Love Is Everything

Love.

Think about it. It’s everywhere.

It’s in the tears that fall from someone’s eyes when we have hurt them, or when they are so burdened for another; that they bring them to the Lord in prayer - over and over and over again. It’s in the tears that fall when that someone dies, or gets hurt.

Love is in the unspoken things that are done for each other. Things like buying our spouse’s favorite brand of cereal or chips.

Ironing their shirt. 

Love is in the music that grips our heart because it reminds us of a certain time and place - shared with someone close to our heart. And it exists in every beat.

It’s in the smells that remind us of a meal lovingly made for us, when we were growing up. It’s in the scent of the cologne or perfume, that lingered long after we were hugged.  

Love is in so many things. The clean sheets and blankets our mama tucked us into, at bed at night. The handwritten note we kept in our closet for years. The dried flower left over from that special occasion. The awkward knick-knack our child gave us when they were a toddler.

It’s all around us. It’s in us. Beside us. In front of us and behind us.
It’s the greatest gift God has ever given us, and we are capable of heaping it into the hearts and souls of those around us. We can give it again and again. We can grow it. We can BE it.

Love.

Love can fuel us, if we let it. I know for me…. it’s what I wake up each morning wanting to feel. What I want to give.

I live for it. I long for it.

To me, love is feeling connected to someone else through a hug, a gift, or a few words of appreciation. It’s seeing the expressions of laughter, adoration, camaraderie, and joy in being together - when you look at a photograph.

I don’t know how people live without knowing the feeling of love in their hearts, and in their life.

A resonating example of love that has always stuck with me - is a video clip I saw of Princess Diana once.  She had been away from her boys, and they were coming to see her after she had just returned. They were running to her, and she stretched open her arms as far as she could. And just waited for them to run into them.

That visual has always stayed with me.

That is how I try to live my life. With arms outstretched. I want those I love to be able to run into them. To feel my love. To know my love. 

And - because my Lord and Savior is love…I feel HIM when I’m either giving or receiving it. And it’s the greatest feeling in the world. 

I never want to live outside of that feeling.

I want to be known for my love. Not just for my family (but OH YES, I want my GREAT love to be known for my family.) But, I also want to be known for my great love for my Lord. 

For my country. 

For the hurting, the lost, the forgotten, and the ill.

You see…love IS. 

Love WAS. 

And love CAN be.

It’s everything.

Reach out for it. Give it. 

Embrace it.