Okay, so this is a day or so late and couple dollars short. But the lonely do the same things they do the other 364 days a year. They keep living. And to the other singles such as myself, I hope you didn’t spend your day reflecting on how lonely you are. Instead, I hope you found joy in the fact that being alone doesn’t necessarily make you lonely. Nor does it make you desperate.
I had a fantabulous Valentine’s Day weekend. I had the pleasure of good company, good food, and great fun. Of course, the usual friends that I can count on did not fail to perform their yearly rituals of V Day duties. I have one friend who knows that come rain, shine, hail, sleet, snow, or significant other, he’d better find his way to a phone, computer, or cell to send a text just so I know he didn’t forget. And we alternate years as to who does so first. Last year it was me, and this year it was him. Friends like that are hard to find, even though he was in town and I didn’t get to see him. Darn that SO of his! LOL!! Who told him he could get a life or a potential wife?
In case you haven’t caught on, V Day is one of my favorite celebratory times. But it hasn’t always been. I am a woman who loves love. I love life. I love God because He is love and also the reason why I can love so freely. I’ve come to learn that you can’t give what you’ve never received, and on the receiving end of God’s love is where I’ve learned to become a whole bundle of it. Many people refer to themselves as Christians simply because they were raised in the church or because they believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, his death, burial, resurrection, and his promise to return. They call themselves such because they have been forgiven of their sins. Well, all of those facts may be true, but Christianity is not a religion (hold your tomatoes!!)—it is a way of life. It is about walking instead of talking, perfection not a prerequisite.
I remember when my mom first told me about Christianity being a way of life. I didn’t quite understand, but now I do. Jesus gave one commandment that really fulfilled the first ten–to love one another as He has loved us. If we love Him, then we keep his commandments. I have to admit that sometimes I fall short on that, but He even makes provisions for that. My relationship with Him could best be described as intimate since He is my very best friend. And what other God can you get to know on a personal level? I didn’t intend to get off on an evangelisitc spiel, but I’m really feeling His love right now and thought I would share it with you. He’s my reason for being and loving the day of love. It gives me a reason, an excuse (not that I need one), to celebrate the ones I’ve come to love through Him. And I appreciate all 3 types of love that He’s given me to share. Let’s turn on that street for a little bit.
Folks get all bent out of shape with different expectations of what accompanies the words, “I love you.” I bet it would help if they could identify which one was being discussed or if they even knew there was more than one. Agape. Filial. Eros. God’s love. Family and friendship love. Romantic husband-wife love. Sometimes I wish I could just say, “I agape you,” and make it plain so folks would understand. There’s just so much love to give.
I guess what started this rant is a conversation with my sister about a mutual acquaintance. I’m all the time freaking folks out and comforting others by telling them that I love them. With this particular incident, she hit the nail on the head when she pointed out that between the acquaintance and another person there was a failure to communicate. She said that A didn’t intimately know the God of B so there was no way A could understand the capacity of B to love so much. Made sense to me. After all, even though you may reap what you sow, you certainly can’t sow what you don’t have. After some thought about our conversation, I had to write about what inspires me to love–better yet, who.
And while on the subject of fathers heavenly, let me detour on down to earth and talk about my very first earthly love, my boyfriend, my first date, the first man to ever see my bare bottom (doctor excluded)–my Daddy. I love that man. And I know he loves me. He rarely says it, but he always shows it. And isn’t that the most important thing? Don’t you want to know that the people who “love” you understand it’s an action word? I can probably put the number of times I’ve heard him say it on one hand, but it means so much more to me to “know” it because of the way that he cares for me, protects me, STILL tucks me in at night by peaking his head in the door to say good night, provides for me (there are some bills I have NEVER paid and I’m for real, for real grown), encourages me, supports me emotionally, gives me advice, listens to me, reasons with me, and still let me sit on his lap and fall asleep long after I was “too old” to do so. A Daddy is God’s way of saying “I love you” in a special way to his little girls. A Daddy is God’s way of giving his love to Mommy. Shucks, a Daddy is what Valentine’s should always be about for us little girls who are blessed to have them.*
*This Daddy rant in no way is intended to diminish the role of my momma or any other mommas. Mommas are God’s gift to the WORLD!!! Just sometimes you gotta give Daddy his due, particularly when he’s the first teacher a girl will ever have on how to have a healthy male-female relationship. There ought to be more songs for Daddy like there are for Momma. Sorry this disclaimer became an extension of the rant.
As always, these are just my humble thoughts.
NativeLoveChild