He lost the love of his life. When his wife
Mary died, Dan Peterson went into a deep depression. For six months,
this 82-year-old widower of Augusta, Georgia, did very little except
look out his window at the squirrels in his yard.
But one day at the
grocery store, his life changed.
He was nearing the end
of the canned food aisle when a four-year-old girl named Norah Wood,
riding in the buggy as her mother, Tara, pushed it, randomly reached out
to this 'cranky old man' and said, "Hi old person! It's my birthday!"
Mr. Dan stopped in his
tracks, smiled, and said, "Well hello, little lady." They continued
chatting for a couple of minutes. Then Norah said she wanted to give Mr.
Dan a hug. "So they posed together, and then they hugged each other like
they were long lost friends," said Tara.
"She zeroed in on him
like a missile," Tara explains. "And she didn't want anything from him.
She just wanted to make him feel loved and give him a hug."
That exchange has led
to a wonderful friendship. Tara takes her daughter Norah to see Mr. Dan
about once a week. Their friendship has blossomed bringing great joy to
both of them.
Steve Hartman interviewed Mr. Dan. They spoke
of the time of Mr. Dan's intense grief.
"What were you living
for?" asked Hartman.
"I was trying to
figure that out, frankly," replied Mr. Dan.
"You had no purpose?"
"No."
"Were you just waiting
to die?"
"Yeah."
"And then one day you
go to the grocery store."
At that moment in the
interview, Mr. Dan's face lit up with a big grin. His body shook as he
chuckled with glee, because now the topic of conversation became his new
little four-year-old friend, Norah.
"She opened me to a
love that I didn't know existed."
"Dan, let me ask you,"
Hartman inquired. "When you're wife died, you felt like you didn't have
a purpose anymore. Do you feel like you have a purpose now?"
Mr. Dan replied
instantly, "Of course! Norah. Watching her grow up. I know I've made room
in my heart for a lot more."
The way that Norah
reached out to this man who needed love so desperately pictures the love
that God has for you and for me. God is love (1 John 4:8), and He loves
us, even if we don't deserve it. We really don't, because we have sinned
and rebelled against Him (Romans 3:23). But He loves us anyway.
And how much does God
love us? "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). He loves us so
much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins
so that we might have forgiveness and live with Him eternally (Romans
6:23;
Ephesians 1:7).
God will save and give
eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts
16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into
Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to
cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1
John 1:7).
"Oh, what love, matchless love,
Oh, what love for me was shown!
His forever I will be,
For the love He gave to me."
Samuel Reed
God's love will open
in our hearts a love that we never knew existed. His matchless love
fills our hearts and lives with meaning and purpose and hope.
Won't you respond to
God's matchless love by expressing your love to Him through your
trusting obedience?
Oh What Love
Today's Bible Verse:
The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about
God, because God is love--so you can't know him if you don't love.
(1 John 4:8 MSG)
Oh What Love
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