician, and once a year she attends a career convention in Arlington. This year she did something really wonderful for me, and for her two sisters. Joanna just got married about 5 weeks ago to her long-time boyfriend, Tony. As a special thank you for all the work we did to put their ceremony and reception together for them, Joanna invited the three of us to join her at the convention. Both Joanna and Tony were greatly blessed by the love and support we showed them during the last several months of working together to make their wedding something beautiful. Their lives have now been changed forever by that gift of love, a gift we very much wanted to give... without expecting anything in return.

Love is a powerful thing! Love can be the conduit for a wonderful experience in life. For me, this 3 day venture with Joanna proved to be one of those wonderful, unexpected experiences... and it was one of the nicest relaxing things I have shared with my daughters in a long time. We got to participate in some wonderful seminars, see new skin care regimens, sample new products, and even have a wonderful catered meal at the Sheraton around their huge pool and grounds, complete with live music and buffet. Joanna paid our expense to attend the convention. It was a gift from her to us, also freely given, with the hope that we would feel blessed. Well, we were. All of us had a great time, had a lot of fun, and had a chance to share. All this was ours because Joanna loved us, and she wanted to say... "thank you."

Loving someone doesn't always meet with success, but when it does, the results are timeless, and limitless. In our case, Joanna wanted to say thank you for the love and devotion, hard work and sacrifice that went into planning a ceremony and reception for them. Because Joanna lives in San Antonio, and the three of us live in the Dallas area, we planned the event to take place here. This meant that Joanna, Tony's family, and all their family and friends all had to travel here. Many people traveled, and only a handful of people actually live here. A Friend of mine traveled from N.C. to help, and her friend traveled from 500 miles away to join her here. Why would people do that? Does it seem strange to do this?

Well, we were the family that loved her so much that we wanted to give, to put the wedding together for them. We wanted to bless her, to encourage her, to help her. Her two older sisters did many different things to prepare for the wedding, giving sacrificially. I worked for hours gathering items to decorate, prepared the invitations and addressed them, and worked day after day with only one thought in mind... bless Joanna and Tony... do what God wants us to do in their lives. Did I think it would get me anything??? Did her sisters think it would bless them??? Well.. no! I don't think there was any thought of self in the whole experience of preparing for their wedding. God wanted to bless them, and we wanted to be a part of what He was doing in their lives.

Of course, there were contributions of many other people in various ways. To start with, there was the big financial responsibility of a wedding, which was shared by parents and couple alike. But there was a lot of work. Even my friend Claire, who traveled here from NC, and her friend, Gil, who traveled here to be with Claire, were a very big blessing to us. Then our friends from church, Dave and Becky, gave from their hearts as well; Dave touched us with his music and voice, while Becky helped us to decorate the church. Some friends lent us items to decorate with, and a dear, neighborhood friend, Karen, even made Jaonna's favorite cookies for the reception. What was the motivation of all those who helped??? Well... I think it was pretty much the same thing as ours... LOVE! Love is an amazing thing.

In John 3:16 we read, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life." This Scripture so strongly shows us that the nature of God's love was, and still is, to give. God gave His Son... that is HUGE! What kind of love can do that??? Only God's Love can do that. And when we receive that kind of love, when we trust in that love... trust Christ, and the gift He gave us, we are changed through that gift of God's love, Jesus. We tap into the source of Love and are made new. As in II Cor. 5:17, we are told that, "If any one is in Christ, old things have passed away, all things are new." We are changed through God's love.

What made us all want to bless Joanna and Tony?... love. What made Joanna and Tony want to do something so special to bless us back??? Well, I also think it was love. No matter how great a person, it is love that starts it all, and ends it all. When we tap into God's love, we have tapped into the greatest power on earth, and found the answer to life. Consider this phenomenon... God's Love... the amazing, powerful, never-ending love of God. It will change your life, it will change your thinking, because it will clearly change you. It has no beginning... it has no end.

Oh, my life is still less than perfect; I am still human. You cut me, I will bleed; hurt me, I will cry. I will always need to apply myself in order to have positive results in life. But this one thing I know... You cannot experience God's love without being changed. Thanks to the awesome, transforming power of God... we can all know His Love, we can all trust in Him for eternal life, we can all know for sure we have eternal life. (I John 5:13) And when you think on this amazing truth, keep in mind... It's Only By His Grace... until next time.