Between Sundays: Love That Fights Back by Refusing to Quit

Most people think love fights back by getting louder. By proving a point. By winning the argument. By striking back when it’s hurt. But the strongest kind of love I’ve ever seen doesn’t look like that at all. It looks like staying when leaving would be easier.

This column was inspired by one of my kids. She’s thirteen. Loves basketball. Admires Jesus deeply. Carries a 4.0 GPA. She’s the kind of kid most people would describe as quiet, steady, trying to live her life the right way. Not perfect. Just sincere.

This season, she was playing really well. Growing. Finding her rhythm. Then one play changed everything. She went down hard, grabbing her knee.

A few days later, we got the news no athlete ever wants to hear. A torn ACL. For those who know sports, you know what that means. Surgery. Rehab. Months of slow, painful work. A long road back. And then came the question that broke my heart: “Why would Jesus let this happen to me?”

I wish I could tell you I gave her some profound answer. I didn’t. I reached for the same phrases most parents do in moments like that. The familiar ones. The tidy ones. The ones meant to make pain make sense. But none of them landed.

What did land surprised me. I told her this. Jesus will be with you in the rehab. In the grind. In the long days when progress feels invisible. He knows your tears. He will not leave you. Every step of the way, He will be there.

That was the first time I saw her shoulders relax. Not because the injury made sense. Not because the road got easier. But because she realized she wouldn’t walk it alone.

That’s when it hit me. Love doesn’t always fight back by fixing the pain. Sometimes it fights back by refusing to quit on you in the middle of it.

We live in a fractured world. And the temptation we face most often isn’t hatred. It’s withdrawal. Disengagement. Emotional quitting. We pull back when things get hard. We stop caring when caring costs too much. We distance ourselves when staying feels exhausting. But real love endures pressure because it chooses presence over escape.

There is a moment, just before everything changed, when Jesus was under more pressure than most of us will ever know. In the Garden of Gethsemane, fear and anguish pressed in. Sweat fell like drops of blood. He had a chance to walk away. Instead, He chose obedience. He chose to move forward. He trusted that love would carry the weight.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42–44)

That moment teaches us something important. Love fights back by staying when walking away would cost less. Endurance is a form of love. Love is not always loud. Sometimes love looks like patience. Like showing up again. Like consistency when no one is clapping. Like presence when answers are scarce.

Between Sundays, this is where love gets tested. It shows up in marriages when the feelings fade but the commitment remains. In parenting when the days are long and the progress feels slow. In leadership when results don’t come as quickly as you hoped. In community when relationships are messy and imperfect. In faith itself when belief feels more like perseverance than certainty.

Love runs the long race. Love keeps doing good even when the results lag behind the effort. Love refuses to grow weary, even when weariness feels justified. This kind of love doesn’t just survive hardship. It transforms it.

Watching my daughter begin this journey has reminded me that love is not proven by how quickly we escape pain. It’s proven by how faithfully we stay present and walk through it together.

When living your life Between Sundays, the question isn’t whether you’ll face moments that make you want to quit. You will. The question is this. Where are you tempted to quit when love is calling you to stay?

As this year winds down, many people are tired. Worn out. Ready to check out emotionally. Ready to coast. But love that fights back finishes strong. Not by force. Not by volume. But by faithfulness. Keep showing up. Keep loving.

Because sometimes the most powerful resistance in the world is simply refusing to quit.

Keep The Faith (K.T.F.)

When love chooses presence over escape, it changes lives, and these stories are small glimpses of that kind of love at work.

Special Olympics Polar Plunge Builds Community Through Courage

In Texas, students, teachers, and staff from United Independent School District came together for their annual Polar Plunge to support Special Olympics athletes. With performances, skits, cheering crowds, and a literal plunge into cold water, the event raised both funds and awareness while bringing people together across abilities and backgrounds. It was joyful and uncomfortable all at once. A reminder that sometimes love looks like stepping into the cold so someone else feels seen, supported, and celebrated.

Read more: Laredo Morning Times

Groups Across the Country Are Choosing Connection Over Isolation

Across cities like Baltimore, Akron, Pittsburgh, and rural Kentucky, grassroots groups are pushing back against loneliness by creating spaces for people to reconnect. Community hubs, shared gardens, neighborhood dinners, and local gatherings are helping people rediscover the simple power of being together. In a culture that often pulls us apart, these quiet efforts are stitching community back together one conversation and one shared moment at a time.

Read more: AP News

Notes of Encouragement Quietly Spread Hope Across Milwaukee

In Milwaukee, one woman has spent nearly a decade leaving handwritten notes of encouragement around the city for strangers to find. Over nine years, she has placed more than 900 messages offering hope, kindness, and reassurance in everyday places. She never knows who will find them or when, but she believes someone always needs them. Her small act of faithfulness has inspired others to do the same, creating a quiet culture of encouragement across the city.

Read more: Up North News

This week at the table, ask this question:

“When did someone’s presence help you, even if nothing was fixed?”

It might have been a parent sitting with you, a friend checking in, a teammate staying close, or someone simply listening without trying to solve anything.

Talk about how love sometimes helps not by changing the situation, but by refusing to leave in the middle of it. Those quiet moments matter more than we realize.

Let this remind your family that being there for each other is often the strongest form of love we have.

At this time of year, everybody’s hunting for that perfect gift, the one that says, “I see you,” without you having to say a word. And if you’re anything like me, you’d rather spend your dollars with people who are creating something meaningful, building something local, or putting real care into what they offer.

So think of this as my holiday “things I love” list, Oprah style, but Madison and beyond, Selfless Way flavored. These are businesses and products I support, enjoy, and think you should check out for Christmas gifts, host gifts, or just because you want to bless somebody (including yourself).

We’ve got art with heart, self-care products, books, popcorn, coffee … a little of everything. Take a look!