Nonirritable Love

A great illustration from Phil Ryken's book, "Loving the way Jesus Loves."

"A simple but marvelous illustration of non irritable love took place during a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals during the 2009 pennant race. Phillies fan Steve Montforto was sitting with his three-year-old daughter Emily when a foul ball curled back into the upper deck. Montforto leaned over the railing to catch his first and only foul ball--every fan's dream. But when he handed the ball to little Emily, immediately she thew it back over the railing and down into the lower deck. Everyone gasped. Montforto himself was as surprised as anyone to see her throw the ball away. But rather than getting irritated with his little girl, he did what a loving father should do: he wrapped his daughter up in a tender embrace.

This is the way God loves us. He puts gifts into our hands that we could never catch for ourselves. Without realizing what we are doing, sometimes, we throw them away. Yet rather than getting irritated with us, he lose us again. Then he gives us the freedom to go love someone else with the same ind of love. He even gives us the grace to go back to people who throw our love away and love them all over again. "