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 keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects…(1 Corinthians 13:7).

Two little children are asleep in their bed when an earthquake strikes.

Terrifying

It’s a massive quake, the biggest on record for this area, and their small home is instantly smashed into a pile of rubble. The children are found a day later, alive but pinned in the debris. The seven-year-old girl has only one hand free, and she is using it…to shield her little brother’s face.

That’s love.

This particular story happened several months ago in Syria, but that really isn’t important.

I mean, it’s important to them, but not to my overall point.

My point is, stories like this are as common as they are heartwarming. Any time there is a disaster, the stories emerge of selfless courage and sacrifice as someone stands between a loved one and danger. It’s the “throw yourself in front of a bullet, or a bus, or a stampeding herd of big stampeding animals” trope. 

My mom had this thing she used to do when she was driving. If she had to stop suddenly, she would fling her right arm across her passenger to protect them. It was instinctive, and as I often pointed out to her as an annoying teenager, it was useless. I mean, is her arm going to keep me from flying through the windshield? Would her hand not better serve on the steering wheel, helping to control the car?

Doesn’t matter

This was a mother’s automatic action to protect her child, and it was born out of love.

Love always protects.

As you move through your day, I hope you manage to avoid earthquakes and hurricanes and rampaging beasts and crashing cars. But I guarantee that there will be some opportunity for you to protect the one you love. It may be shielding an innocent mind from words they shouldn’t hear or images they shouldn’t see. It may be controlling your own anger and frustration so that it doesn’t spill over onto the other. It may be kneeling in prayer for one who is endangered by their own choices and actions. 

Keep your eyes open–the chance will come.

And you will protect.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved