Tag: #love

The Valentine

Read Time 5 Minutes

Valentine’s Day is an annual celebration of romantic love, friendship, and admiration. When the question, “What is love?” is asked, the answers take on many forms. Love is a word used frequently, much of the time overused and misused in ways that make it casual and lose its meaning. However, there are some very famous quotes about love bringing the word back up to a level of powerful importance once again.

” I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” ~ Mother Teresa

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.

“We shall not long have love to man if we do not first and chiefly cultivate love to God.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

Entertainers like to chime in on “love” as well. Here are a couple…

“You always gain, by giving love.” ~ Reese Witherspoon

“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.” Agatha Christie

TRUE LOVE is more than a feeling! Love is more than an action! AND true love is not up for interpretation!

The real and full truth about love comes from knowing and experiencing that God Is Love! (1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16)

The question about love should not be, “What is love?”. The correct question about love is, “WHO IS LOVE?”.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16

HOW CAN WE TAKE PART IN THIS TRUE LOVE? Abide in God and let Him abide in you. Ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and to live in your heart!

HOW CAN WE LOVE, AND THEN IN TURN LOVE OTHERS? Because He first loved us! (1 John 4:19)

HOW MUCH DOES GOD LOVE US? He loves us so much that He gave His Only Son for us!!

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

HOW DO WE SHOW THIS LOVE?

“This is the most important,” Jesus answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE WHEN WE LIVE IT OUT ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN?

“Love is patient, love is kind.
Love does not envy,
is not boastful, is not conceited,
does not act improperly,
is not selfish, is not provoked,
and does not keep a record of wrongs.
Love finds no joy in unrighteousness
but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.” I Corinthians 13:4-7

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

Valentine’s Day is upon us. It is a manmade day to celebrate love, particularly a romantic love. However, whether romantically involved or not, people have found fun ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Having been a teacher for 28 years, this day meant Valentine’s Day parties where the kids exchanged cards, and I received a lot of gestures of love!

How amazing it is that no matter the day, we can always experience a True Love that is more powerful than we can comprehend, never failing, and never ending! If you are a Christ-follower, than you have this Valentine from God:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

When we are a Christ-follower, we can claim on Valentine’s Day and everyday and into eternity that, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” (Song of Solomon 2:16).

In 1 John 4:19 we learn that “We love because He first loved us.” Thanks to God’s goodness, I have had the opportunity to show love and receive love in many ways during my life. I hope you have too. I put together a little photo gallery with captions that exemplify expressions of love that I have been blessed by God to experience or take part in throughout my life. There have been mountains and valleys, but God’s love for me and the way He also demonstrates His love through others in my life has been the prevailing force that spurs me on!

May you experience the fullness of God’s love today and everyday, and like me, reflect on how His love has touched your life!

Our wedding day, February 24th, 2017
What joy to be a mother!
My students forming a heart to emphasize kindness in our community.
Dog Love…a blessing from God as a reminder of His unconditional love!
My mom is an example of selfless love…a life lived of giving to her children and an example of living a life of deep faith in God.
My dad holding me shortly after arriving home from the hospital. Japan 1968
Michael’s family on our wedding day…a new family to belong to and be loved by.
This sweet couple in Haiti lovingly wanted to participate in the VBS experience alongside the children. They wanted to be a part of the excitement of learning about God!
It’s so exciting to watch the ones we love accept Jesus into their hearts and follow in believer’s baptism.
Lifelong friends are so special! We taught together, shared time together in book club, walked beside each other in faith, and remain a dear group of friends to this day!
The joys of teaching! It’s also a happy day when the teacher and student unknowingly show up in matching boots.
The love of a grandma presents a whole other level of comfort and love!
When you and the one you love accidently match, it’s just more confirmation of how you were meant to be together!
More dog love with this special pooch and “girl’s best friend”!
Michael is such a good dad to his sons. He is a Godly dad because he faithfully follows Christ.
Sister time! Having my sisters means friends for life and a level of protection you feel knowing they will go to battle for you.
Again, dogs are such special friends! Rueger is the newest addition.
It’s great when we can share adventures with those we love.
These two are an expression of years and years of faithful love and devotion to one another.
Shoebox gifts in Haiti! Share a box of love and the love of Jesus with a child.
Such sweetness!

Always Certain

I thought I would share something certain…something we can count on always. We live in tough and uncertain times, but God’s character is always sure, undeniable, indisputable, and never changes. We can be confident and feel victorious when we are HIS!

This is a collection of God’s character from Bible verses I highlighted in yellow (the color I use to highlight God’s divine character). This is but a small collection, and taken alone, just scrapes the surface of the majesty and love of God. However, by just reviewing this small assemblage of who God is, I find myself being reminded of how blessed beyond measure I am that He is my God!

GOD IS:

Righteous ~ Just~ Compassionate ~ Gracious ~ Slow to anger ~ Faithful in love ~ Good ~ HE performs valiantly~ HIS love endures forever. GOD knows you, searches you, understands you, is aware of all your ways, has extraordinary knowledge, and encircles you!

HE has eternal power and is divine in nature! HE shows no favoritism, and HE gives life to the dead! HIS spirit intercedes for us! GOD is: Wisdom ~ Knowledge ~ HE has unsearchable judgements and untraceable ways! HE gives endurance. HE gives encouragement. All things are from HIM...we exist for HIM!

HE is the Father of all mercies and the GOD of all comfort! Everything is from HIM. HE gave us the ministry of reconciliation in CHRIST (reconciling the world to himself)! HE doesn’t count our trespasses. HIS fruits of HIS SPIRIT are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. HE gives us incalculable riches of CHRIST!

HE is multifaceted wisdom and able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think! GOD is vast strength. HIS power enables HIM to subject everything to HIMSELF! HIS full nature dwells in the body of CHRIST! HIS word is living and effective and sharper than a double edged sword! GOD is a consuming fire. HE is the GOD of all grace!

“I am the Alpha and Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

Your “Joy Bucket”

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
John 15:11

Read Time 3 Minutes

Think about walking through a wooded area where the bushes are in full production just ready for the picking of the plumpest juiciest blackberries. It’s a beautiful sunshiny day with just the right cool breeze. With bucket in hand, you plan on picking and filling the bucket with an overflowing amount of blackberries to take home for making pies, jam, and other blackberry treats to delight yourself for days to come. If you allowed yourself to get sidetracked with the sticks and brush in your way and began filling your bucket with the debris along your path, your bucket would not hold the tasty berries. You would go home depleted instead of being refreshed with the ability to be satisfied with delectable treats for the coming days. Think about this picture as you continue reading my blog post.

Times are tough right now! It seems as though our country is turned upside down. For some in America, the Covid-19 is very upfront and real. Some have tested positive, some have sadly died from the virus, and healthcare workers see it all first hand. For others, the issues have been financial struggles…maybe even the loss of a business. I think for all of us, the times have been very mentally and emotionally challenging. From corona-virus, to protests and riots, to demonstrations of love versus hate, to continued deep divisions in our country both politically and personally, it is very hard to be positive!

During my life, I have encountered and navigated through some very difficult and heartbreaking times. These struggles have helped me to grow in my faith and learn to rely whole-heartily on God to supply my every need, my every comfort, and my complete peace. I have even learned how to experience true joy right along with sorrow.

I am desiring to do the same during these trying times, but it seems very hard. I find it a daily struggle to stay positive and grab hold of all the peace and joy available to me through God in the midst of so many negative issues in our country. A couple of nights ago, it became clear to me why I have been struggling with this matter of joy. I have the head knowledge and the experiential knowledge of joy, and I have been praying to feel God’s peace and joy during these tough times; however, I was forgetting a very important action on my part. I was forgetting to actually REJOICE! When I choose to rejoice, then the “joy bucket” in me begins to be filled up. Because each day seems to be filled with so much negativism in the media and in the conversations of so many, the negatives have been the focus and what I have been piling in my bucket. The negatives we are all facing were the big things in my mind that were depleting my “joy bucket”. I needed to adjust my thoughts by beginning with the action of rejoicing.

This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

I am now consciously taking action each day. I am choosing to REJOICE in who I am in God. Just the simple fact that I am His puts me in an overriding victorious circumstance at all times no matter what is going on in this world. I am His, a child of the one true King. My life will always be abundant because He is always good to me. He promises to get me through anything I face in my life. I am secure in eternity because of my salvation through Jesus Christ. Because He lives, I can face each day with confidence. With this kind of security, why would I not choose to rejoice every day! I hope that you too can choose with full confidence and peace to REJOICE in knowing God, His goodness, and His Son, Jesus! Join me in filling our “joy buckets” with all the fullness of His goodness today!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:11