Soft Cookies are one of my favorite things. We buy some called  Strawberry  Filled Soft Cookies. And they are delicious.

They also come in raspberry.  Besides their great taste, the price is pretty good…. 99cents for a small box of 9 cookies. You can find them at Kay’s Bestway and Houchens.  A cup of coffee or a glass of milk with these cookies make these “favorite things”  taste even better!

Gary Smalley’s book “Love is a Verb” has something for everyone. The book is full of stories of “what happens when love comes alive.”  These are true stories from everyday people like you and me and like…. Doris, who chose to love her husband when what she really wanted to do was run away.

Like Loretta, whose family was mended by love in action. Like Kevin who found out what sacrifice for another person isn’t… as well as what it is.  Like Jacquelyn, who found the courage to love someone who seemed truly unlovable. All these true stories  are good and  provide a lot of insight into human relationships.

Love is a verb. It’s action. It’s “doing”. We should know that  because many of us had “The Love Chapter”  read at our weddings. Some of us had it read twice! ( We married the second time.)   I’m speaking of 1Corinthians, chapter 13, in the Bible.

The problem is, we don’t truly hear the  words and we  certainly don’t “do” the words.  Verse four  begins with “Love is patient, love is kind.” IF we put only those two statements into practice, we could change our marriages ( and other relationships)  dramatically  for the better.  

But we don’t. We think the other person should be patient and kind and when they show patience and kindness to us, then we’ll respond with patience and kindness to them.  They don’t do it. We don’t do it. It doesn’t happen. It’s called pride.  

As long as we hold onto our pride and refuse to “do” love, our marriages and  our relationships with others are not going to get better. I know. Been there, done that, too many times.

Most people give up on love too fast. Walking away from relationships doesn’t  provide the hoped for relief, bring solutions or simplify life. Instead more problems pile on  through the lingering resentment and finger-pointing.

IF love is going to last for the long haul, it has to be more than “that lovin’ feelin’”. It has to be something we “do”.

We have to demonstrate it concretely in our marriages, our  family, among our friends and acquaintances. And yes, even among our enemies! (Now that’s a doozey!)

We can learn to take the obstacles, the  “lemons” we face, in life and turn them into the satisfying, the positive, into sweet tasting  lemonade.

It can be done and the stories in this book, give 40 excellent examples to encourage us to do so.

Several  years ago, I finally realized I wasn’t a very kind or patient person to live with.   I decided it was time for me to “do”  something about it. I needed to change.  I  got my Bible out and copied verses four through seven   of 1 Corinthians down on a piece of paper and put the paper on the refrigerator door where I could see it daily.

It took me awhile. I’m a slow learner with a lot of pride. ( And I’m not proud of that.) Verse eight gave me hope and encouragement to “do” love. Verse eight says ” Love never fails.” And that’s absolutely true, love never fails.

Abortion is big business. In a recent column I shared prices of abortions at a  clinic in Louisville. What I’ve  never thought about was  other businesses that would be involved with abortion. One of them is the disposal of the “waste” that results from an abortion.

Now, “waste” is a nice word  for aborted  babies. Something has to be done with this “waste” so there are companies that specialize in collecting medical wastes from hospitals and other medical facilities.  They also collect aborted babies from abortion clinics.

Recently, Crosstalk  Radio aired a program with Michael Marcavage, CSS(Campaign to Stop Stericycle) Director, about the huge medical waste disposal company Stericycle and its collaboration with the abortion industry. Stericycle’s primary means of servicing the abortion industry is through the use of trucks that are leased from national truck leasing companies. These trucks are used to collect the “waste” from abortion mills, then transport “it” and incinerate “it”.

Campaign to Stop Stericycle (CSS) is urging immediate calls to the following companies, imploring them to stop allowing their vehicles to be used by Stericycle for the purpose of collecting “waste” from abortion mills.Ryder System, Inc- 305/500-3726. Idealease, Inc-847/304-6000. Aim NationalLease- 300/759-0438. PAC Lease-425/428-7877. Calls can also be made to Mark C Miller, President of Stericycle. Call his desk at 847/607-2088 or e-mail: mmiller@stericycle.com

If you are pro-life and if  you own mutual funds, you might want to check and see if Stericycle is one of the companies in your portfolio. It’s listed on the stock market as SRCL.

In closing, here’s some food for thought… “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” Spoken by President Ronald Reagan, who would have been 100 years Feburary 6th.

Thanks again for reading my column. Till next week.