12.17.2011

Meet Bob


I have a new friend and his name is Bob. I always admired him from a distance through stories I'd heard about him and from things he has written. But then I got to meet him. It took flying all the way to the East Coast (Washington DC) but by chance we met. He has a wild story, but in the end all he cares about is loving people like crazy. Bob inspires me to love better, to love more freely, and to do strange things for love. Here is what he has to say about it:

"I understand more about my faith when I think about my plane that leaks oil. We were made to leak as well; we were made to leak Jesus. We’re the ones who are supposed to love each other extravagantly, spontaneously, not just on Wednesday nights or Sunday mornings. And when we do, people might look at us a little funny, like there’s something wrong with us. But there isn’t. It’s what we were made to do. When we love each other extravagantly, our love gets on everybody and everything.

I know when I’m fearful, stressed out, distracted or hedging too. In those times, it feels like I’ve run out of love and what I notice always happens first, is that I stop leaking. My love isn’t as messy or spontaneous anymore. It doesn’t get on anything. It comes across as painfully polite, merely pleasant, barely tolerant, it’s somewhere in the mid-range rather that an explosion from a big engine and lots of blue smoke. When I stop leaking, I’m reminded that I’m not living the way I was designed to from the factory."

I love that statement that at times our love can come across as "painfully polite, mearly pleasant, barely tolerant". As Bob puts it, we are made to surprise people, do extravagant things, and go out of our way for love. That kind of makes life a little more exciting doesn't it? We get to think of ways to love people, whether they like it or not!

What can you do today to love someone like you've never loved them before? Until next time, meet Bob here and get creative in love!

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