The alarm had been set, but what woke me were his panicked words…

“Alyssa, it’s 6:00am.  You’re late.”

I loathe mornings. Really. My body requires extra time to “warm up”, and my enthusiasm hibernates until sometime after 10am. I was scheduled to meet a friend at 6:15 that morning.  There was no way I could look presentable, grab all the things I would need for the one day conference we were attending, and most importantly…I would not have enough time to prepare my tea.

I don’t recommend relating with anyone under these circumstances. In my case: late, no caffeine, and rushed makes for the perfect storm…and anyone that gets in my way becomes an object of my frustration. Sadly, on this particular morning, my husband was the only one awake and he was in great danger.

He prepared my tea, gathered my belongings, and warmed up the car.  He was even driving me to meet my ride–so much sacrifice from him—for me–that morning. I’d love to tell you that I showed a tremendous amount of gratitude, but I didn’t.

I was frustrated. I don’t enjoy being tardy, making others wait for me, or being the punch line of jokes about punctuality. And to cap it all off, I don’t enjoy the early morning.  I NEED time to wake up slowly and let the mercy of a new day ruminate in my spirit (that sounds so wide and mature of me, but it’s a kind way of saying I’m not a cheerful morning person).  So as a result–my words were short and my gratitude was obsolete that morning.

I journeyed on to the conference–where the object of my attention was love–of all things.  It was great–right up until the point that I began reflecting on my morning.  I had NOT done what Love would have done earlier that day.  I had thought only of myself and my needs.  Love looks out and notices the needs of others.

As we drove the hour home, I couldn’t help but think of countless ways I could address the unkind spirit I had shared with my man.  Since I was a convicted woman, there would be no rest until I did what I knew Love would do.  Upon entering my house, I greeted my precious family and sought out my husband.

The conversation that ensued sounded something like this:

“I’m sorry I let you take responsibility for me being late this morning. That was wrong. It wasn’t your fault. I was wrong for heaping that guilt on you. For being short with you. Please forgive me.”

His response reflected the grace and kindness I wished I had shared that morning. But that’s what Love does. Love receives the wayward child, the grumpy wife, the social outcast, and the hopeless daughter. Love has arms always extended–awaiting our return. Love has margin for the night owls and chipper morning people! Love sees, hears, knows, and cares about what’s happening in our lives.

So as Bob Goff (author of the great book, Love Does) would say, let’s just do what Love would do.

Love does.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8