R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Thoughts
“I love you from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.” ~Juanita Goodvin
To be completely loved by someone is the greatest gift of all. I am loved like that by my Mom. We celebrated her 88th birthday yesterday. Last night my brother and his wife hosted a party of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and other assorted relatives. Friends had been stopping by to see my mom all day, too. Absolutely everyone she cared about had heard the phrase “I love you from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.” That’s her signature phrase. That phrase always, always makes me feel stronger and braver and happier and more at peace and more loved and worthy than I could ever express. And my mom didn’t just say she loved me like that, she did things everyday that made me know it was true. She prays for me every single day. And it isn’t just me. It’s everyone at that party … and anyone else that came into her realm of influence. Last night she prayed for all of us that we would accomplish what we wanted and that we would also accomplish what we needed. When you have one person in your life who loves you like that, it changes your world. I am going to try today to love others like my Mom loves me. Wanting the best for them. Encouraging them. Laughing with them. Sacrificing for them. If we all loved like that the world would be a better place. And if we tried to love our ex-husbands like that and they didn’t respond, that’s their loss, not ours. Our job is to love, period. “Throw our bread upon the waters.” What happens to it after that is out of our hands. But I have a feeling if we are loving like we should, when we’re 88, there will be lots of people who are so glad that we have been in their lives. Last night my Mom and Dad and I talked late about memories and experiences and laughed. And just before bed, she opened my brother’s old bedroom door where I was sleeping and said, “I might not live 'til I’m 89, but today was a wonderful wonderful day. Having all those people there who love me makes me very humble and very happy. Good night. Sleep tight. And remember, I love you from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.” I slept really well knowing that.
“Love one another; for love is of God. Every one who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God for God is love.” I John 4:7
