Ripples

     Recently our family flock was blessed by the arrival of another granddaughter. It made me think about the way love seems to expand in ripples. When I was young, I loved my parents and (perhaps, to a lesser degree) my siblings. The family I grew up in was my epicenter of love. My love for them did not lessen, but I knew there was a love greater than a child's for her family, and I found that in Reed. Not all at once. Not a great romantic splash. Just the irresistible pull of a man who loved me unwaveringly. I could not imagine a love greater than I had for my husband. Then I had a baby, and it took love to a whole new level. I loved my husband as much as ever, but I loved my daughter with a fierceness that amazed me. I would die for her. I would kill to protect her. The two sons that followed did not diminish that wave of love, but I was no longer surprised by it. I couldn't imagine loving anyone more than I loved my children. Then I became a grandmother, the ripple spread. Love had expanded again. Love for my children was the lens that magnified love for my grandchildren. Now I cannot imagine loving anyone more than I love my granddaughters. But someday, if I become a great-grandmother, I will probably find love has expanded another ripple.
     But these are human loves, where does the love of God come in? God provided the water that forms the ripples. God threw the stone that placed me in a loving family. God's loving guidance drew me to my soulmate. God's unconditional love was the pattern for raising my children. God's abundant love blessed me with grandchildren. God's limitless love spreads those ripples to many others besides my family. And God's eternal love will one day carry me home.
   So rest in that love baby Julie, those waves will rock you all of your life.