Happy V-Day!

Today is Valentine’s Day; the day of love. I myself have never been in a relationship for Valentine’s Day, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know the definition of love. There are all kinds. The love you have for your best friends, the love you have for your family, the love you have for your significant other, the love you have with your God, and the love you have with yourself.

Each of these loves are beautiful because they all come from our heavenly father. They make us the people we are – providing us with strength and comfort and happiness. The people we love are the people we know we can rely on no matter what the scenario. This love helps us feel confident in ourselves. And this love makes us whole.

It also strengthens our relationship with Jesus as we strive to live our lives in his example with the rules that he gave us: Love one another.
But many people have thought about and talked about love over the years and many of them have influenced me or at least made me stop and think. Now I would like to share with you some of my favorite thoughts on love:

--on love—
• Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek it’s own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
• Love is giving someone the ability to destroy you, but trusting them not to
• In the absence of love there is nothing worth fighting for.
• Love is a journey, not a destination; travel its path daily.

--relationships—
• You aren't going to be her first, her last, or her only. She’s loved before, she will again, but if she loves you now what else matters? She's not perfect. You aren't either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if she can make you laugh at least once, cause you to think twice, and admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can She's not going to be thinking about you every moment, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you could break. Don’t hurt her, don’t change her, and don’t expect more than she can give you. Don’t analyze. Smile when she makes you happy, yell when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there. Love hard when there’s love to be had.
• To me it's about a mundane task that's suddenly a joy because of who you're doing it with...that's love to me. Someone to fluff while you fold...someone to whisper to at a boring party...

--Friendship love—
• You're not friends because you sit together at lunch or talk on the phone or have matching flip flops or you can recite each other's wardrobe. You're best friends because when she smiles, a grin forces itself across your face, no matter how mad you are
• You often find that it is the person who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, chose rather to share your pain, touching your wounds with a tender, warm hand; The one who was silent with you in a moment of despair or confusion, who stayed with you in an hour of grief, who tolerated not knowing, not curing, not healing and faced with you the reality of powerlessness, that is the friend who cared
• When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your BEST FRIEND will be there.
• Friends are like quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly
• A friend is someone you can be alone with and have nothing to do and not be able to think of anything to say and be comfortable in the silence.

--Family love—
• As you reach forward with one hand, accept the advice of those who have gone before you, and in the same manor reach back with the other hand to those who follow you; for life is a fragile chain of experiences held together by love.
• Sisters are for sharing laughter and wiping tears.
• Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there.
• I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich
• To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.


--with God—
• The soul must long for God in order to be set aflame by God’s love; but if the soul cannot yet feel this longing, then it must long for the longing. To long for the longing is also from God.
• You look at us Lord and see our faults and weaknesses; you see our pettiness, our selfishness, our narrow-mindedness, our arrogance, and you still love us. You love us just as we are with all of our flaws and imperfections. You love us without reservations or condemnation…

--Loving yourself—
• You have to love yourself before anyone else does
• This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
• Even if you produce stuff that's interesting to nobody but yourself, the activity justifies itself. Making things is a way of finding out who you are