Words of Hope: Love Deeply from the Heart
I have talked with many people who felt loved and close to Dad, and they often tell me how much Dad meant. Sometimes they say almost apologetically, “But I was just one of many people your Dad influenced. He was so special to me, but I was one of many.”
That is true and not true at the same time. The truth is Dad loved many people, but the remarkable part is that each person was uniquely dear and very close to my Dad. He saw each person individually, and he remembered the stories, histories, and lives of the people he cared about. Dad genuinely loved people from a bottomless well in his soul. He didn’t have to manufacture this love.
He deeply loved people and loved them often for a lifetime. He could see the good in others; he could delight in time together. Airplane rides, sitting in a gym, eating in a restaurant were all possible places to make meaningful connections. Each time Dad was out in the world was an opportunity to make a friend for life. Dad had a way of making you feel unique and infinitely loved.
One of my favorite verses we discussed many times this past year before he died was I Peter 1:22. It begins, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for one another…” Dad did this well; he had a heartfelt love for others that came from daily submission to obeying the voice of God in His life.
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have a sincere love for one another, love one another deeply, from the heart.” – I Peter 1:22
