The Greatest of These

We all know the verse, “ …Faith, Hope , and Love….but the greatest of these is Love.” This specific passage took a whole new meaning the summer before my sophomore year of high school. I had just turned 16 so of course boys and love were pretty high on my list of priorities since I was now allowed to date. One night after church, my dad and I went to Marie Calendar’s for dessert. After some casual talking over our cheesecake ( yum!) my dad pulled out two packages. I opened the card to find a picture of a father kneeling over his sleeping child, in prayer , with an angel outside the window with his arms reached out to protect both the father and the child from whatever evil the world may bring.

While just that picture alone moved me, it was what my dad wrote on the inside that made me realize how special love really is. My dad reminded me that he has been praying for me every day of my life, especially that I would grow and mature in the light of the Lord. He then told me that of all the gifts God has given us- faith, hope and love- the greatest is love. How true it that? It reminds me of the verse from 1 Corinthians 13:2, "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move all moutains, but have not love, I am nothing." It’s like the song from the musical RENT, Seasons of Love. Part of the song goes, “ 525,600 minutes…how do you measure the year in the life?...How about LOVE?...Measure in LOVE.” After all, love conquers all right?

Ok, I went on a tangent. Back to that night with my dad at Marie Calendars. He then encouraged me to seek a life pure in thought, word and deed. It was his hope that the gifts he had for me would help me do so and to remind me that true love is special. Little did I know at that time how special true love really was. At that point in my life I knew of love in many forms…an everlasting love from my Savior, a never-ending or changing love from my parents, a sisterly love that could never be broken, and a love from life-long friendships. I had no idea what else would be in store though nor did I know I would only have to wait patiently for 3 years until God would show me this new kind of love.

I opened the first gift to find a picture frame. On the frame was written,

“ LOVE is life’s most BEAUTIFUL mystery. It often comes as a surprise, filling the heart with sudden JOY. Selfless and giving, LOVE places the happiness of another before one’s own, It inspires with it’s PASSION, nutures with its GENEROSITY, and enriches with its SPIRIT. There is not limit to its magic. LOVE is ETERNAL.”

The words inscribed on the frame are so powerful to me. I kept reading it over and over and I knew that this is just what I wanted. I also knew that this frame would only hold one picture….of the man I would one day love, the life-long, selfless, and eternal sort of love. The frame sat empty on my desk for years… until I met Trav. I didn’t put his picture in there right away… for some reason I always felt like I would know just the right time to fill the frame. And one day, I just knew.

The other box my dad had for me was a little box. The kind every girl likes to see. What was inside that box would soon be my most prized possession. I opened it to find a ring engraved with a cross. A purity ring. It has never left my finger since that night. When talking with my dad he told me he knew that one day that ring would be replaced with a ring from another man in my life. I wore the ring on my left ring finger and all through high school people always asked what it was for. The ring was not only a remembrance of my promise to my dad, my Savior, and my future husband but it also was a huge witness to those around me. I still wear the ring but on my right hand now. And every time I look at it I am reminded of that night with my dad. It was after this night, there was a new addition to my nightly prayers. A prayer for my future husband, the one I had yet to meet. I prayed that God would prepare him for me, that he would help him grow in his faith and to remain pure in all he did. I prayed that God would prepare me in the same way and when God felt that we were both ready, he would bring us together. Whenever I say Trav really is an answer to prayer and the greatest gift, I truly mean it.

Trav and I feel so blessed to have grown up with parents who had faith as the center of the household and who showed us what true love really is. My parents are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary tomorrow and I can’t believe how incredible that is. In a world where there is so much wrong, faith and love can still persevere. Our parents have taught us both so much and because of them I know our home and our lives will be built on a firm foundation of faith and overflowing with love.

1 Corinthians 13:13, “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”