A couple from our church says God brought the two of them together so He could get a good laugh in every once in a while since they're polar opposites: Venus and Mars learning to meet on Earth. Dr. Gary Chapman's course on the five love languages revealed they give and receive love differently. From what I've seen through the years, I think this couple is more the rule than the exception, since God uses our relationships as the fire over which He hammers us into His divine likeness.
One Saturday morning shortly after Tom and I first married, he went to McDonald's to get us breakfast (act of love). I told him what I wanted before he left (not an Egg McMuffin - his favorite). He returned smiling and handed me one of the two Egg McMuffins from the bag. World War III commenced before 9:00 a.m. You can imagine this scene in the drama of a newly forming marriage. To me that Egg McMuffin symbolized the honeymoon was over since he obviously didn't care WHAT I wanted for breakfast. I envisioned a future filled with gifts I couldn't appreciate. Why? Why? Could I only like what he liked? Hadn't he listened? Didn't he care? Did he think I should give the famous Egg McMuffin another try in order to acquire a taste for it to simplify future breakfast orders at McDonald's? We've long moved past the great Egg McMuffin Crisis of 1983, thanks to God and cell phones, but of course, years of other more serious issues have stretched and shaped our love and marriage. I've done my part to cause trouble and grief (though nothing as serious as messing up a breakfast order) so the Lord could hammer on Tom a bit, too.
The Egg McMuffin story made me think of our cat, Polly Two-Toes, who regularly brought us baby rabbits and squirrels, a mouse, and small birds and insisted we take them. Someone informed me that these were her "cat love language" gifts to us so I tried not to gag in front of her, realizing her intentions were good and her resources limited. Try to remember this could be true with many people during this gift-giving season. Someone may express love to you in ways you don't recognize or even appreciate. If you open a box and see a gaudy sweater or nose hair trimmer, just remember the giver probably had loving intentions but may be a "few fries short of a Happy Meal" in the gift-giving department.
A one-size-fits-all package directly from God's hands arrived in Bethlehem one night. Inside the swaddling wrapper lay a helpless baby Who encased Love. Because a young girl and a simple carpenter carried the Gift, Bethlehem had no room for Him. As Jesus grew, He didn't meet the Jewish leaders' wish-list for a warrior to free them from their external enemies so they rejected Him. God's Gift spoke all the love languages equally well: He touched the lowliest lepers, spent quality time with close friends, served His followers by washing their feet, gave bread and fish to hungry crowds, and preached encouragement and hope to oppressed people. In spite of all His giving, scoffers cursed Him as He died the only death that could buy their eternal life. May we stop a while at the manger where the Light of Love lay wrapped in swaddling cloths, surrounded by angels and amazed shepherds. It's the perfect place to fall in love with our Savior again for everything He has become to us.
Father, thank You for speaking our language on our level and at our needs. May we clear the calendar to spend time in Your Presence and loving you in return for the amazing ways You love us. Teach us to speak Your love language to other people, especially this time of year. Make us gracious, thoughtful givers and gracious, thoughtful receivers. Lord Jesus, thank You for the many gifts You've given us we'll never fully appreciate until we're with You in heaven. Show us how to spread the good news and other gifts You intended for us to share.
"The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning." Isaiah 50:4
"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love." Revelation 2:4
"See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you." Isaiah 60:2
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