Optimist Roundtable

By Martha Sykes

“What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No not just for some, but for everyone”. Some of you may recognize those words from a familiar song. God‘s love is the best! Our most important commandment is that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength and love our neighbors as ourselves.

We are to show God‘s love every day in our walk of life. Josh Baldwin has a song out entitled “Evidence” and it is all about seeing the evidence of God’s goodness in our lives.

These past couple months I have seen the evidence of God‘s love shine through in our community. It always amazes me how our neighbors and friends reach out in times of sadness, in times of sorrow, and then times when we need to feel God‘s love the most. For instance, there have been two fundraisers for families going through a rough time and the outpouring of help and donations for them has been phenomenal!! The kindness of friends and even strangers in the midst of sadness and trials is amazing!

Just recently, we have had a lot of deaths in our community; some very sudden, some expected, and others just hard to believe. The families of those affected have been very blessed by the outpouring of love and support during these sad times. It is during moments like this where I have seen God‘s love so evident through the caring and giving of others to help people’s hearts to heal and cope with their grief.

It is times like this when we need to lean on the everlasting arms of God. When we don’t understand and when we doubt, that is when we need to trust in His love and ask for His strength. We can’t do it alone and we don’t have to. In our community, when something happens, people are right there to lend a helping hand or give a hug just to show they care.

When we least expect it, the love of God shines through.

We are reminded many times that life can be short and that life is precious. So as we approach Valentine’s Day, let us remind all those around us about how much we love them, but most of all, how much God loves us all.

Love is God, and if we love, we are like Him.