LOVE

When I found out Cathi was pregnant everything I knew collided with an unknown that has easily become the way the world should always have been. I was becoming a dad. As our child grew inside her we did all those things first time parents do. We read to him at night. Chose a piece of classical music to play him inutero. And of course we read every "What to expect..." book on the shelf at the time. Often I would sit in bed with them and talk to this little life as if he could understand me. I still think he could. The strange thing was to discover that this idea, that this hope, that this little spark of life, had snuck out of the dark safety of my beautiful wife and into my heart. I loved him. Without knowing him, even meeting him, I loved him. Turns out that love is what he really needs from me now that he's 8. I have come to believe that love is what he will need from me for the rest of our lives together. Then, all things being well, that will be the heart of the heritage he passes onto my grandchildren. Love doesn't give life meaning, it is the meaning of life.

We believe in Loving God and Loving each other. The restoration of the world is utterly dependent on the love of God. As we learn to recieve that love, understanding our identity as beloved children, we become capable of transforming the world around us by sharing that love. This is the plan. There is no alternative. The hope of the world depends on God and His beloved children being loved deep enough that our broken aches are overfilled with healing and pour out on the world around us. We are called to a love that heals us in a wholistic way. When we love and are loved, our lives can be restored spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally, and eternally. Without love all that we do and are is nothing.