16 February 2019

LOVE: VALENTINE'S 365


Good Afternoon Friends!

I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine’s Day … FULL OF LOVE!

My intention was to write yesterday. But it turned out to be quite a day. Up at 3AM [unable to sleep]; traveled five hours for a meeting which was supposed to take all of a half hour – but ended up taking five hours; then a 6-hour drive back. Let me say that exhaustion [physical, emotional & mental], coupled with heavy traffic and crazy drivers [compounded by the fact that I am not even supposed to drive at night] – well it did not make for a great combination. I did not get home until midnight. However, on a brighter note, I finally managed to sleep in on a Saturday!

Shifting the focus off of me and back to us –
I have truly enjoyed our series on love
And, as promised, our discussion on love will continue

BECAUSE LOVE DOES NOT END WITH VALENTINE’S DAY
We need to understand –
The love that is demonstrated on Valentine’s Day…
It should be an all year thing and not a one day thing

NOW – 
I am not saying that there should be all the fanfare which accompanies Valentine’s Day
HOWEVER – 
There certainly should be the creativity and intentionality which accompanies Valentine’s Day

GENTLEMEN – if flowers are an expression of your love for that special lady, it should not only be on Valentine’s Day. It should be spontaneous and done randomly throughout the year. HINT: it would be less expensive at any other time of the year

LADIES – if you love how your guy smells, buy that special gift of cologne any time of the year to surprise him. Men appreciate unexpected thoughtful gestures as much as we ladies do. HINT: Buy the scented shower gel too and get creative planning an entire evening of romance [this hint is, of course, for my married friends]

ALL – if a special meal was the choice for a love-filled evening on Valentine’s Day, keep in mind that restaurants are open all year round. HINT: So is your kitchen…

PARENTS – if sweet surprises were the order of your love-demonstration for your family; candies, chocolates, cakes and brownies are available at any time during the year. My family loves when I make a dessert for no other reason than I thought they might enjoy it. HINT: It also gives you a plausible excuse for relaxing any dietary disciplines you might have in place J

FRIENDS – if you took time to let people know how much they are loved and thought of on Valentine’s Day; those expressions of care and concerns go a long way at all times of the year.

The main point is that we have 365 days a year to demonstrate: LOVE
We have daily opportunities to be intentional about our demonstrations of LOVE

YOU SEE – the primary reasons there such displays on Valentine’s Day is … EXPECTATION
It is understood and expected that there will be demonstrations of love
We can argue the correctness of it some other time while still recognizing the reality of it today

BUT – WHAT IS GOD’S EXPECTATION?
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” John 13:34

AND HE HAS LOVED US LAVISHLY AND LOVES US DAILY
“I have loved you  … with an everlasting [continual, never-ending, eternal, ceaseless, perpetual, undying & unending] love.” Jeremiah 31:3

HINT: That is some kind of love … we should follow suit!

I am going to go back to relaxing now … and recovering from yesterday

Praying You Have a Blessed Day
     & Wishing You Much Love …

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