180°

Love First

Read Let love be your greatest aim. 1 Corinthians 14:1a NLT

Reflect

She started it. I can’t remember when she decided to do it. She does it every day. Every morning. Before the alarm goes off. Before we get vertical. She says it. Even if it is raining outside or we had an argument the night before. She does it. Even if the bank account is empty and the bill collectors are sending us scare letters, she says it. Every morning. Every day. They are the first words out of her mouth. My wife, Rhonda, with no one else in the room but me, and she says, “I love you.” The first words I hear every morning. They shape my day. They have molded my life. There is no better way to start the day. She knows me. She knows every failure in my life. She knows every obnoxious pattern I need to change. She sees how gross I am as I grow older. She smells my morning breath and that is not something pleasant. But she still says it. Every day. Why? Maybe it is because she knows I am going out into a wanting world that day. A world that wants my attention. A world that wants me to fail. Maybe she knows there will be aggressive attempts to steal my joy that day, so she says it. First thing. It’s like she is saying, “no matter where you are, what you are doing, who you are with, or how life is going at that moment, remember, I love you.” I don’t remember exactly when she started it I just know she doesn’t stop. I don’t deserve it. She just decided to make it a habit. It’s changed my life. I cannot shake it nor do I want to. Those first words.