Love and giraffes

      Once, someone asked me the question, "What do you think is the one thing that makes a relationship last?"
     We were both sitting on a bench in front of the Giraffe exhibit at the city zoo and the sun was just setting. I had come to this bench in order to get away from something caused by a relationship, so this was probably not the best question to ask at that moment.
    I just looked out past the giraffes into the sky and thought a moment. What makes a relationship last? What is that key vital thing that keeps it from being a statistic like the rest?
   I smiled to myself and replied:
   "Well, if I'm honest with myself, it's the ability to become selfless, to put that other person first. To be willing to give up everything you are for them. Not changing for them, but becoming second. To love them as God loved us and commanded us to love others. Ya know, becoming patient, kind, not being jealous, keeping no record of wrongs and all that jazz. And honest, open communication. That's a biggie," I sighed, thinking about the day's occurrences 
    The guy next to me looked at me in a state of bewilderment. I just smiled, asking him why he was giving me that look.
    He shook his head, "I have never heard anyone ever say that before. You just looked so . . . convicted about it. Its just . . . wow."
    I found myself chuckle. I was honored and I knew it was all Jesus, but it was just hilarious to me that this would be the day that some random stranger would come  sit next to me in the middle of a zoo and start talking to me about relationships. Yes, I saw that he was interested in me, and he was bold about it, but at the same time he was shy. He seemed so cautious and unsure. It was cute.
    The only reason these words flowed so easily from my mouth as though I had prepared it a month before was because it was something that I found myself pondering on a regular bases. Probably didn't help me any, but at least it kept me steady on where I stood in that department.
     The guy, whose name was Matt, left a few minutes earlier. I knew it was a Jesus-thing that we met and talked, but it wasn't a relationship type- affair where the Lord brought me the "One" and we were to be betrothed within the year. It was just a time where we both needed someone to speak into our lives and Jesus was like, "Wham!" and it was there.



The reason I started this off with this memory, was because in order to tell a love story, you need to know the true definition of it. My love story is never to be completely understood until you understand Jesus' love story.