First loved us

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Patrick stealing his first cookie
Patrick loves to talk. He'll babble all day to anyone or anything. The other day I heard him saying his normal "Dadada  dat dat dat adadad," so I went to check on him. He was talking to the baby on the diaper box! With his constant attempt to communicate-- and my linguistics background-- I'm very interested in how he'll soon start to understand and even say more words. This got me thinking....

How is Patrick going to understand the word love? I say "Patrick, I love you" about 20+ times a day, but what will that mean to him? How will he learn to understand love? Then it dawned on me... Patrick will understand love because I demonstrate it's meaning to him. I comfort him when he cries. I feed him when he's hungry. I play with him and cuddle with him. I consistently show Patrick that I love him. He'll understand love because I love him and demonstrate it. 

1 John 4 came to life in this context. Verse 19 states: "We love because he first loved us."  Verse 9 and 10 shows how God loves: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 

What a great responsibility Jonathan and I have to demonstrate love to Patrick. What a blessing that God teaches us how to love and displayed His love in such a powerful way that enables us to love others!

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