Loved..........

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Here in Cali, we were blessed to have some wonderful weather....well up until last night, so don't be too jealous!

I also hope everyone had a love-filled Valentine's Day. Whether you are married or single, divorced or widowed....everyone deserves to feel loved. I know for the years i've been single, the day sometimes makes me want to wear black and stay home and eat a tub of ice cream. It has been in these last few years as I grew closer to the Lord that the day has become so much more than mourning my relationship status. Yes, the day is way over hyped and over commercialized, and yes you should be able to tell someone you love them every day of the year....but the premise of the day is pure - to show love. As a single - it's easy to pull a "Woe Is Me" because I don't have a boyfriend to give me overpriced flowers and wait 2hrs to have dinner at a nice restaurant. But that isn't the only way to know you are loved.

I've learned a lot about how I feel loved in how I show love. I love gift giving!!!! That is by far my love language - that and Acts of Service a close second. If you don't know what Love Languages are...read the book, especially the 5 Love Languages of God. http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/books_God.html

The basics of the book are that there are 5 ways in which we experience/show love. When I first heard about it at church I thought it was cheesy, but while I was in Mississippi I read the "God" version and really related to it. I do experience love more through giving/serving than any other form (ex: words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time).

So - i've decided that my goal of Valentine's Day is to make sure those around me know they are loved! I don't think we hear or feel it enough by those close to us, or let me re-phrase that, I don't think I show it enough. Most importantly, I don't think I show the love of God enough either.

I challenge all of you to find out what your love language is, and start using it! Once I realized what mine were, I was able to better understand how I feel God's love, and that it's ok if I don't feel it the same way as the person next to me. God created us all differently, able to experience His love differently to. Yet, we all have the knowledge that His love will always be there, not just on February 14th.