Stone cold killer

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:6 NIV

My wife and I watched a movie called “Patriot’s Day” earlier today. I am an emotional man but this flat took me by surprise. The movie is about the bombings that took place at the Boston Marathon in 2013. The movie did a rather startling job portraying the events. They used some actual footage from the event, including some from after the explosions. They interviewed the people portrayed in the movie as well.

One scene in particular kicked me in the heart. One of the main characters was talking to a fellow police officer the manhunt and asked the question “Do you think any of this was predictable?” The officer responded by telling him a story. I am paraphrasing the scene so please forgive me. It is not word for word:

“My wife and I went to a Doctor and found out we could not have more kids. It was devastating. We drove home and sitting in the driveway we heard our girls playing in the back yard and I looked up at her. I thought I would see pain. Instead I saw the face of a stone-cold killer. We were in a fight, but it was not a normal one. We were in a battle of good vs pure evil. I saw the eyes of someone who knew they were not going to lose. Her eyes said love always beats evil.”

My wife is used to me having a tough time spitting out words at times like this. She was patient. The reason it hit me so hard is that I have seen that very look in her eyes. We have lost a daughter and that has been horrible. But I am not talking about that. The time period on my mind was when our son would not sleep.

I have written about it before, so I apologize if this is redundant. But Korbin had a seven-year battle with sleep. He probably averaged two hours of solid sleep a day. Anything above that was hit or miss. Which meant we averaged about the same. Describing it is not possible. Exhaustion became a friend sitting at the table. I am amazed we made it. It was even harder on him. I am still shocked when I see pictures of him from that time period. He was wasting away right in front of us. It was also hard on Aly. We did not have a lot left in the tank.

I fully realize the God gave us a gear we did not know existed. But I remember many mornings where the only place that I could find resolve was in her eyes. She was certainly not cold toward us. I mean that when staring down the battle with fatigue, she was a stone-cold killer. Eyes set, she was willing to do literally anything. I remember more than one multiple day stretch with zero sleep. She would have worked herself to death to win.

This is not a way I would normally describe the love of my life. But hearing that character in the movie use the term struck me. We were most certainly in a fight. Neither of us knew when it would end. But we both knew love was most definitely going to win. Those eyes still remind me every day.

Think about the people in your life.

What is the biggest battle one of them is facing? Money? Security? Energy? Direction? Safety? Pain? Anxiety? Faith?

Challenge: Be the eyes someone else sees. Let them know love is going to win.

Rick Claiborn