First, Love
Before you get mad, please trust that I didn’t trick you with a click-bait title, and hang in there with me even if it takes me a few extra words. Hey, I already warned you I was wordy. There IS a point, I promise.
Have I ever lied to you before? Of course not.
Talking about romantic love is too icky for me and I am definitely not going there.
If it helps, use another word or phrase you are more comfortable with – care, help, serve, minister, pay forward, show up…..
However, (and I’m sorry to break this to you, I hated breaking it to ME), all of those are ways we love others.
There is a best-selling book by author Gary Chapman called The 5 Love Languages® that talks about different ways people show up with love. That title and way of describing them are cringe-y to me, but the information is solid, I promise. I am going to mention a few of them for context – and if I get in trouble, just remember that I do it all for you…..
For years, my sweet husband has been sending a devotional or at least inspirational text every morning to a circle of people (that is still growing), and this looks like ‘Words of Affirmation’.
We recently found out that this is really a very necessary public service…..
He also makes enough for an army when asked to cook or bake for events and gives it all away so that could look like ‘Receiving Gifts’.
Can’t we just eat the dough? 
Of course we can.
(He showed up with this as I was writing.)
He’s actually showing up with these AND his true love language, which is by performing ‘Acts of Service’. He’s extra too, doing two at once.
So, that went somewhere else…aaaannnnddd now I’m distracted…..ok, bringing it back now…….
My truest nature is that of an empowerer, and that is how I love others, but that can seem disguised as other things, too. I have been told I was too direct, too demanding, too REAL, for expecting myself AND others to bring their best game to the table and show up for themselves and you know what? Most of the time, we do! That can happen during ‘Quality Time’ or ‘Words’ or ‘Acts’ but however they happen – aren’t those one of the greatest gifts, helping to create those “lightbulb moments”? I think so too, so that is what I do whenever I can.
We need to remember to look up once in a while. Just knowing that someone showed up for us is more important than how they do it, because sometimes it comes in disguise.
We also need to remember that no matter how smart we are or how much we think we know, we still get it wrong sometimes. The picture you see featured for this is really people showing up for each other after surviving a terrible ordeal, disguised as friends having a beer. All my love to y’all.
QUESTION(s): How do you love others? What is the most unexpected way someone showed up for you?
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