"In a recent message of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Music and the Spoken Word, a story was told about an elderly man and woman who had been married for many decades. Because the wife was slowly losing her sight, she could no longer take care of herself the way she had done for so many years. Without being asked, the husband began to paint her fingernails for her.
“He knew that she could see her fingernails when she held them close to her eyes, at just the right angle, and they made her smile. He liked to see her happy, so he kept painting her nails for more than five years before she passed away.” 14
That is an example of the pure love of Christ. Sometimes the greatest love is not found in the dramatic scenes that poets and writers immortalize. Often, the greatest manifestations of love are the simple acts of kindness and caring we extend to those we meet along the path of life.
True love lasts forever. It is eternally patient and forgiving. It believes, hopes, and endures all things. That is the love our Heavenly Father bears for us."
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Did you know that my brother painted my nails for me growing up, because he knew it was important to me? This is also the brother that carried my backpack full of books everyday to and from campus for a year because it hurt my shoulders. He also was the person that walked me to the campus office to finally get a handicap parking sticker. These are acts of charity.
I continue to receive such manifestations of pure love daily from those around me.
As an aside, we joke in my family that the list of husband duties for my spouse are a bit unique compared to most girls' checklists for a husband...mine include things like painting nails, willing to do all the vacuuming and all the tub and floor scrubbing, putting jewelry on me, master at all things zipper related, etc. (just a sampling of the necessary requirements).
"The Lord does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other."
President Spencer W. Kimball
No comments:
Post a Comment