12/01/2017
WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO LOVE⠀
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Some of the greatest insights on what it means to love someone come from the pen of the apostle Paul: ‘No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always “me first,” doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end. Love never dies’ (vv. 3-8 MSG). ⠀
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Peter had been married to Jean for twenty years. One night in bed she said, ‘When we were first married you used to buy my favourite food’ A little irritated, he says But you like Chinese and you can't have it now you're coeliac. ‘When we were young you used to snuggle up to me,’ Jean said. Even more slowly, Peter’s body creaks and turns, nestling against hers. ‘When we were young you used to nibble on my ear,’ she whispered. Abruptly he throws back the covers and jumps out of bed. Bewildered, Jean asks, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To get my teeth!’ he grumbles. To nibble on an ear when you’re full of romance and bubbling hormones is one thing. To nibble on that same ear years later when it holds a hearing aid, when the scent in the air is vapour rub, and when you have to get up to get your teeth - that’s love!⠀
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To cut a long story short Peter and Jean run the Coeliac Group in Penrith and inspired me to write this story. They have loved dining at Sweet Mandarin and drive hundreds of miles to keep the love alive with a gluten free Chinese meal. Nudge for Peter next step is to come on the gluten free Chinese cookery school.⠀
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I 'm confident Jean will be so touched with your gluten free Chinese banquet.⠀
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Yours⠀
Lisa⠀
Chief Sauce Maker and Cookery School Teacher