Intentional Love

I had the great privilege of being in the courthouse earlier this week to watch as some friends of our legally added two little girls to their family. I had not been to an adoption hearing before and was considerably moved when each parent was asked the question, "Will you love this child?" Maybe all of us as parents should be willing to stand before our friends and family and say, "Yes, I will love this child in the best way I know how. I will provide shelter and food and moral guidance. I will kiss the scraped knees and wear macaroni necklaces. I will love this child through colic, the terrible twos, the endless questions, the messy rooms, the teenage angst and will rejoice when this child becomes a contributing member of our society." There is something so intentional about saying the words out loud.

Granted, people vow before God to love their husbands and wives at their wedding and plenty of people break those vows. We baptize or dedicate our babies and make a vow before God to raise them properly and many times we fall down on that vow too. But there is something about making a vow that is powerful and I believe is part of the reason that we are instructed to speak about our faith so often in the Bible. Saying out loud, "Yes, I love the Lord. Yes, I believe Jesus died for me. Yes, I will give Him everything" is powerful, intentional love. We should all be ready ALWAYS to share that with everyone.