Soapbox Tuesday…….  As many of you have figured out, I have had a lot of time on my hands to “think.”  A few weeks ago I posted a picture of Jake and I.  Someone commented this is what love looks like.  That phrase has stuck in my head.  I do love Jake more than words can even possibly express.  We have been so blessed in our life to have love surround us each day.  For me I hear love in the laughter of our kids.  If you have not met our kids they are all hysterical.  God has blessed them with a sense of humor.  I am often the main focus of their jokes.  They are who they are because of all of the love from others that have poured in on them.  This coming Friday Jeff and I have been married for 19 years.  We laugh a lot.  Let me share with you a few stories.  Some are serious and some are silly.    On the serious side, Jeff has been there to hold my hand through everything!    He was there holding up our kids this past April when they were brought in to see me before I was put on a ventilator to try to keep me alive until I could get my heart pump.  He was there after surgery when there were bed pans and endless requests for help from me.  He never once complained, or at least not where I could hear him.  That’s what a smart man looks like!  But I will save that post for another day!  Let me move on before you get the impression that everything is always cheery and happy in our world.  When I woke up from surgery I was crazy for about a week.  I did and said some nutty things.  There are unfortunately witnesses to prove it.  I called Jeff and my Mom one night at 4 in the morning to see why they had put me into an insane asylum.  I was still on a ventilator and restrained because I was trying to pull it out. The vent was such a traumatic event in my life that I refer to this time like BC ( before Christ ) and AD ( after death).  Mine are BV (before vent) and AV (after vent.)  We will call this story DV ( during vent.)  I finally got through to Jeff and Charleen that I wanted a piece of paper.  I was going to write my message.  The first thing I did was sign my name.  Amy J. Anders.  I even had the period behind the J.  I guess I thought I might be famous one day and they would need my autograph.  In my mind what I was writing looked so clear.  After I felt well again they showed me the sheets.  It is a good thing that God knows my mind and my heart because even he himself could not have deciphered what those papers said!  I was having such a hard time that Jeff untied one of my hands without the nurse knowing so I could write better.  I was so mad that he could not understand my perfect writing that I slugged him.  He laughed and then cried as I wrote am I dying.  That’s all I wanted to know.  Even after I hit him ( I am sure I did not have enough strength for it to hurt ) he left my hands untied.  That is what love looks like.  He also knew he would have to live with me for many years to come and that was the wise thing to do.  He is 11 years older than I am so I might be picking his nursing home one day!  But bear with me.  After one of my many surgeries I was yelling to Jeff about something.  I am sure that it was in my naturally sweet voice.  He came to the door and said something that made me mad.  So I just tried to push around him.  He was not being mean, he was just in my way.  He said something and I turned around and slung my cup of lemonade at him.  Yes my cup hit the target.  I can still see what happened next in slow motion.  He had a button up shirt on and started pulling to take it off and the buttons started popping off.  Instead of Incredible Hulk I was standing with Incredible Jeff.  I swear that he even made a large roaring sound like a bear.  He swears he did not, but since this story is still alive in my head we are going with my roaring version.  As his buttons were popping I started laughing so hard that I fell onto the bed.  He did the same.  That is what love looks like.  Love loves someone even when they are being ugly.  And I spend more days than I should being ugly.  I was thinking back to some examples of love.  I thought of when Jeff served on a banquet team and was asked to be the head of kitchen.  He wanted his friend Jack Robbins to be on the team with him.  Jack was fighting a battle with cancer.  They made an extra spot so Jack could participate.  Jack did not have the energy to do much of the kitchen work.  I will tell you what Jack did do.  It is a memory forever etched in my mind.  Jack set at the table and polished every piece of the silverware that the guest would be eating with until it shined and wrapped them up nicely folded in a napkin.  He did this for every meal for three days.  The guests had no idea of what love and work went into those shiny pieces of silverware.  But God did!  Jack was a living example of what love looks like!  When he walked into the gates of heaven a few years ago I could see Jesus saying thanks so much for polishing that silverware.  Now you get to walk to your mansion on shiny streets of gold.  My examples of what love looks like are as major as Jesus dying on a cross for me all of the way down to someone paying for my order in front of me in line.  This world is filled with negative news and stories.  You might be the only person that God can use in a situation to show another person love.  I would love to hear about a person or action that you have experienced in your life to show you what love really looks like.  I am thankful to all of those who love us and give us the inspiration that we need to keep going forward in this storm that we are in.  I am most thankful for God and those that put up with me on my ugly days because that truly is WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE!