THE other day I watched a wife look after her disabled husband. He was a surly grumpy sort who did not have the will or inclination to do something to get his limbs moving again through physiotherapy. All he did throughout the day was sit at home, filled with self pity. “How?” I asked myself” did she love this fellow who seemed such a loser?”
A heart-warming story tells of a woman who finally decided to ask her boss for a raise in salary. All day she felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon she summoned the courage to approach her employer. To her delight, the boss agreed to a raise. The woman arrived home that evening to a beautiful table set with their best dishes. Candles were softly glowing. Her husband had come home early and prepared a festive meal. She wondered if someone from the office had tipped him off. Or … did he just somehow know that she would not get turned down?
She found him in the kitchen and told him the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down to the wonderful meal. Next to her plate the woman found a beautifully lettered note. It read: “Congratulations, darling! I knew you’d get the raise! This meal will tell you how much I love you.”
Following the supper, her husband went into the kitchen to clean up. She noticed that a second card had fallen from his pocket. Picking it off the floor, she read: “Don’t worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! This meal will tell you how much I love you.”
Someone has said that the measure of love is when you love without measure. What this man feels for his spouse is total acceptance and love, whether she succeeds or fails. His love celebrates her victories and soothes her wounds. He stands with her, no matter what life gives her. He may say that he loves her to death. But he doesn’t. He loves her to LIFE. For his love nourishes her life like nothing else can.
Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa said: “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. Love them without measure! Think about it my friend, maybe you’ve got a son who isn’t up to your expectation or a daughter who’s going around with the wrong sort of company or a husband or wife who’s not up to your mark.
You wonder how you can love them when they fall short of your high expectations; just remember the other card in that husbands pocket, “Don’t worry…. I love you despite anything! Love without measure!
