Swedish proverbs 1.2

I kind of needed this tonight.

I feel called to my job. Most people I work with have lost their natural supports one way or another and have no one else to love them left in their lives. It is easy to love someone when they are appropriate or easy to get along with. It takes more effort and in true love to love someone when they are acting out or struggling with something difficult, etc.

I have said that I use the love passage from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7a as my basis for loving others…”Love is patient, Love is kind. It  It does not envy. It does not boast.  It does not boast. It is proud.  It does not dishonor others.  It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered.  It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices  with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Loves never fails.”

This has become my mantra as I learn to love others.  I didn’t grow up learning to love in my own home. I learned love through other families adopting me into theirs as I went through high school, college, and adulthood when I was a mess from my abuse, eating disorder, and depression.  I was loved when I was a hot mess and didn’t want to live and didn’t know how to interact appropriately and was often cryptic in trying to express myself to others.  I cannot begin to express my gratitude and appreciation for the families who loved me when I was at my worst and those who continue to do so.