LOVE
love (luv) n. [< OE. lufu] 1. strong affection or liking for someone or something 2. a passionate affection for one
of the opposite sex 3. the object of such affection; sweetheart 4. Tennis a score of zero --vt., vi., loved, lov'ing
to feel love (for) --in love feeling love --make love 1. to woo, embrace, etc. 2. to have sexual intercourse --
lov'a*ble, love'a*ble adj. --love'less adj.
This is Webster's New World Dictionary, circa 1987.
In the joy of the Valentine's holiday, I got to thinking about love.
I have great love for my family.
I love my kiddos and husband more than anyone else I can think of, besides Jesus.
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(The love I have for Jesus goes unmatched because I cannot gauge this love by way of convenience or external circumstances.
I do not love Him because He was birthed by me, for example.
I believe wholeheartedly that He SOUGHT me, RESCUED me, and BROUGHT ME TO HIM.
I am His.
Wholly His.
This can be said of no other.)
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Love this.
He made me feel secure when, surrounded by snow, we sat in my silver Jetta and he told me he would never leave.
He had just met Crazy, but he wasn't running.
My three FAVORITE people in the entire world are my momma, sister, and husband (Here, Jesus and the kiddos are just assumed because they naturally fall under favorites.)
For likely obvious reasons, these three have felt more of my wrath than any other
-and I their's- and yet there is an untouchable love that is shared between each of them and I.
Both Lexi and Elias are our god-babies. They have incredible favor from us.
And Big Strong Man and I have eleven nieces and nephews, and two godchildren. We also have two sponsor children: Wilbert through World Vision, and Solange through Food for the Hungry.
Wilbert is from Guatemala and shares the same birthday as Zeplin.
Solange is from Rwanda and was brought to us after the sponsor child we had initially, Kirabu, moved with her family to a better environment- these ministries work!!
There is a deep, heart filled to overflowing love for each of these precious children.
Our family has grown and expanded to include three brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law, and ten+ pets.
Our boys are blessed incredibly with three sets of grandparents and two great-grandparents who are still with us.
We have many friends with whom we are very close.
One family we look at with such admiration, for they have set such an example of who we desire to model our family after in many ways. (God love you, M. Family.)
Their are four of us: Jayne, Jen, Nikki, and I, and we have been friends since elementary school. These girls stood beside me as Bridesmaids when Big Strong Man and I were married.
We are the type of friends who can go long periods of time without chatting, but still meet together when we can and cherish those moments.
I have this same relationship with Denise, another Bridesmaid and wonderful friend.
Julia and Lizzy are two dear college friends of mine.
We shared moments in life that I would never exchange, nor would have liked
to have shared with any other, and I value those moments greatly.
In Germany -one of my most favorite countries!- I shared life with a wonderful family:
The K. family.
Oh my. Such love.
This is the family I had the great honor of being an Au-Pair for.
Inga, Stefan (Papa), Billy (Papa), Joyce, and Joann.
And Minnie, the cat, too.
There are many others Big Strong Man and I share great love for.
Although his family is not very large, mine is, so there is love spread out to each aunt and uncle, first and second cousin, and every "great-aunt" we don't even know by name.
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This world is so much bigger than us!
In Los Angeles, CA, there is a ministry called the Dream Center and it is full of ministries each equip with sharing the love of Christ.
There is a love that is still deep within me for the teens (who are now adults) I lived with at the Los Angeles Dream Center when I was a staff member of the Dream Center Teen Discipleship Program.
If you follow my Facebook, you will see quotes by Pastor Matthew Barnett and ideas of ministries going on there: how you can help and the success that they are.
I am so honored to have sat underneath him for two years because I saw firsthand how he embraced the families at Skid Row with genuine hugs and how his lovely wife Caroline got down on her knees on these dirty streets to smile at a little girl with ratty hair.
How they were not tainted with the dirt these people carried on them, rather, they saw the very souls within these people and they saw their worth.
When I would attend Adopt-A-Block, I would wear my dingiest clothing. Certainly nothing special. The streets often had urine in them, port-o-potties were everywhere, cockroaches.
But Pastor Matthew and Caroline Barnett, they wore their very best. To them, these people deserved the same respect any other would.
Genuine love knows no bounds.
I saw this firsthand.
This is also where I met the woman who loved me like a momma when I was 2500+ miles from my actual momma. My sweet Jules.
And one particular girl (who is now officially a woman) who I thought of like a little sister growing up. This girl, who had outgrown Barbies before, I, her baby-sitter. This girl I would drive to art class and watched her place in a beauty pageant. N.
So LOVE; how are you reflecting your love today? Who reminds you of what LOVE really means?
There is a lot of love in our lives.
I hope you feel all the love in your own life today.
-with love, gomommyblogger
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