When Love Becomes A Verb...

What Kind of Love Are We Talking About?

As we are in the month of June and will probably hear the I Corinthians 13 passage in most weddings that we attend in the next few weeks, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on agape love.

When I read the "Love Chapter" and think of agape love, this is what I am challenged TO DO...

• Speak with the innocence, simplicity, and purity of a child.
• Allow words to come from my heart, bypassing the filter of my head.
• Give without strings attached.
• Acknowledge the humanity of others whom I disagree.
• Let others toot my horn.
• Surrender my "right to be right".
• Stop keeping score in disagreements.
• Listen versus preparing a rebuttal when someone is talking.
• Let God distribute punishment without my assistance.
• Look for the potential in people.

These things are hard to do! Anyone who knows me also knows that there's no way that I can be self-righteous at all when it comes to this stuff. My point in writing this is to see if anyone else thinks that there is more to the "Love Chapter" than just instructions for newlyweds? I think the Apostle Paul had a broader audience in mind. How does it read for you?

Maggie's Birthday

Maggie

Today is Maggie's 49th birthday (seven in human years) and we are planning to make it a fun day! I'm thinking about a walk around Lake Calhoun, the off leash dog park, and MAYBE a trip to Petsmart!

For those who are not pet lovers, I realize that this level of pet devotion is a bit over the top. I used to be one of those people. Somehow, a little black lab found a way to change all of that for me...

I picked up Maggie from a breeder in South Dakota as a 9 month old "started dog". She was the runt of her litter and not large enough to be sold as a hunting dog, but (according to the breeder) was one of the smartest dogs he had ever trained! The breeder was a dog show judge and when I brought Maggie home she was spaded, house broken, and obedience trained. Knowing my aversion (read lack of patience) for bad behaving animals, Maggie was the perfect pet for me. In fact, I had to go to obedience training to learn what she already knew.

The picture above is from a "photo shoot" that Maggie had when she was "discovered" as a dog model at a coffee shop in Kansas City. We were able to get some free pictures and good press from it, but no modeling contract. I still have to keep my day job...

If you haven't met Maggie, I hope that you do someday. They say that dogs are man's best friend. I'm not sure about that but I know that this little lab has a pretty good hold on my heart!