A Matter of Faith...

PUT LOVE ON YOUR LIST
by Carol Round

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Corinthians 13 (NIV)

Browsing through a greeting card rack at a local store, I saw this message posted at the end of the rack: “Put love on your list.”

My first reaction was: Are we so busy that we have to remember to love? Must we put it on our to-do-list to make room for it in our lives?

In our fast-paced “me-first” society, I guess we do. But shouldn’t love be something that comes naturally, without thinking, just doing?

My mother, who is now deceased, was an example. I never remember, as I was growing up, hearing the words, “I love you, Carol,” from her lips.

I don’t doubt my mother’s love. I never did, even if I was over 40-years-old before I heard those words that I longed to hear from her. She showed her love in other ways. She was a stay-at-home mom. She had a warm meal on the table every evening. Eating out was considered a luxury in the 60s or maybe our society was slower-paced and we had more time to sit down at the dinner table for a home-cooked meal.

My mother, also a seamstress, made all of the clothes for my sister and me. Her talents produced dresses that only love could buy.

Mother’s love was also evident in the teaching of responsibility. My mother posted a chore list on the refrigerator every Saturday morning. Until our chores were done, my sister and I couldn’t go out to play. Did we appreciate the lesson she was teaching us at the time? Probably not.

After my sister and I left home, our mother’s love was expressed in new ways: the sharing of recipes, making quilts for grandchildren, preparing large holiday meals for our growing families, and making jelly from wild plums and blackberries that we picked.

When my mother’s health began to fail several years ago, her ways of expressing love were no longer possible. The hands that had sewn dresses for my sister and I were gnarled with arthritis. The strong back that had allowed her to stand in the kitchen for hours to prepare a holiday meal or make jelly became bent with osteoporosis.

Eventually, she required round-the-clock care and went to live in a nursing home. I received a call early one morning about two months after she was admitted. The nurse on duty suggested that the family be called.

As I sat by my mother’s bedside and watched her breathing become more labored, I stroked her hair and said, “I love you, mama.”

She was not conscious but as the hours passed, peacefulness appeared on her face; the 79 years that were evident in the lines on her face disappeared. When she drew her last breath, I saw nothing but the young mother who loved her daughters.

Is love on your to-do list? Ask God to show you who needs your love the most today.

(Carol Round is a former Jay High School teacher and now a freelance writer who lives in Claremore.)