There was also a prophet, Anna… she never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.

Luke 2:36-37

Love is patient. Love is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs.

paraphrased from what I remember in my mind of 1 Corinthians 13…

Today, we enter the week of Love. The pink candle is lit, and we wait for the warm fuzzies to begin. Yet, love is much more accurately encapsulated by the hard times, not the Hallmark cards. Love shows itself most fully when things are not easy. When the stomach butterflies and all night conversations have passed, and the everyday reality of work and washing dishes and wearing the same t-shirt for 6 days and a row sets in.

To me, love comes into more clearer focus in the hard times, even the boring times. While the feelings on the mountaintop are thrilling, they are equally fleeting. The reality of the day-in, day-out consistency of love is equally true, and even more precious. Love gives space to others. Love allows for mistakes, it allows the beloved to take their precious time Love celebrates the journey.

Anna lived in the temple for years, waiting on the Messiah. She fasted. She prayed. And nothing happened. for. years. Her life passed by, one page turning after the next, with an unfulfilled promise. She could have gotten impatient, disillusioned, hardened. Instead, she kept watch. She allowed love to operate on its own time, not according to her schedule. And, in the fullness of time, love arrived.

Elizabeth marked the months for years with an empty, aching womb. The longed for child never came. Knowing my precious friends who have walked this path, she probably cried. She railed at God and at life for robbing her of this gift. She beheld her flat stomach, and wondered what was wrong with her, that she would not be given the gift of motherhood. But love, for her, meant carrying a child. Even when her dearest hopes had long passed. In the fullness of time, love arrived.

For other women, love’s journey may look different. It may not involve a pregnancy. For some that walk the path of love, it looks like waiting years for your prodigal to return. Love may look like choosing friends to be family, and then persevering through relational challenges. Love may look like taking a step back, holding a boundary, allowing you to value yourself against a hurtful relationship.

Love is unpredictable. It defies our attempts to control. But when we are patient, love always arrives. It whips through the door with a whiff of fresh air and adventure. It approaches quietly on a sleepness night, feeling of warmth and the long awaited stillness of your thoughts. It breaks into your life unannounced and uninvited, shrill and frazzling, yet somehow exactly what you need.

As you light the candle of love this week, reflect upon this year. How has love showed up for you? Were you patient enough to wait for it? How is your love being spent?