Aaaah, Valentine's Day. It was 18 years ago today that my husband asked me to marry him and I've been living in love ever since. Romantic love is a thrill.
I got to thinking about love. What does it mean? What does it look like?Yes, love is a husband who cherishes his wife.
And yes, love is a wife who honors her husband.
Love is also a friend of mine who, with her husband, has given her life to the cause of traveling the world to encourage others in their marriage relationship.
Love is putting the needs of others ahead of your own.
It can be the poets, musicians, actors... artists of all kinds devoting themselves to their craft, that they might enrich the lives of those around them.
Love is the daycare worker who pours love out to children who aren't her own, as though they were.
It is saying, "Sure I can help," when you secretly had other plans for your day.
Love is a smile, a hug, an encouraging word.
It is families adopting needy children into an already strained budget, but they are compelled by love anyway.
Love is a mother up most of the night to soothe her sick children.
Love is a father giving up the day he had planned, in order to play catch in the yard with his children.
Love is a grandmother who spends moment upon moment, day upon day, year upon year, quilting beautiful designs, thinking about her family with every stitch.
Love is a grandfather who prays every day for each of his grandchildren, near and far.
The policemen, firefighters, or soldiers who willingly put themselves in harm's way to protect others, that is love.
Love is a friend of mine who is caring for her father with advanced Alzheimer's disease. He doesn't always recognize her. He has forgotten how wounding harsh words can be, and has tried to physically harm her. Yet she stands over his hospital bed, stroking his head, quieting him with gentle mercy. Love, for sure.
It is the missionary who has left comfortable life to go live among perishing AIDS patients, just to help their dying days have dignity.
Love is time invested in others.
It is forgiving someone who hasn't asked for it, nor do they deserve it.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
To love and be loved are basic and vital needs we all share.
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