A Man In Boy's Clothing | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: A Man In Boy's Clothing | Previous Challenge Entry
By Julene Celander
03/13/15
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Once upon a time there was a boy named Harold. Harold was really a man in boy’s clothing. Harold came into my life while I was a junior in high school and still lives within my heart forty eight years later.

I knew Harold’s sisters first. One of them was in my class and another one was a year ahead of me. As we all hung out on Friday and Saturday nights on our small town square, Harold could be seen with his sisters enjoying the fun.

On one of those nights, I caught Harold’s eye. We began to talk and it seemed as though I had known him forever. We soon began dating even though he was two years my junior and a year behind me in school.
Harold showed me the agape kind of love or the action verb love. We were happy just sitting for hours and talking. We were happy just gazing into one another’s eyes as we held hands. Harold had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. We were happy just being together not doing anything.

My childhood was not a happy one and Harold knew the reasons it wasn’t. He accepted me as I was and never ever told anyone what happened in my life. He was just continually there whether I asked him to be or not. He patiently listened. He held me close. He kissed away the tears.

We continued to date though out my senior year and became very close and were very much in love. He was different from the rest of the boys I knew. He didn’t lust after me, but truly loved me. We spent a lot of time together during the summer. We waded in a shallow spot of Salt Creek and spent afternoons lying in the sun never saying a word.
I never had to ask Harold to come see me. He just somehow knew when I needed a shoulder to lean or cry on and would be there. He was only concerned for my comfort and giving of himself was his true nature.

Harold asked me to marry him at the end of that summer…with just one stipulation attached. I had to finish college before we could get married. He was going into the Navy after he graduated from high school. He honored his father enough to follow in his footsteps and I respected his decision. So, the wedding would be the Christmas after I had graduated.

During his senior year he sent me notes written on the back of restaurant checks and ticket stubs and concert tickets. All places he had been telling me, “I wish you were here…it just isn’t the same without you.” He came to see me at school on weekends he wasn’t working and I went home for homecoming, Christmas, the Valentine’s Day Dance, and prom. I watched as Harold received his high school diploma and cried when we said good bye as he boarded the bus for basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Station.

He wrote every week and all of a sudden, one week I didn’t get a letter. His sister called me. Harold had passed away after contracting spinal meningitis during his basic training. I was devastated. My true agape love was gone!

I have never met anyone else like Harold…except for one man. This man showed the same agape love that Harold demonstrated every day. This man is Jesus.

Jesus patiently listens to me for hours on end. He is always there with a hug or to hold my hand. He gave so much of Himself that he laid His life down for me. He cherishes me as His and forgives my errors over and over each and every day. This man loves me unconditionally and is coming back as my bridegroom. He sees the best in me and knows even before I do my wants and desires. There is never lust in His heart…only acceptance.

The only thing He asks in return is that we imitate Him and show this agape kind of love to all people around us. We need to truly love our neighbors as ourselves and to always put Him first and foremost in our lives. We should strive to be an action every day to every person we meet…just like Jesus.

Our brother and Apostle Paul says it best, “…Faith, Hope, and Love abide, but the greatest of these is Love.” 1Corinthians 13:13

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