Until Saturday night, I’d only seen Forest Gump one time. Now I’ve seen it one and a half times. It’s really a very good movie, and I can’t help but smile when I think of Forest’s unwavering, selfless, and steady love for the people in his life. One of my favorite parts of the story is when Captain Dan, having disappeared from Forest’s life for a couple of years, appears at the end of Forest’s boat dock. Forest is so excited to see Captain Dan that he immediately jumps off of his shrimp boat and starts swimming to the dock. Meanwhile, Forest’s boat is left unattended and eventually crashes. It’s very funny. But it’s also very moving just how genuinely excited Forest is to see his friend.
Love causes us to do weird things sometimes—things that we might not do if we stopped to think about them for a moment—but things so very wonderful because they come from a place deep inside us that we cannot control.
Yesterday, while the kids were playing foosball, Jack sustained a small injury. As the bruise on his hip started to move outward from foosball pole’s point of impact, I said, “I’ll go get you some ice.” Amelia immediately chimed in, “I’ll go with you.” Amelia held the bag for me as I filled it with ice and declared that everything would be just fine. Then, on her way out of the kitchen, with no previous thought or plan, she said, “Oh. I’ll grab him a York Peppermint Patty. That’ll make him all better.” And it did. Because Jack’s bruise never really moved beyond that dot.
Later in the afternoon, after Jack’s York Peppermint Patty had healed him, he volunteered to pull Amelia, Griffin, and Charlie on the paddle board as he kayaked. His dad, my brother, chaperoned on another kayak and his mom paddled along on another paddle board. I’m not exactly sure what happened as my brother tried to get out of his kayak but something went wrong and the next thing I knew his kayak was taking in water and Jack had jumped in to help get his dad out. The thing was…my brother had on his life jacket and wasn’t going to sink. But Jack, with no conscious thought or plan, jumped in to rescue his dad with nothing but himself. No noodle. No life jacket. Just love.
Forest and Jack jumped in the water. Come to think of it, Peter did, too, when he saw Jesus long, long ago. Amelia healed with a York Peppermint Patty. Jesus healed with his life.
Love causes us to do weird things sometimes—things that we might not do if we stopped to think about them for a moment—but things so very wonderful because they come from a place
deep inside us that we cannot control.
When is the last time you did something weird for love? What’s more: when is the last time someone did something weird for you?
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