And if you didn't finish this line from "Princess Bride" than you are no longer my friend.
Love is a funny thing. I think our culture has sold us a bill of goods regarding relationship and love. Here is the thing, love isn't a feeling. It isn't amazing sex, the tingle you get in your stomach when you see someone, obsession, hours spent gazing into each others eyes, long walks with sweaty hands. Sure, love CAN be that, but if that is all it is, you have come up short. I am not sure what you would call the above, but it isn't the full capacity of love.
Love is making sure your husband has clean underwear before a long trip, it is letting your spouse sleep in when you know they didn't sleep well the night before, it is being the first to say sorry when your pretty sure you were not wrong. It is picking the towel up off the bathroom floor for the 1,00oth time.
Love is a choice. Love is a servants heart, and least you think I put the cause of feminism back 100 years, let me say this: I serve Matt because I am his equal. If I served him because he was my superior, or I thought him to be, that isn't love but slavery.
Love isn't easy, it isn't something you FALL into. When you meet someone and they compliment who you are, when they bring out your best, encourage you, make you laugh, when the thought of waking up to there face every day for the rest of your life seems...doable. That is love. Easy is choosing to guard your heart. Easy is choosing to be angry and refuse to forgive when your rights have been violated. Love is forgiving before the other person apologises and that is hard. Love says "I will meet your needs and give 100%" even when the other person drops the ball and that is hard.
Love is intentional. For the first part of February, I choose love. I would like to believe that I make the choice to love Matt and my girls every day. But that isn't reality. Some days I am so focused on ME and MY needs and wants I forget to show love. Not for the next 14 day. I choose to be intentional and to honor my husband in some way, every day.
Love is an action word, not a passive feeling. I can love when I don't like. I can love when I am angry. I can choose to be patient and kind when I feel flustered and mean. I can choose to be happy for anothers blessings while feeling like my wants go unanswered. I can keep my blessings to myself and not rub it in others faces. Love will choose to hope when the heart wants to dispare. Love bites its tongue when you want to say "told you so". Love protects the least of these when it isn't really your problem. Love fights for truth when it isn't the easy thing to do and you would rather cover your butt. Love fights for right even when your beaten.
Today, I choose LOVE. Not the bleached, nicely packaged type of love that culture is selling. The messy love, the serving love, the giving love, the love that may cause pain but I will choose it anyway. Because life was never meant to be clean and neatly wrapped.
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