Prevailing Love

Today we spent the day at the beach with some of the children from CIPI.  It was a beautiful day filled with fun and laughter.  The older children loved jumping backwards into the waves, while some of the younger children learned how to swim in the pool.  It was a great way to build trust with these children.  We saw their fear diminish as we held hands with them in the water and they relied solely on us.  We felt very fortunate to give them what should be a normal day of fun for them.  

 

These children long to be loved.  They are hungry for attention and affection.  We hope that today showed them that they are special, valued, and important.  We pray that the love that exuded from us will fill their hearts tonight as they lie down to sleep.  We wish that we could save them all.  That we could take them home and show them what it means to be cared for.  However, we know that is not possible and that we cannot save them.   What we can do is show them how much we love them and make sure they know that Christ loves them even more.  Although we do not speak the same language, today solidified once again that joy, laughter, and love are universal.  

 

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, 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.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

 

Today LOVE prevailed.