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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Herb Rothschild Jr.: Making sense of UCC ... Police giving away trick-or-treat bags ... Ashland author memorializes slain UCC professor in poem ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Making sense of UCC ... Police giving away trick-or-treat bags ... Ashland author memorializes slain UCC professor in poem ... Marketta Gregory: Love in action Comment By Marketta Gregory More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Marketta Gregory More Content Now Posted Mar. 12, 2015 at 2:00 AM By Marketta Gregory More Content Now Posted Mar. 12, 2015 at 2:00 AM » Social News I read their words once, and then again. The first woman was responding to an article online about adopting children who are still healing from trauma. She was worn out from trying to keep a little one safe, trying to patiently enforce boundaries. She worried that she didn’t feel the warmth and lightness of love toward this child. Only duty. Only the humdrum motions of mothering. Then – and this is the important part – in the next comment, a woman responded and said love is in the humdrum. Love is in the acts of service. Love is in the welcoming, the protecting and in the freely giving of yourself. It seems we’ve fallen for the feeling of love. We are most comfortable with the butterflies and rainbows, the hearts with our initials scratched inside. Without realizing it, we’ve put our confidence in an emotion that ebbs and flows. We’ve boarded a boat, and each time a wave comes, we doubt ourselves and the seriousness of our love. But when see love as an action, as an expression of God, it serves as an anchor that steadies us. Even when the waves and the arguments and the hurt feelings come, love is still present in the scrubbing of the toilet, the punching of the time clock and in the tender holding of the hand. Love is there when the rainbow fades and the paint gets scratched, when the hurting child acts out and you listen and hold tight. Love is there. Those people who come to weddings and adoption ceremonies and birthing rooms and tell you that all you need is love? They are right. You need the action of love. The patience. The kindness. The humility. The showing up day after day after day. That kind of priceless love is what you need for a strong friendship, or marriage or family. That kind of love will hold when you are bone-tired and broken. It will hold when you are afraid and so far away from your comfort zone that you worry you’ll never find your way back. It will hold. And it is all you – and any of us – need. Marketta Gregory is a former religion reporter who now shares her own journey of faith with readers. She lives in Rochester, New York, with her husband, their three young boys and one very vocal Pomeranian. To contact Gregory, email [email protected] or write to her at P.O. Box 12923, Rochester, NY 14612. You can also visit the Simply Faithful page on Facebook and follow her on Twitter at @MarkettaGregory. By Marketta Gregory More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Marketta Gregory More Content Now Posted Mar. 12, 2015 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501