<sup>"Lots of people claim to be loyal and loving, but where on earth can you find one?"
Proverbs 20:6, The Message

Good morning.  I just let my dog Cooper outside ... it is cold in Michigan this morning.  It's not supposed to get into double digits today.  This would be a perfect day to stay in the sweatpants and sweatshirt I'm wearing and not leave the house.  However, I've got things to do today that won't allow me that luxury.  I have to go out and be around people today ... a day where I woke up wanting to do anything but that.  I don't like days like this ... about as much as I don't like people who don't honor their word.  I may be a lot of things, and I know I've made my share of mistakes in life, but if I'm nothing else I'm loyal.  

Yesterday I wrote about doing the next right thing.  I believe in that statement.  I believe if we do our best to live that way then our time here on earth won't be wasted.  Part of doing the next right thing is to follow through and do what we tell people we're going to do.  My wife taught me years ago that people are only as good as their word.  We've all heard the phrase that our word is our bond, which is a polite way of saying talk is cheap.  There's an old saying that goes something like this: your actions are so loud I can not hear what you are saying.  Do you know someone who doesn't follow through on what they say?  Has someone ever promised to do something for you then back out, or fail to show up?  Has someone ever told you that they love you then fail to show it with corresponding actions?  Has a parent abandoned you, or a spouse broken their vows to you?  That stuff happens every day to people everywhere.  The fact that it's common doesn't mean it's acceptable ... it just proves how imperfect man is.

We all want to be loved don't we?  I know I do.  Based on the love songs I hear on the radio, and the so called reality shows on t.v. where people are looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right, and the hundreds if not thousands of love story movies that have been made over the years, I think a lot of people do.  So where are the people who will love us?  Where are those who claim to be loyal to us?  Where can we find them?  I think I know where to start, but let's walk through my thought process together, and you can determine for yourself if what I think is true for you as well.

Some of you have heard me tell the story about my dad, and how he left us when I was seven years old. Divorce is an ugly thing.  To go through it as a child, the way we did, was horrible.  My story is nothing special though, millions of people have been affected by divorce.  Here's the worse part about my story though: it's one thing for a spouse to divorce their spouse, but my dad divorced his kids too.  We weren't able to have kids, so maybe I'm not qualified to talk about this, but to me it just doesn't make sense that a mother or father would choose to not be a parent.  As a child I don't think there is a worse sense of disloyalty or abandonment you can feel.  My dad wasn't a part of my life by choice.

I was 19 years old when I met a girl at a bar near MSU's campus.  She and I dated for about 2 1/2 years.  Looking back on that relationship, I'm not sure what I saw in her.  My mom didn't like her.  Many of friends didn't like her.  Maybe they could see what I couldn't.  She turned out to be anything but loyal.  I should have seen it coming … the handwriting was all over the wall … but I've always been a very trusting person.  I've always been loyal to those I care about, so I figured everyone else was the same way. Not her. I found out that for the last six months of our relationship she was “seeing” a guy that she worked with. She was cheating on me. When I found out about it, and confronted her, she had nothing to say. Neither did I, but only because I was sick to my stomach.

One good thing came out of what she did … I met the most loyal, caring, and loving person ever to walk this earth … a guy named Jesus. When Joy and I broke up I hit bottom … at least what I would have defined bottom as at that time. Since then it's been redefined several times. It hurt to be treated like that, especially when I was nothing but loyal to her. Her best friend happened to be a Christian. She told me until I get my life right with God, I'll continue to be miserable. At the time it seemed to make sense. Trust God? Get saved? I didn't understand any of it but I figured at that point I had nothing to lose. That's how I started my walk with Him. I actually thanked Joy at one point for doing what she did. Had it not been for her and her so called 'loyalty', I don't know what it would have taken for me to get to the point of being willing and open to trusting God.

Deciding to follow God was the beginning of understanding what true loyalty is. It was the beginning of knowing what true love was supposed to be about. It's not that life instantly got easier, or that angels hovered over me everywhere I went. I didn't have an epiphany like that. Understanding loyalty was a process. Learning what love really meant was a process, but it all began with Him. Since trusting Him I've been blessed to meet loyal people. I've learned a little bit about what love is, though I think that's an endless journey. The Bible says that “God is love”, and I feel I only know a little bit about Him, so …

So what's the answer? People claim to be loyal and loving, but where in the world are they? I don't know if this is the right answer, but in my world, it started with my relationship with God. He's the most loyal person I know. He loves me like no other. When I find it hard to love myself, He still loves me. Read what Romans chapter 8 says about it:

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

I think that says it all.  God bless.</sup>