1 Corinthians 13:13 "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Love: Reflecting
©11-30-12 Hannah McLean
My eyes flip through the words
preserved lest I forget
as my heart rolls through the emotions
engrained within me
I am undone
How many times have I stood
with hand poised outside Your gate to knock
only to find my eyes unveiled to see
that you have already opened the door
and carried me inside Your holy courts?
I overflow
While Your words on the greatest way of Love
have been laid before me as I sway along
my uneven path
I have considered long
how my life reflects You
on the heights
and in the valleys
I am moved
Love is not just found in generous giving
it is what carries us when much has been taken away
Love is not just seen in the beauty of bright light
it is also in the faintest flicker through which our eyes adjust to see
the details hidden in the darkness
Love is not just in the prolonging of comfort and rest
it is the offering of deep comforts in the center of complete unrest
Love is not just the feeling of affection the causes the heart to leap
it is the holding and the keeping when the heart lies broken
Love is not just words that land upon your ears
it is the active commitment when words fail and ears cannot hear
Love is not just in response to my lovability
it is what lifts me out of my loveless stupors and redeems
Love is more
always more
I am certain
You have never lifted Your hand from upon me
You have never moved Your wings from around my wounded soul
You have never taken Your eyes off me
You have never turned Your back
You have never closed Your ears to the sound of my voice
You have never left me
You have never left me
You will never leave
You have lifted me with Your mighty hand
comforted me with Your faithful promises
soothed me with Your boundless hope
touched me with Your gentle favor
calmed me with Your steady voice
carried me with Your endless strength
And every time I have lamented the
feeling of wandering from You
I have marveled at how near
You have stayed
How I have reached out my frantic hand
expecting to find nothing
and have found instead
Your presence and closeness
within my searching grasp
I am Yours
and in this truth
is the reflection of Your love
that my life has to offer
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Honor given "in due time."
Yesterday we went to a gate dedication ceremony at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. They closed down the stretch of road where my little brother Noah was struck and killed while biking to work and made it a private road for the base with bike lanes. The gate to enter this portion of the base has been dedicated to him as a memorial: The A1C Noah D. Muonio Gate. At the ceremony, an installation entry controller stood up and gave his shift report, the one he and all of his colleagues who will stand guard at this gate from now on will say with each change of shift.
The report began with these words:
“This is the Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio Gate. It is named after Airman First Class Muonio, a native of Saint Francis, Minnesota, who proudly served at Wright Patterson Air Force Base as a NASIC Remote Sensing Analyst. On the night of 4 August 2012, Airman First Class Muonio was riding his bicycle to work when a distracted driver crossed the solid white line onto the shoulder and fatally struck him from behind. This gate has been named after Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio to ensure he is never forgotten...”
This struck me like a ton of bricks. They’ve made his memory a permanent part of life on base, and not only have they preserved his name, but they have lifted him and set him in a place of honor. If you knew Noah, you know that he was a humble man of quiet strength; he did not seek praise nor did he let the praise he earned go to his head; he was the man who was quick to let his acts of service and personal sacrifice go unnoticed or pass by without thanks; he was not self seeking.
So as I consider this honor that has been given him, I can think of few others who could carry it so well as Noah’s name. I think of the miraculous mark of God’s hand all over this lasting memorial--Noah was an Airman First Class who had been at this base for 5 months; gates are usually named after Generals or people with many metals across their heart--and into my mind comes these words from the Lord found in 1 Samuel 2 and Luke 14: “...those who honor Me I will honor,” and “...he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Lord Himself has placed names on the gates of heaven for those He loves and bestows great honor; for Him to give our Noah a gate here on earth is a great honor from the Lord who exalts the humble and honors the one who honors Him.
For some the exaltation from the Lord that comes “in due time” (1 Peter 5:6) begins while they still stand upright beside us, but for others, like Noah, it has been given after he has gone away...maybe to help fill the expanse of the empty space he’s left behind. Either way, I praise the Lord for The Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio Gate and all it means for the preservation of his memory, and I thank the Wright Patterson Air Force Base for being a conduit of honor for this quietly honorable man.
The report began with these words:
“This is the Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio Gate. It is named after Airman First Class Muonio, a native of Saint Francis, Minnesota, who proudly served at Wright Patterson Air Force Base as a NASIC Remote Sensing Analyst. On the night of 4 August 2012, Airman First Class Muonio was riding his bicycle to work when a distracted driver crossed the solid white line onto the shoulder and fatally struck him from behind. This gate has been named after Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio to ensure he is never forgotten...”
This struck me like a ton of bricks. They’ve made his memory a permanent part of life on base, and not only have they preserved his name, but they have lifted him and set him in a place of honor. If you knew Noah, you know that he was a humble man of quiet strength; he did not seek praise nor did he let the praise he earned go to his head; he was the man who was quick to let his acts of service and personal sacrifice go unnoticed or pass by without thanks; he was not self seeking.
So as I consider this honor that has been given him, I can think of few others who could carry it so well as Noah’s name. I think of the miraculous mark of God’s hand all over this lasting memorial--Noah was an Airman First Class who had been at this base for 5 months; gates are usually named after Generals or people with many metals across their heart--and into my mind comes these words from the Lord found in 1 Samuel 2 and Luke 14: “...those who honor Me I will honor,” and “...he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Lord Himself has placed names on the gates of heaven for those He loves and bestows great honor; for Him to give our Noah a gate here on earth is a great honor from the Lord who exalts the humble and honors the one who honors Him.
For some the exaltation from the Lord that comes “in due time” (1 Peter 5:6) begins while they still stand upright beside us, but for others, like Noah, it has been given after he has gone away...maybe to help fill the expanse of the empty space he’s left behind. Either way, I praise the Lord for The Airman First Class Noah D. Muonio Gate and all it means for the preservation of his memory, and I thank the Wright Patterson Air Force Base for being a conduit of honor for this quietly honorable man.
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