I ♡ Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheese…

I met my wife when we were young.  Eighteen, to be precise.  We were working at Wendy’s Restaurant.  She was on cash, I was flipping burgers.  She loved the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, I loved those Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers.

I loved the way her uniform fit.

I loved the smell of her perfume.

I loved her smile.

I loved her.

I remember the first time I told her that I loved her.  I meant it, but I don’t think I had a clue what those words really meant. “I love you.”

Love.

Love is not merely about how we feel.

Love is not merely about attraction.

Love is so much more than mere feelings and attraction and the squishy, roller coaster-butterfly-tummies of love’s first kiss. Love requires a daily commitment, a daily devotion of one to another.  Love requires us to empty ourselves of ourselves, of our own self interests and put in that place another’s interests. Love is to daily guide each other to the Cross, or drag each other there if need be.

Attraction, like beauty, will fade.

Passion, like a fire, will subside.

Emotions, like the tide, will rise and fall.

But not love.

No, not love.

Love is constant.

Love endures all things.

For love is not bound by the fickleness of emotion. Love is not an emotion; Love is an anchor.  Love is a harbour. Love is a place to find refuge from the storm. Love is a tool that the Lord has given us for each other.  And the master craftsman has apprenticed us in its use.

When I was young, I made the mistake of mixing up attraction and love. Love and lust. Love and emotion. Don’t make my mistake. Know what love is before you say it.

We love, because he first loved us.  When we grasp that reality, when we grasp the reality that he loved us at our darkest hour, and that he requires this of us for each other, then we catch a tiny glimpse of what our love is supposed to be.

Almost twenty Years later, (has it been that long already?) we have grown up a little bit.  We don’t work at Wendy’s any more, but she still “loves” Spicy Chicken Sandwiches. I still “love” Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers.  And I still love her.

But now I know what that means.

And you know what? I have found that love endured through the storms will often reignite passion and attraction and emotion and occasionally, even the squishy, roller coaster-butterfly-tummies of love’s first kiss.

This post first appeared on the  One Christian Dad Facebook Page.