Character Matters

After twenty-two online dates, Paul sighed.  If this woman was any more of a gold digger, she’d be on his lap taking out his fillings.  He really needed to change the “Millionaire” entry on the “Income” line.  He owned his own company and was proud of it, but perhaps he shouldn’t advertise it on first dates.  Something more subtle perhaps - “Moderate income” would keep them guessing.  He’d be returning to the USA soon; a needed change of pace. 

Annie liked Paul’s new eHarmony profile.  Finally a genuine, thoughtful on-line connection.  During the next six weeks, the two grew to close over the internet.  Each message was a seed falling on a fertile heart.  Paul requested a photograph, but Annie refused.  If he really cares, it won’t matter what I look like, she reasoned.

When the day finally came for Paul to return from Europe, she agreed to pick him up at Metro Airport.  "You'll recognize me," Annie wrote, "by the green rose on my lapel."  So when he entered the baggage claim area, he scanned the crowd for a woman whose spirit he loved, but whose face he'd never seen.

His eyes lit up when a young woman sauntered toward him, her figure long and slim.  Her blonde hair lay back in curls behind delicate earrings.  An ivory-colored suit accentuated eyes blue as the Caribbean Sea.  He started toward her, forgetting to notice the absence of any green rose.  

"Looking for anyone special?" she asked provocatively.  

As he stepped closer, Paul spotted Annie standing directly behind the blond goddess.  Wearing a green rose, her graying hair was tucked under a worn hat.  She was full-figured; her thick-ankled feet forced into matronly flats.  

The girl in the ivory suit walked away hastily.  Paul wanted to follow her, but turned his attention back to Annie – the pale, fleshy-faced woman whose gray eyes had a kind twinkle.  Perhaps not the love he had hoped for, but maybe something more precious, a true friend – someone who would walk in when everyone else walks out.

Paul leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek, trying desperately to choke back disappointment. "You must be Annie.  I’m so glad to finally meet you.  Join me for dinner?"

Her face broadened into a charitable smile. "Son, I don't know what this is about!" she answered, "but that young lady in the ivory suit asked me to wear this rose on my coat.  She told me that if you invited me to dinner, to tell you that she’s waiting for you near the taxi stand outside; said it was some kind of test!"

Holy One, we mistake lust for love.  But true love reaches below the surface of physical beauty.   It grows beyond pointing out the good and bad in someone . . . to accepting both.  Agape love stands the tests of time - just like Your love for us.  Thank You!