Love That Is Eternal

On February 10, 2013, the AOL news source, Huffington Post, shared the story of Sue Johnston who at the time was 68 years old and living in Houston, Texas.  She had been widowed for two years, after having been married to her sweet husband for 46 years.  Each Valentines’ Day, he would send her the most beautiful flowers containing a note with five simple words:  “My love for you grows.”  Four children, 46 bouquets and a lifetime of love were his legacy to her when he passed away.
 
On her first Valentine’s Day alone, ten months after she had lost him, she was shocked to receive a gorgeous bouquet addressed to her…from her husband, John.  Angry and heartbroken, she called the florist to say there had been a mistake, because her husband was dead.  The florist replied, “No, ma’am, it’s not a mistake.  Before he passed away, your husband prepaid for many years and asked us to guarantee that you’d continue getting bouquets every Valentine’s Day.”  With her heart in her throat, she hung up the phone and read the attached card.  It said, “My love for you is eternal.”
 
The Apostle Paul wrote:  “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
 
“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.  It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.
 
“And now these three remain:  faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13).  Valentine’s Day is a great time to be reminded that we must keep our love for others eternal.
 
Working together to win together,
Tyler