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“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8 NIV
One thing for sure is that my home will never be in an issue of Better Homes and Gardens. It isn’t just the broken tile on the floors or the worn out furniture covered in dog hair. It is also the walls. Instead of just a few tasteful paintings here and there my walls are literally covered with stuff. There are calendars, pictures of my children and animals, inspirational poems and sayings, nature pictures, birthday and father’s day cards, dream catchers, art work my daughter did in grade school as well as her college diplomas, plastic and wooden butterflies, post cards, pictures of my Mom, Dad, Nana, Aunt Charlotte, and other relatives, and pictures of friends and children I’ve sponsored overseas. I keep them all on my walls because they all remind me of Love.
Nestled among them too are 4 faded photos I got over 20 years ago. My former priest had a twin brother who was a missionary and ran an orphanage overseas. I remember I sent a small donation to them back then and received these pictures of children in the orphanage.
One speaks to my heart especially. It is a small boy no more than 8 or 9 years old. He is using a broken ladder as a chair and eating out of metal plate. Yet, even though he had so little, there is a look of such joy on his face. You can see in his smile that he is loved and that is all that matters. All these years later that love and joy still shine through the picture. I still wonder about him too. He would be grown now maybe with children of his own, perhaps passing on all the love he was given to them. I still send him my love and keep him in my prayers.
It is truly amazing how a single moment of love can stay with us for a lifetime. Maybe that is how God intended it to be. Love isn’t meant to fade after a moment. It is meant to shine for an eternity. All I know is when I look at that faded photo and see that joyous smile, that moment of love lives on in me. May all of your moments of love live on in you as well.
Joseph J. Mazzella
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