Love is in The Air

Valentine's Day is an interesting day. After marriage, it seems to be that extra day that is thrown in along with birthdays, your wedding anniversary, half birthdays, and half wedding anniversaries. I think you get the picture!!! There are so many expectations around it, based off of the World's view of what is expected on this day. You can watch hundreds of husbands rush in to the local stores to pick up some beautiful roses or flower bouquets before they are too late. The day after, you can expect great sales on chocolates. These realizations got me thinking about the word we often use so lightly... Love!

We all feel love in different ways. We express love the easiest way we know how. For me, I love a good talk with someone, time spent with those I call my friends and family, a tight hug, and written notes. Those things could mean less to my spouse and friends. I have learned of my husband's love language. His love language is words of affirmation, and sometimes service. He appreciates, more than anything, when he is told that he is valued, doing things right, and appreciated for his goodness. This has been a new expression of love for me.  This was not the love language expressed in my home growing up (it was quality time, service, and physical touch) or for me personally.

We decided that for us personally, we want to step out of the usual expectations and go deeper than that. We cooked dinner together the night before Valentine's Day, and then we danced in the living room to some of our favorite love songs. I woke up early the next morning to surprise Lee with a breakfast. I wanted to send him off feeling happy and loved that day. Little did I know, Lee waited until I was asleep to hide messages all around the house with the reasons he loves me, and the qualities he sees in me. This meant more than a bouquet of flowers would have meant for me personally. He had saved some text messages beforehand that he would send to me throughout the day as clues to find these notes. I spent the whole day on a treasure hunt and had so much fun doing it. I even began searching myself and I found one under the bed and in the game closet. He was surprised when I told him I had already found them!

We have a tradition of heart attacking neighbors on Valentines Day. We made brownies for our favorite neighbors here in De Pere, Wisconsin. We wrote them a card of how special it is for us to have them as new "adopted grandparents." This brought a ginormous smile to the face of LaVonne and she called her husband out to the kitchen to play another game of Farkle with us. There is no greater feeling of love than when you step out to help those around you. Everyone needs a helping hand, and everyone needs to know they are doing okay in life. This was a special memory for us. We also went with some friends to go and heart attack another family. They just recently had a baby. It was fun to stick hearts all over their door and door bell ditch them. My husband waited for all of us to run and then he knocked loudly and ran to where we were hidden. We had a wonderful time sharing the love. No matter our circumstance, we can all find someone to love. Everyone is deserving of love, even those who have hurt us.

I am learning that the best way to love is to step out of our "comfort zones", do what we know matters for the other person, let go of selfishness as much as we can, and pray for more. It is a lifelong journey. Love is all continuous, has no end, and can heal lives and the world around us. Yet it has its way of staying a mystery to us. Perhaps it must be that way, or we would not grow in our discoveries of how wonderful love can be when we get a tiny new perspective on just how powerful it is in our lives. If it goes sour, it can destroy lives and set us back. My hope is that I will continue on this journey and learn to love as Christ loves, perfectly and expecting no reward. This is why it is a lifelong journey. I hope you can join in this journey and learn more of love today, and always.