All My Love...All My Life

“All My Love…All My Life”

That is how my father used to sign his cards and letters that he sent to my mother over the years.

They were married in 1939 (my mother was 16, my father 21). They started their married life living in a small apartment over my maternal grandparents’ home, working hard and planning their life together. Then on Dec. 7, 1941 they were gathered around the radio with my grandparents and other extended family members listening to a music/variety show (no TV back then) when a news bulletin came on saying that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. That week my father went to enlist and became a US Navy Seabee. At one point, they were separated for 3 years while my father served in the Pacific Theater. His letters were (of course) sometimes short and a long time in arriving, but always ended with “all my love…all my life”.
When the war ended and he came home, it was with malaria and memories no one should have to carry with them. Some nights the dreams would overcome him and he would grab my mother, shoving her to the floor thinking that they were back in the reality of war and that they were under attack.

Those were hard times for both of them, but my mother never left his side, never thought of giving up.Like all marriages, they had their ups and downs, but never did I doubt their unending love for each other.My mother is still (at the age of 85) the Proverbs 31 woman…always working, helping, and caring for her family. My father has long since gone Home. Still, the memory of him on one knee, following my mother around the room, when she was angry with him, strumming his guitar and singing “What’s The Reason I Ain’t Pleasin’ You” brings a smile to my face.

I often think how that is the kind of love our precious Lord has for us. He gave His only begotten Son to make a bridge back to Heaven where there had been no way. Over and over again He is willing to forgive us for our sins, always walking with us through the fires of life. When we ignore Him, He cries for us and longs for us to return to Him. Even though many of us have been prodigal children at one time or another, He welcomes us back when we ask His forgiveness and repent of our sins… still holding a special place in the kingdom for each one of us…never giving up on us and always…..always…giving us
All His love all our lives.