Know what I love? Love.
The love of my husband. My daughter. My friends. My students.
The love of God.
That’s kind of why I wonder about the verse I picked for today.
Genesis 29:11 (GW)–Then Jacob kissed Rachel and sobbed loudly.
What’s going on here? Jacob’s been driven from his home and family and made this incredible journey, one where he even got to hear God’s voice as he watched the angels climb from heaven to earth and back again. The man had been through a lot.
And then he sees Rachel. With a manly show of strength, he rolls away a huge stone for her and then embraces her, falling apart into tears.
Why? It could be that he was overwhelmed with the fact that his journey was over. That he’d been through so much he finally felt like he could let down his guard.
Then the romantic in me wonders… is it because he realized he was finally home?
Know how I know when I’m home? When my husband is there. In 2010, we moved to Tennessee, but the day before we moved into our house, he had to leave. I unpacked everything that first week, but it never felt right. I never felt settled… until he walked through the door and kicked his boots off by the door.
Now… Now it was home.
I firmly believe God creates The One for us. And I believe when you find that person, you know. Maybe not in the first moment, but sooner or later, you know. This is the one who makes you perfectly you.
Maybe, just maybe, Jacob saw Rachel and he knew. This was her. This was The One.
This was home.
-JB
Jessica R. Patch says
I love this. I loved that he worked 14 years for her. And I’m glad I have my “Jacob”! 🙂 Great post!
Jodie says
I know! I would love to know what was going through his head, though. The real reason he cried like that. And here’s to our “Jacobs!”
Sandy Rosser says
I so agree with you. Home is where you are loved. That is why our ultimate home is with God in Heaven. Can’t wait to get there but while I wait, anywhere I’m truly loved is home. Sandy
Dawn Lucowitz says
I chose verse 20. “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, buy they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.”
Jacob ultimately worked 14 years to marry Rachel, if that’s not love, I don’t know what is! I am drawn to this section because there is that romantic, first time I saw you, kind of love shown, but then there is the love that goes beyond that. It is clear that Jacob had a clear and lasting love. He had to work hard to be with Rachel but to him it flew by because she was worth it. This passage shows that being together takes hard work, but if it meant to be, it is so worth it. So much in the bible reminds me of army life, and this does as well. So many of my civilian friends don’t understand being married to someone you only get to see some of the time. They don’t understand that for many military wives, they may spend about half of their married life in other worlds (literally). But, like you mentioned, when your husband walked through that door, you were home. Well, the time we get to actually spend together makes the time apart worth it. In so many ways, that time apart helps the marriage to grow in so many ways, probably in the same way that working all those years to marry Rachel made Jacob stronger and wiser. It probably helped intensify the love he would be able to share when they finally were married.