We love because he first loved us.
(1 John 4.19
NRSV)
Bill Havens was to represent the United States at the first canoeing event in the 1924 Olympics. But Bill faced a dilemma: his first child was due to be born the day of the race. Bill's wife encouraged him to go, but Bill decided to stay with her. The team won; Bill missed his chance for a medal. To make matters worse, the baby didn't even come on schedule. It was three weeks overdue. Twenty-eight years later, that baby boy, named Frank, phoned Bill from Helsinki. Frank had taken up canoeing, too, and he was calling to tell his dad he had won for him the Olympic medal which Bill had passed up long ago.
Despite the daily hammering of bad news, love does make a difference.
Dear God, may the love that you have given to me, shine through to make a difference. Amen.