American Idol & Unconditional love

I have a confession that might make me completely unAmerican. I have never seen a full season of American Idol. truth. This season however, I've been tuning in since my stud husband loves all shows musical. I don't know if you saw Wed. night's episode or not... but it left me in tears. I was so overwhelmed by one of the contestant's stories that I could not help myself. The tears came, and they wouldn't stop.

Chris Medina, a barista from Illinois, shared the story of his engagement to girlfriend Julia Ramos. After dating for many years, he proposed to Julia and planned for a two year engagement. Two weeks prior their wedding date, Julia was in a car accident. Although she survived the accident, she suffers from severe brain damage, is unable to walk, and communication is minimal. In our society's value system, she would appear as a burden.

Chris views it differently. He stated in his clip that what kind of man would he be to walk out on the woman that he loves two weeks prior to saying the vows to love her in sickness and in health? I was floored by this man's commitment and view of marriage. To see the whole clip, click here.

A few thoughts on the matter:

1. Unconditional Love. Whether or not this man is a Christian, I'm not going to speculate, his life is a beautiful picture of unconditional love that we see in Scriptures.  In Scriptures we see a God that loves a sick and dying world. We see a God who unconditionally loves and provides care for His people. Chris Medina is being an earthly picture and reminder of the goodness and grace of God.

2. The value of human life. In a society that is obsessed with success, appearances, "happiness," etc. living a life in service to a human who has little to offer (in our society's opinion) is rare and unheard of. Chris would have every right to "move-on," after all he deserves to be happy. He has every right to live his life fully the way the rest of us do.  He could place Julia in a home, he could fall in love again (not to say he won't), and he could just leave that part of his life behind him. Yet he does not. He values the life of Julia by valuing her well-being. He cares for her alongside of her mother.  He loves the unlovable in our society and once again, he paints a beautiful picture of how we should value life.

I don't know what the future holds for Chris. I don't know whether or not he will continue to care for Julia for the rest of his life or not, but I do know that his choice to do so now has greatly impacted me. I pray that if something ever happened to me or Ben, that we would be able to display that sort of love and grace in our marriage.

Just some food for thought... Much love.