Unconditional Love

About a month ago, my husband and I got into a major fight. After almost 11 years of marriage, this was probably our first real fight. I wanted him to throw out a box of stuff that he saved from his ex-girlfriend and he didn't want to.

I shared this with my smallgroup and a Christian sister gave me the best advice ever. At first, it was tough to swallow but now I totally understand her words. She told me, "Grace, it's time that you start to love your husband. How horrible is it to always wait to be loved? If you can show him how much love you have, he is going to see what a wonderful person you are. He can only love you back."

Those words are so true. I wake up everyday and think about those words. How free would it be to just love? How wonderful would it be to feel the absolute joy of loving unconditionally?

I started to think about how sometimes I try this with my kids. But, unfortunately, I'm very inconsistent. On good days, I can do it. On bad days, I can't. I tried to be understanding to my son, who had a tendency to forget everything. So, I used to drive him back to school and help him find his things. After the 10th time, I blew up and threatened him that I wasn't going to do this anymore (more on the lines of, don't come back empty handed and that he BETTER find his stuff!!). I regret it now. I should have explained to him that his forgetful behavior isn't correct and that he should pay more attention to his things. Instead, now, he comes home with fear in his eyes if he forgets something. I don't want him to be afraid to tell me things (bad things). I don't want him to be afraid to share with me in case he makes a mistake. I just hope that it's not too late.

So, I have to remind myself to start loving more. Love during the good and the bad.

As with the box, my husband gave me the box the throw out (minus the pictures) and I did. Chucked it as fast as I could. After a few days, I went through the garbage bags and retrieved the box and hid it in my closet. I eventually gave it back to him.