love, death, and life

For those of you out there, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
I suppose this calls for a story about love, so here goes: I will talk about the love a two fathers, one great and powerful and beautiful, one fractured and broken and human.  I have a father, (for safety's sake, I will alter names) Robin.  I love him more than anything in this world, and probably anyone.  I also have a Heavenly Father, who is his father, too, and needless to say, I love that one as well.
This year, my Great-Grandma died.  One of my friend's friends died.  A boy at my church was diagnosed with Leukemia.  My a friend of my Youth Leader watched her twelve-year-old son die in a dirt bike accident.  And all this (except my grandma--that comes in later) happened within the space of a week.  I was so surrounded by death, that when someone turned to me and said, "Happy Valentine's Day!" it was... you know?  It felt hopeless, like love was clouded out by sadness and death.
But that is so, so horribly not true.
Because death cannot cloud out love--only emphasize it.
Because the Heavenly Father I spoke about used death to show His ultimate love.  In case you haven't heard, now's the time to listen.  That Father gave his son as a sacrifice of love.  He sent his son, Jesus, into this world knowing he would die, so that we, human beings, corrupt and horrible and heartless, could be His children, too.  And Jesus loved his father enough that he let himself be killed, because he knew his dad could make things right.  He knew that dying would make it right.
So he died.  And then, because his love is just that powerful, because he trusted and obeyed his father, he came back to life.  Because that was the important thing, too: God loved us, you, me, enough that he let his son die so that we could all live.
And that's the Heavenly part of the story.
The other part is my dad, Robin.
Because God took his grandma home this Christmas, and surrounded by all that death, I saw the Heavenly Father give him something else back.  Dad's other Great-Grandma lived miles from us, but she showed up on Valentine's with the announcement that we're going to be neighbors.
Maybe that was confusing, but what I'm saying is this: Love gives, it lives, and it thrives, even in death.  It cannot be defeated by anything.
The Bible says there is no greater love than when a man lays down his life for his beloved.
So pretty much, living for love is great, but dying for love is better.
I hope I haven't confused you too much.
--By Firefly