This weekend, I'm going to become someone's in-law. So, today's reading has a little bit more connection for me.
When Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, the story moves along quickly. Almost too quickly. He touches her hand, the fever leaves, and Matthew tells us, “She got up and began to serve him.”
I remember reading that the first time and feeling a little bad for her. At first glance, it can sound like Jesus healed her so she could get back to work. But Matthew isn’t describing an obligation she had, but a restoration Jesus gave her.
Before the fever hit, she had a role. She had a place everyone knew and loved. A way of loving others through hospitality. So, as she lay in bed with a fever, her illness didn’t just take her strength. It took away her ability to participate in the life of her household. When Jesus heals her, he doesn’t simply make her comfortable again. He gives her life back. Service here is not some burden she must now get back to endure. Her service is a sign of joy regained. 
This is often how love works. Real love doesn’t only comfort us when we’re worn down. Oh, it does give us rest, but it also restores us so we can re-enter the world with purpose and meaning. And God's love reconnects us to who we are meant to be and how we are meant to give ourselves away.
Jesus heals us so we can live again, and living again means loving again. Loving freely, gladly, and with open hands.
Stay blessed...john | 
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