Feelings

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love" -Colossians 2:2. "What is important in faith expressing itself in love" -Galatians 5:6. One of my fairly solid embarassments is that I read romance novels. In high school I focused on Harlequin Romances, in early college I switched to longer romance novels, and I recently changed to Inspirational Romances. I love to day-dream about my perfect guy. The one who cared enough to actually ask me out on a date, who brings flowers, who calls to see if I got home okay, etc etc. Over the years, and after several failed attempts, I'd like to be able to say that I have wised up a bit, but the truth is that my feelings haven't changed. I now acknowledge that there may be more than one perfect someone, but I still believe in the forever sort of love. God has shown me many examples of people whose love has withstood the test of time. The only constant in all these relationships is Him. People with a strong connection to God have a strong ability to share His love with others. Even in singles I see their constant and overwhelming love of God. That is what I strive for. I hope and pray that God has a guy for me, but if not I've recently come to the conclusion that I would survive with just a four-legged furry kind of guy...or possibly girl. I just learned that a friend of mine has died after being missing for a while. I hadn't spoken to him in a while, but seeing his family's love for him prompted me to write this post. In the past couple of weeks I have been struggling with the idea of love. I have used in just once in my recent memory. Growing up, love was a concept, not a word. My family loves each other, but it's not something that's ever been discussed. My parents celebrate their anniversary, but rarely go out to dinner or hug or kiss in public or anything. When I discovered my family in Christ one of the hardest things to accept was the overwhelming love I received from everyone. Love was a concept people really understood. Thanks to their patience and caring I am finally starting to gain a better understanding. The constant and unfailing love God has for His people is a hard concept to wrap your mind around. He sent His only son to die for us. Us: sinners, unbelievers, haters of our fellow man. How much love that must of taken. We do nothing to deserve Him, but He loves us anyway. We push Him away time and again and still He loves us! He is the epitome of the perfect Father. He loves in a way that only He can. "Love is patient, Love is kind, It does not envy, it does not boast, It is not proud, It is not rude, It is not self-seeking, It is not easily angered, It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends"- Corinthians 13: 4-8. This is the sort of love that God has for us. Ever since hearing this quote for the first time in A Walk to Remember, which is an awesome movie by the way, I have dreamed of this. God offers me this extraordinary love, without asking anything in return. He gives me the opportunity to have eternal life with Him, who would not grab this with open arms? I did, and I've rarely looked back, and never for very long. This post has kind of rambled a lot, thank you for your patience blogger land -LR