If you’ve been to a wedding, more than likely you’ve heard the popular “love passage” otherwise known as 1 Corinthians 13. This passage catalogs the things love does and doesn’t do, what it looks like and what it doesn’t. In other words, these familiar verses provide some good guidelines for what love looks like, especially in relationships between spouses or between parents and children (or, in this case, teenagers). While I realize and concur that we are not intended to add to scripture, today, I find myself repeating a variation of the phrases found in 1 Corinthians 13—love does not get tired, even if and when the person does.
Today, I am tired, more tired than usual. In part this is because overnight last night I was up doing battle with what I can only describe as a prehistoric bug, also known as a crane fly. While they are apparently harmless, they are also quite obviously practically dragon-sized at 2:30 in the morning. I was alerted to the presence of this little bugger by our cat, Zuzu, who acted as if she wanted to snag it from its ceiling perch. However, I have seen this same cat ignore smaller, floor-crawling insects, so I was not in the least lulled into ignorance but instead donned my knight’s armor and took up my sword (pretty much I put on my glasses and took up the nearest sturdy footwear with which to slay said dragon). It put up a decent fight, but, in the end, after several minutes of concerted effort on my part, I managed to declare myself the victor before heading back to bed.
I was beyond thrilled to settle back beneath my covers, but, unfortunately, I was not able to drift back into sleep. You see, one of our girls is not a fan of insects in any size or shape, no matter whether they are harmless or not. I knew this was a dragon that would send her into a panicked headspace of fight, flight, or freeze, and freeze it would be, accompanied by panicked tears and screaming. The autistic brain behaves differently and for my 17 year old, bugs freak her out. Knowing this, I went into research mode, wanting to discover what the dragon was and why it chose to be in my bathroom. Basically, I was preemptively trying to control the future should another dragon choose to make a similar journey as the one I slayed.
As I’m sure you’re aware, research and phone screens are not conducive to sleep nor do they do anything to signal the brain it should even consider sleep. And, so, the hours ticked by even as my mind ticked through other things I hadn’t thought about during the day—other unsolved problems my midnight brain was more than excited to try and solve in the wee hours. While I believe I likely dozed a bit, our faithful feline was also off her sleep schedule (and, for a cat that sleeps 18 hours a day, that’s saying something).
Sleep or no sleep, daylight waits for no man, or mama (or dragon slayer). Days like this are made for strong coffee and quiet time with God in order to salvage one’s sanity. But, as I said earlier, love never tires. I may drag my way through parts of the day. I may drink some extra coffee and say a few extra prayers. I may phone a friend in the early afternoon to help stave off the tired-driven emotions. Even so, I will not, did not, could not falter in my love for these two remarkable young women. I see the ways they empathize with me and check in on me, and I am grateful. I hear their words of affirmation and encouragement and am strengthened. I look upon their sweet faces and love them because that is an easy choice.