Tell & Show...or the Other Way Around

Me:  "Honey, listen.  You've got to hear this." 

Without hesitating to see if he was ready to listen, I proceeded to read aloud the last sentence I'd just read in my book to him.

Me:  "What do you think?  Wasn't that good?"

Him:  "Yes.  It was.  I liked it."

Me:  "Don't you love the way the author penned those words together?  Don't you think it was a beautiful way to illustrate such a point?"  

I do this all the time to him.   I read something incredible and I feel compelled to share it.   I'm forever drawn into someone else's words.   I'm a sucker for a well-written, well-thought out sentence, paragraph, or story.

Him (with a twinkle in his eye):  "You know...I'm kinda surprised you married me."

Me:  "What?!? 
Why would you even say something like that?  That's not funny. 
Oh. Wait... 
I think I know why you said that. 
Because in fourteen years, you've only expressed your feelings for me in writing a few times. 
Is that it?"

Him:  "I'm sorry I don't tell you how I feel with a lot of words."

Me:  "That's okay.  You do tell me.  And you always show me--with your actions."

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

1 John 3:18

Fourteen years ago today, my husband and I ate dinner at the local Red Lobster in our college town.  Well, I should say I ate.  He barely touched his food and at the time, I had no idea why. 

Now I know.  The poor thing was too nervous to eat.  He was thinking about his course of action in the next hour.  The hour that would redefine our lives as individuals, and redefine us as a couple.

After dinner, we headed back to the college campus, where we had both graduated the previous spring.  He told me he needed to go by the chapel to check on something for a friend. 

Of course, I followed.  As we climbed the stairs and approached the front entrance, I noticed a sign on the outside of the door which read, "Please do not enter tonight, Saturday, January 17th."  Being the rule-follower I am, I insisted we could not go in.  He insisted we could.

When we opened the door, the first thing I noticed was how dim the chapel looked, except for one spotlight and two solitary chairs facing one another on the stage.  He escorted me to one and he sat down in the other. 

From his lips and from his heart, he spoke Ephesians 5:25 to me,  "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." 
Slowly, but deliberately, he got up and returned with a basin of water and a towel.  In a very humbled manner, he removed my shoes and began to wash my feet.  In a similar humbled manner, I began to cry.

He told me he loved me.  For the first time.  Words he'd reserved until he had the freedom and peace to speak them aloud.  And then...

He pulled out the box, which held my ring.  He asked the question I hoped he'd ask.  And I gave the answer he hoped I'd give.

 

Years later, my husband still loves me the way Christ loved the church. 

You see, Jesus set the example for him to follow.  He didn't only say He loved us with words.  He showed us by His actions, with the most profound display of love ever demonstrated.  He gave Himself up for us.

And so continues the story of our relationship today. 

I still talk. He still listens.

I could be described as the colorful, communicative type.   He's definitely the strong, silent type.

My words, most often, are many.  His words are few.

But one thing I know.  One thing I don't doubt. 

My husband loves me.

How can I be sure?

He tells me.  And He shows me--with His actions, always with his actions.

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

1 John 3:18