In 1965, Nat King Cole recorded a great love song that has been rendered timeless in our hearts and minds, especially this time of year with Valentine’s Day just around the corner. Maybe you remember it. It’s called L-O-V-E and here’s how it starts:
L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore can be
When I think about these lyrics, I am reminded not necessarily of the deep loving feelings I have for my wonderful husband and my fond affection for those particularly close to me but also of my faith strength and the awesome love God and I share between us. Unwavering, unconditional, perpetual. It is a fuzzy all over feeling to know that He is my center; He is my inspiration; He is my potter and I am His clay. I am in a position in which I pray daily for others to join me. To feel His love, daily, is like feeling nothing else! To be reminded, daily, that I am His child … again, nothing like it!! Why wouldn’t I want this for everyone? Why wouldn’t we want this for everyone?
I wanted to share this excerpt from a book authored by Bishop Michael Curry called Love Is The Way: Holding On To Hope In Troubling Times
‘Stop and imagine for a minute. Think and imagine. Think and imagine a world where love is the way.
Imagine our homes and families when love is the way. Imagine our neighborhoods and communities where love is the way. Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce when love is the way. When love is the way – unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive – when love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again. When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream, and righteousness like an ever-flowing brook.
When love is the way, poverty would become history. When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary. When love is the way, we will lay our swords and shields down by the riverside to study war no more. When love is the way, there’s plenty of room for all of God’s children. When love is the way, we actually treat each other well, like we are actually family.’
LOVE was made for me and you.
AMEN!!
Here’s some expressions of love from our CTW family! 
I am enclosing an offering for your Cross The World ministry given to me by a grateful recipient. He was a military fellow I met in the lab at our clinic. He suffers from PTSD, but had a service dog that was a big help to him. After our conversation and having given him a cross, he unexpectedly gave me two bills to give to your ministry. I downplayed the money, but he insisted. Joy ~ MN
Crosses loving passed through these hands to others:
Mary ~ OK
Linda ~ PA
David ~ CA
Pastor Jim ~ MN
Frank ~ MI
Pam ~ WA
Our Lady of Lebanon ~ North Jackson, OH
‘My heart was warmed at Wal-Mart during lunch.
This gentleman’s items were scanned and he was given the total. He looks apologetically back at me and starts taking handfuls of change out of his pockets. He miscounts and starts to get flustered. Gives me a muttered, “I’m so sorry.” His hands and voice are shaking. This beautiful cashier takes his hands and dumps all the change on the counter and says, “This is not a problem, honey. We will do this together.” He continues to apologize to both of us as we reassure him it’s ok. They get his transaction handled and he shuffles away.
I looked at this wonderful woman and said, “Thank-you for being so patient with him.”
She shakes her head and replies, “You shouldn’t have to thank me, baby. What’s wrong with our world is we’ve forgotten how to love one another.”
I want to be more like her.’
Credit: Spring Herbison Bowlin
CROSS THE WORLD 