story by Shelby Vezain
Love-the intense feeling or deep affection for someone or something. Growing up, I remember saying “I love you” to all my friends and family. Now a days, we throw it around like confetti, which is a great, but do we really know what love is? I can finally say after going through a few different situations in life, I think I have a pretty good idea what it means.
1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.” I love how powerful this verse is; to me it is saying that we only get to love one another because God first loved us. He chooses to love us and to let us love one another. Not only does He let us, but He encourages us many times to love each other. John 15:12 “My command is this: love each other as I have loved you” Wait? I am supposed to love everyone around me like Jesus loved; even Billy who never waves at me and Susie who cuts me off in the grocery store? Yes! LOVE conquers all things!
Some may disagree but I do think there are different stages of love throughout life. There is that first love stage when you want to be around that person or thing all the time. You find yourself staring and always thinking about it. When you get a new pickup or trailer, you look out the window and stare at it for the first two weeks, trying to convince yourself that it is really “yours”. Imagine if we loved God like that! Always staring at all His work on this earth and trying to convince ourselves that He really does love us unconditionally.
When JR and I first got engaged, I used to love to travel around to the rodeos and cheer him on. I think it was called the “honeymoon phase” or something like that. It was an easy love. I got to dress up, go sit in the stands and video my new fiancé. I was quite good at this kind of love, but honestly who wouldn’t be. To love someone or something when everything is going your way is a bit more doable. When the bills are paid, the cows breed up good and the kids are getting good grades, everyone loves everyone. Well, for the most part. It is when life throws us a curve ball that we must dig down and find that love.
September 22nd, 2018, a cool fall morning, picking up the house, listening to a podcast; I remember the day like it was yesterday. Such a normal day besides the fact that we had just found out that there was a new little love that was going to be joining our family in nine months. JR had flown out to some rodeos for this last weekend in the official rodeo season. He was sitting 14th in the world and just wanted to secure his spot to his 6th NFR. I find myself wondering why he went that last weekend. Maybe it was because I had told him I was pregnant, and he was trying to provide for his growing family or maybe he knew he had to win a few more dollars to secure his spot. I do not know, and I never will but one thing I do know is since that September night, I have seen my love sink and grow all in one season of life.
In 1912, the beloved ship, the Titanic hit an iceberg and split into three pieces. It took only a short five minutes for it to sink to the bottom of the ocean. On September 22nd, when the doctor told me my husband had broken his back and had no feeling from the waist down, my heart sank, just like the Titanic. Yes, my heart sank that day, but the beauty of it all was my love for JR grew.
Walking into that hospital room and seeing my husband laying there hiding his tears, hit a different heart string. It was such a moment in time when all we had was each other, the foundation of faith we had built in God, and the love we had for each other. Nothing else. Nothing else mattered in that moment. It was the very first time in my twenty-four years that I felt like I had no control over anything.
During a rodeo when we keep breaking the barrier or missing our horses out, what do we do? We go back to the basics. The basics of the event that we truly know with our whole heart. We need a little refresher on why we started roping or riding in the first place. That little light goes off, “yup! this is fun. Now I remember why I started doing this event.” When tragic hit, I found myself going back to the basics of love. The vows JR & I wrote to one another- “…through sickness and in health, through the good times and the-not-so-good times.” We had only been married for four years but I took those words very seriously. I wanted my love to shine through to JR through this “not-so-good-time”. I wanted everything I did to be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14 “Everything should be done in love”
Love isn’t about how many likes we get on our Instagram pictures. Love isn’t who can buy the most expensive gifts for one another. Love isn’t about who can physically do more for one another. Love is a raw and real feeling that when you aren’t at your best your partner is still right next to you willing to lend a helping hand however he or she can. Truly loving someone is loving them through the highest of highs; hugging them and celebrating with them when they succeed. Loving someone through the lowest of lows; crying with them and trying to keep their head up on the toughest of days. Loving is not always easy, but at the end of the day it is always worth it. So, my question for all of you is do you truly know what love is? Life can take us through some amazing terrain and on the other hand, some tough valleys and I feel that it is our job to find the growth in each one.
“Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13
