The Love of One

 …you can consider this my “In  Thanks-giving” Day 6 post- ha!

I have recently set a goal for myself.  What am I talking about; it’s February, everyone recently set goals.  I did make some resolutions, but this goal isn’t actually one of them.  Maybe that’s why I have so much conviction for it?  Resolutions and I have a love-hate relationship…Well this goal is special- I’m making this goal in my husband’s honor.  For any who may not know, my husband, Jason Edwards, passed away last year. {wow, yeah- it hasn’t been a year yet, but it was last year: May 26, 2013}

Jason was {and is} a lot of things.  He’s a husband, a brother, a son, an uncle, a best friend, a believer, a hard worker, an entrepreneur, a creator, just to name a few!  Above all though, my husband is a servant.  A servant to God and a servant to all those he comes in contact with.  I’ve never met someone who is so willing to give of his time and talents.  Jason served in callings at church; he has been a DJ, an assistant scout master, a young men’s leader, a member of the Elder’s Quorum presidency, an Elder’s Quorum teacher, and even a missionary in Idaho for 2 years {yes- he served in the Pocatello Mission- poor guy ;) } Jason has helped organize service projects, through our church {like for the day of service}, and also on his own, for people we know and care about.  Often those projects included helping people move—no offense world, but it seems everyone wants to move on a day that qualifies as one of the following: the hottest day ever, the coldest day ever, the rainiest day ever, or some erratic combination of the three!  What I love most about Jason’s service to others though, is that, most often, it was spontaneous and a huge inconvenience. 

Yes, I said it, his service was often an inconvenience, but isn’t that what makes it so unbelievably beautiful?  That despite the sacrifice, he was always willing and never {at least within my earshot} complained about that sacrifice.  There were many times that Jason got home from work later than planned because there was someone on the side of the road, with a flat tire, a smoking engine, shoot- there was even one time we were running late to meet family and saw a young lady whip her flaming-yes flaming-car off the road.  As I was suggesting {okay, maybe shouting} that we should pull over, Jason was already on the shoulder calling the fire department.  The sacrifice never seemed to matter as long as he was serving.

When Jason passed away, we had a Celebration of Life for him.  He always said he wanted a party when he passed away, so we gave him one.  Never in my life have I seen so many individuals gathered in honor of one person, especially a deceased person.  I was blown away.  What I found out that night, was that all this time, through Jason’s many acts of service, he was doing more than just moving boxes, and changing tires: Jason was loving.  I wish I had been the one to realize it, but it was friends of ours who pointed it out that night.  Jason had a way of making every person he met feel like he/she was THE most important person to him.  What a phenomenal talent.  I have to admit, early on our relationship, this was hard for me.  I couldn’t separate his love for everyone else from his love for me.  It got easier, the longer we were together; I began to recognize the differences in the type of love and the ways he showed it, but it wasn’t until the night of his Celebration of Life that I finally understood why it had been so hard in the beginning.  Jason literally loves everyone.  He didn’t even want me to talk about people to explain how infuriated I was with them; he always wanted me to let it go {not a Frozen reference…}.  LOVE: such an incredible way to serve others, and sometimes a harder way than just helping when it’s needed. 

Over the past few months I’ve explained over and over what an incredible example Jason has been to me during our time together in this life, and this is just another way he has taught me.  But I am determined, determined to put my knowledge to use, so that all those days and nights my husband sacrificed can continue to bless my life and the lives of others.  So here is my goal:

I’m going to serve.  Each month in 2014, I will complete one act of kindness, maybe random, maybe not, but every act will be done in Jason’s name.  I plan to record my “Jason’s Acts of Kindness” {JAKs} here {but maybe not in complete detail- because secret acts of kindness are always more fun} so that you can follow along.  My hope is that through Jason’s example, we can all learn to love more purely, more completely, and more abundantly because we never know who needs to feel loved.

As I post each month, feel free to get in on the action and start loving others through service!  I miss getting those service reports each afternoon, so I’d love to hear some creative ways you are serving!!

With Love,

Cassie