Love by Actions

My youngest daughter is a senior in high school. She is part of the color guard in marching band.

I have difficulty going to football games and sitting in the stands due to surgery that I had on my hip several years ago. But this year, I wanted to attend as many home games as possible to watch the band perform. Of course, as you know, the issues with my husband has limited my ability even further to go to the games.

Last night was the big rivalry game with the school that is just 5 miles down the road. It was also the night before the UIL marching contest.

I asked my daughter to text me when they went down on the field to warm up just before halftime and I went up to the field and watched the performance. Luckily we live only a couple of blocks from the school so I was able to get up there in time to see them perform.

I was happy I was finally able to get up to a game and see the band’s show. ‘

My daughter knows that I love her, but sometimes, we must show them how important they are to us.

Because of the time in the hospital (over a week) and the inability of my husband to do too much on his own because of pain and discomfort, I have not been able to do as much as I would like to show my daughter with actions how much I love her.

She knew I was coming to the game last night at halftime and was pleased to see me afterwards. But today, I surprised her even further.

Today was marching UIL contest. Which means all of the schools in our district perform their shows and receive scores from judges. If your school gets a score of 1, they get to advance to Area.

In Texas, because there are so many schools, advancing only happens every other year. This is a year for the size school she attends to advance. The band has not been to state since my girls have been participating (I’m not really sure the last time the band qualified to advance to state). This year, the seniors are determined to change that. Their unofficial motto is #statebound.

As I sat watching college football with my husband, I was reminded of 1 James 3:18

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Today I decided to let my actions speak for me. My husband has been resting comfortably and I thought I could leave him for a couple of hours and ‘surprise’ my daughter by showing up at the contest.

I got there just as they were marching in and, although I saw her, she did not see me (so focused on the task ahead). I climbed up the steps in the stadium, found a seat that allowed me an unobstructed view and watched with pride as the band performed.

It wasn’t until after the show was over and the band was headed off to take the official pictures, that she saw me. I’m not sure if it was just me, but her eyes seemed to light up when she saw me. My 17 year-old smiled and said “Hey mom. I didn’t know you were coming.” Surprise!

By taking just a few hours out of my day, trusting that my husband would be fine resting with college football on the television, I showed my daughter that, even though I need to spend my energy and time taking care of her dad/my husband more than usual right now, I still value and love her.