The Story of "Love"

I have many guidelines for how I live my life, but only one rule: Love comes first.

I'm not just talking about romantic love, I mean every kind of love. Love for family and friends, love of my neighbors and community, love in the form of kindness and compassion for not only humanity, but all living things.

My favorite part of the Christmas season is seeing so many people focus on helping one another out. Donations increase, people pick wish lists off Christmas trees to help families in need, we tune in to stories about faith, hope, and love.

One of my favorite Christmas stories is about the real, spontaneous Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War I. That Christmas morning, five months into what remains one of the most violent conflicts the world had ever known, German soldiers stopped firing their guns and started singing carols. Soon British, French, and Russian troops joined. As the sun announced a new day, soldiers crawled out of the trenches. They began shaking hands and exchanging gifts of cigarettes and plum puddings. One group played a good-natured game of soccer.

This story reminds me that, while there is darkness in the world, there is much more light. Every day people look out for one another, soldiers sent to kill one another find opportunities for peace, friends lean on friends, families set aside differences to celebrate, and people all over the world act with kindness and compassion. While we cannot ignore the darkness, we should not trick ourselves into believing it's gaining ground. Shadows are not proof of darkness winning, but of the human spirit shining.

Every time we put love first, that light shines a little brighter. Jesus mentions love more than 70 times directly, and the Bible in full discusses love over 300 times (over 500 in some translations). Living with love and compassion is the central tenant in the teachings of Jesus and his followers. In first Corinthians, Paul instructed early Christians to, "Do all things in love," and this is north star David and I use to guide our choices. Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan, Hindu, Buddhist, or simply spiritual, chances are that love, kindness, compassion, and living life in harmony with nature are at the heart of your beliefs. And if your hard-core atheist, I bet you still value those things. I don't believe this shared belief is a coincidence. I believe love is fundamental to being human and the most important value to hold.

That's why, when it came time to pick a business name, I thought first of "Love". Yes, we say "Love Your Home Repairs", but ensuring our customers are happy with our work is the smallest way we incorporate love. We strive to ensure that everyone we connect with feels valued, appreciated, heard, and supported. We do this by listening, reassuring, explaining, respecting, and helping.  Sometimes this means telling a customer how to fix their toilet in 2 simple steps over the phone and free of charge.  Sometimes it means telling them that they need a $50 dollar solution rather than a $500 dollar repair service. Yes, we believe that in the long run, that's good business, but we also believe it's simply the right way to live.

This holiday season take a moment to ignore the chaos and look at the beauty of humanity reaching outward with love to celebrate the one who showed us how to "Do all things in love".