Hard Things...

The last few weeks we watched a good friend die. I watched his family- his wife and 3 children- stay by his side, lovingly giving him words of comfort and encouragement even though their hearts were breaking with grief. Real love is doing the hard things- for him, fighting a relentless disease with every fiber of his being in order to not leave his family without a provider/protector. For them it was letting him know that he can let go and return back to that God who gave him life... telling him they will be okay, even though they know they'll be lost without him. Real love was sitting together with him by his bedside, holding his hand as his body struggled to take his final rattling breaths. I saw real love standing together beside the coffin at the viewing, the teenage son bending down to kiss his father's brow. I heard real love as his wife asked, "Isn't he so handsome?" when others could only see a cancer ravaged body. This was real love that I witnessed these last few weeks, not a Hollywood type of love that comes and just as quickly goes. Real love bonds even tighter during the hard things, and that is what makes it eternal.