Would you still die for me?

Miranda spent Christmas Break 2001 with us. We had many long, and sometimes intense, conversations. One such conversation began as we were driving. She turned to me and said, “Do you remember when you said you loved me so much you would die for me?” I told her that I did, and she asked me if I still felt that way.

The back story here is that Miranda was always full of vim and vinegar. She was full of life and one never had to wonder what she was feeling. When she was happy she was jubilant. When she was angry she was equally dramatic. It was not that she was a drama queen, but simply that she was passionate.

There were times when she put my love for her to the test. I told her at one point that no matter what she did, I would NEVER call the state to ask that she be removed from my home. In more than one such conversation, I told her that I loved her would die for her if needed.

Back to Christmas 2001. “Yes, I remember those conversations. And yes, I still love you and would die for you.” I went on to elaborate, “Now, that does not mean that I would step in front of a train or a bus just to prove how much I love you, but if you were in danger, I would do whatever I could, including giving my own life to save you.”

Fast forward to when it became clear that Weaver had killed her, this conversation became the focus of much of my thoughts. When I was a teen and babysitting my cousins, or later when my nieces and nephews arrived I truly believed I could not love them any more if they were my own. Now I know that I was wrong! At the same time, I know that my love for Miranda or the love of my two daughters pales in comparison to God’s love for us.

I thought about how I would have given my life without hesitation to prevent Miranda’s suffering and death. I would have done that without a moment’s thought. I would have done ANYTHING to prevent her suffering. I thought about how much more God’s love for us to not only sacrifice His son, but to plan it from the beginning of time to save us from eternity without Him.

I would die for my kids without a moment’s thought.  The idea of knowing before your child’s birth that he would die the most horrific death that man-kind could dish out, and that that death would be to provide salvation to all including those that killed him….. That is incomprehensible love.

#MirandaGaddis