Love Believes All

One Saturday morning my mom came in and sat at the edge of Rebekah’s bed.  She had gotten a call from the mother of some students we knew from our high school biology class.

“They say you were using a bad word.”  The creases in her forehead reflected the doubt in her voice. 

I watched from my side of the room as Rebekah, dumbfounded, searched her memory for any ideas of what they could be referencing.  In most high school biology labs, swearing might not be out of place, but in our tight-knit, home school community peers were pressured into conservatism.  My mom asked me, but neither of us could come up with what could have troubled this unknown accuser.

This put my mom in the unfortunate situation of having to tell us the word.  It is difficult to say who was most embarrassed.  We stared at her blankly.

"What does it mean?"  Rebekah asked

We had never heard it before, but it did clear up the mystery. 

Follow the jump to read more!


The day before we had been dissecting live frogs.  Mercifully, frogs are rendered brain dead before dissection – this comatose state is known as pithed.  A classmate overheard Rebekah referring to the immobilized frog and assumed she was saying…well, something else.

We were flummoxed.  Why would anyone assume something like that?  We were almost equally surprised that they could confused a scientific term with something they must have learned in a gutter.  I later convinced my mom to tell me who had called.

“Don’t let this change how you behave towards her kids in class,” she cautioned. 

But I couldn’t help it.  Not only did this one of our friends know some word we shouldn’t say, she hadn’t given Rebekah the benefit of the doubt.  Someone hadn’t believed the best of her.  Naïve as it was, this is what I had learned to expect in the safety of my small, satisfactory world.  I stayed as far away from her as possible. 


In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things.”  My mom loved us by believing in us and defending us to those who did not.  As we celebrate the international month of love, I wish my valentine to be belief and hope in others.  I want to be someone people count on, and not the person they cautiously avoid. 

Who has always had your back?  Share some love and leave a comment!
Image from http://antiqueimages.blogspot.com/