Happy Father's Day

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Ripped Off

I have a lovely friend. Her name is PJ. A couple of winter breaks ago, PJ and I went to Disney World.

After a long day of roller coasting, minnie mouse hat buying (you're never too old for that), caricaturing, and show-watching, we meandered among the gift shops on our way out. She saw a cute carrot-shaped clear bag in the candy section, for the purpose of filling with orange M&Ms. It even had little tufts of green at the top. Don't ask me why this Easter-ish thing was on sale in January. I don't know.

PJ said, "I'm going to get this for my friend. He'll love it!" As she began scooping the M&Ms and weighing the bag, I saw that the price came to...well, a lot more than you'd expect for a bag of M&Ms. Even a carrot-shaped one. At Disney World. When I commented on what a rip-off it was, she said,

"It's okay. He's worth it."

I hadn't even thought of it that way. All I'd thought about was that what she was getting wasn't worth what she was paying...but all that mattered to her was her friend's worth. It didn't matter if she got "ripped off", as long as the gift made her friend happy.

I usually don't think of things that way. We are often told to be practical and logical. And those things have their place, of course, but I'm sick of being told that. I'm so sick of it. Love is not practical, and it is certainly not logical. Life demands unconditional love, not unconditional practicality. We would really be in trouble if God valued what made "sense" over what made love.

The desire for carrot-shaped bags of M&Ms to cost less than they do is often excused because we say, "Well, it's not fair" or "I'm being taken advantage of." But things never cost what they're worth. If things always made sense, it would mean we're in control. I often wish that were true, but I'm not in control, and most things in my life don't make sense. For instance, this thing we call love - the sum of patience, kindness, humility, joy, honesty, and forbearance. It can cost us anywhere from absolutely nothing to everything we've ever worked or hoped for. And sometimes, paradoxically, both at once. However, cost matters little as long as the person we love is worth it. If we look at others and see a person of infinite value, we will view NOTHING we do for them as a rip-off.

Others may take advantage of you, others may hurt you, you may have to give a lot for a little in return...but the one that you do these things for, is He worth it? Is anything worth it just to make Him smile?

The world looks at a lot of things we do, or refrain from doing, and thinks we're being ripped off. The problem is when we begin to agree. If you ever feel that you're being ripped off by doing something, take a step back and spend some time with Him. Allow His affection to pour back into you, because your sacrifice is worth nothing without your adoration. He, your eternal lover, is dishonored by anything less than a simple, unhesitating "It's okay...He's worth it."