Easter Candy and LOVE

So, I have to ask… How many of you woke up today with a sugar hangover after feasting yourselves on bountiful amounts of candy while you celebrated Easter with family and friends?  I will be he first to admit that I… didn’t.  In fact, I didn’t even partake of one piece of candy during the entire day… but it is not because I wouldn’t have enjoyed some… it was because I hadn’t thought that far ahead to buy some before Easter! 

As per our long-standing family tradition though, I did invite all my kids and their families to meet me at my local Walgreens this afternoon and told them that I’d buy whatever they wanted at the store’s annual ½ price candy sale!  They all thought it was a great idea… but alas, no takers, as it would probably be a bit of a big deal to travel that far from California, Oklahoma and Tennessee in order to take advantage of my offer!  Oh well… we’ll all be closer to each other next year.  We can give it another chance then!

Speaking of Easter… This was my first without Piper since I was a lad of seventeen.  I’ve been waking up around 5:30 every morning again for a week or two and yesterday was no different… except that I woke up at 4:30 instead.  But this time I decided to put it to good use, so I prayed aloud for a little over an hour and then caught a bit of restless sleep until I finally threw in the towel and got up around 7:00.

The little bit of sleep did help as I woke up with a start, in a good mood and immediately had the thought of Piper spending her first Easter in heaven.  Then it vividly struck me as I imagined what she must have seen at her first Sunrise Service there!  Once again, I was in awe and could only utter “WOW!”  And since it was still fairly early here, I was able to go out back and capture our own Easter sunrise as it broke over the eastern horizon and displayed its warm light through the lighthouse, which I had purchased for Piper a while back and placed near our little pond.

So, my first Easter without Piper started well but sort of deteriorated as the day went on.  It seemed like every time I looked up, I saw a lovely picture of her on one of the walls in the house… and every time, with every pose, those sparkling brown eyes, wide smile and joy-filled expressions captured my heart with a flood of happy and endearing memories.  

I recently came across a packet of photos taken at one of our youngest son’s birthdays and spread out of few of them on the dining room table.  One photo in particular stood out amongst the others.  There is nothing fancy about the picture.  One of our kids took the shot of Piper and I watching Jeremy open up a gift at the kitchen table.  But there was something about the look on Piper’s face that spoke volumes into my heart.  While I am sitting and looking at what Jeremy was opening, Piper was standing next to me with one hand in her skirt pocket and the other on my neck.

To me, it just captured our whole relationship.  There was a peace in the photo, with comfort and a special closeness that is only developed in couples with long standing relationships.  Yesterday, as I stood at the table, I soaked in the image of my wife and quietly heard the small-still voice of the Lord talking through my inner spirit saying… “She REALLY loved you, you know!”  And you know… I HAD to agree!  The knowledge of her love for me throughout the last eight years of her life is one of the main strengths that caused me to push through my own inner pain and physical exhaustion.  Even though she could no longer audibly express it, the glow in her eyes and the occasional faint of a smile was all I needed to confirm the infallible fact of our love.

At times like that yesterday, I continue to go back to the Apostle Paul’s prayer at the end of Ephesians 3.  In verse 19 he tells us how we will “know Christ's love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God.” (God’s Word ©)  I know that I have written of this before, but I’ll remind you again, that the word “KNOW” according to Thayer’s Greek Definitions in this particular usage describes a close and even intimate relationship and is in fact, the “Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a husband and wife.”

That was the kind of deep closeness or oneness that I saw reflected in that simple picture.  It is the type of intimately close relationship that God wants us to have with His Son and His Word.  And it is the specific kind of LOVE relationship with HIM that gave me the strength, ability, encouragement and determination to never give up as my dear wife’s condition worsened every day.

It is the SAME kind of LOVE relationship that He desires each of us to have with HIM as we face the struggles of our daily lives.  To me, it has proven time and time again to be the ONLY reliable and fool-proof method to have victory in the midst of what may look like certain defeat in our lives!  It is kind of like Jesus’ miraculous Resurrection on that Easter morning many thousand of years ago.  He conquered death and now sits on at the right hand of the Father, to help us conquer the impossible situations that we each face in our personal lives.

As for me… Well, I am sticking close to Him!  What about YOU?  It gives me great comfort and a warmth beyond measure when I think of the depth of love that Piper held for me in her heart… but when I think about it… that love can’t compare to the depth of LOVE that JESUS has for YOU and me.  Have a great new week, and as you do, think about HIS love for YOU and say with me… “I am expecting to grow daily in my personal, intimate and experiential love of Jesus!”