I Love_____!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do we love in this world?  I hear people say that they love several things.  I hear phrases such as “I love that movie!  I love that food!  I love that song!”  Do we truly love these things? What is love? Many musicians sing about it in states of confusion or hurt.  They sing about how they love someone or how their love for someone has hurt them.  But once again, what is love?  According to the Apple dictionary, it is “an intense feeling of deep affection.”  This leads my mind to thinking.

  MMMMmmmmmm……..

 I am finding something strange about the above quotations.  Can we have intense feelings of deep affection towards mere items?  I know I have enjoyed several movies in my life but I cannot think of a single one that has caused me to feel intense feelings of deep affection towards it.  That just seems silly to me.  Yet, at the same time,  I cannot count the vast amount of times I have said such a statement like “I love ______ movie!”  Also I cannot think of a food that is so delicious and nutritious that I have gained intense feelings of deep affection for it.  That just sounds ridiculous.  It reminds me of a SNL skit I saw once where a kid loved hot dogs so much that another kid told him he should marry it.  He proceeded to marry it and the aftermath, needless to say, was quite bizarre. 

 I once heard Brother Kenneth Copeland say that there are only two things we should love in life; God and people.  This makes a lot of sense to me.  The only things in life truly deserving of our intense feelings of deep affection are God and people. 

 This revelation has sent me on a quest of sorts.  I now am attempting to correct myself from saying I love things that I don’t truly love.  I have eliminated the phrase “I love _____”from my vocabulary unless it pertains to God or people.  This has turned out to be quite a difficult task.  I never realized how habitually I said that phrase.  I had to go to a dictionary to fix my situation and find words that said what I meant.  In all of this I have found some beneficial results.  I have found that my word have more meaning.  I have become more specific in what I say and inadvertently I have become clearer in my communication.  Additionally, I have found that my ability to love God and people has increased.  I now love my friends more than I ever have before.  I love my family more than I ever thought possible.  I do everything I can to serve them with all I have.  I have begun to love others that were difficult to love with relative ease.  Though I have never been one to let my temper run free, little things would sporadically annoy me.  However, nowadays I find that agitation rarely comes to me, even though my surroundings haven’t changed.  I already don’t recognize myself from previous months; the growth of love has grown so extensively.

 Ultimately, I have realized the power of love.  It can turn around hardened people and aid in delicate situations.  I can use it to help brighten other people’s lives and mine as well.  I find that I enjoy life even more than I did previously.  Everything looks and feels brighter.  Furthermore, it can add clarity to your decision making.  It gives you inspiration to help others and to serve those around you.

 Moreover, love can help you in your calling.  An abundance of people are clueless as to what their calling in life is.  They don’t know what to do with their lives.  They don’t know how God wants to use them.  Here’s a piece of advice.  If you don’t know what God wants you to do, love those around you.  No matter what your calling, we are all supposed to love and be lovely towards those around us.  In this it is highly likely that you will receive your calling.  It worked for Job.  When he was at his worst point, he prayed for his friends, an act of love, and his situation turned around.  He became twice as wealthy as he was before and lived a great life. 

 So now the finality of my point.  What do you love?  What do you say you love?  Do you really mean what you say?  In your life, love two things; God and people.  More than this, love God and people to your fullest capacity, holding nothing back. 

My prayer to day is this:

That I increase in my capacity to love daily, that God’s love is shown through me, and that I say what I mean. 

 

 

Happy 80th Birthday Papa!!!!!

Today was quite an exciting day!  This is not something that happens everyday.  I got to be a part of a little surprise.  When the party for Papa was being planned, we soon realized that it was highly unlikely that I would be able to attend.  This worked to our advantage.  I checked my schedule and voila! An opening was available for me to come into town for this momentous occasion!  I recorded a video in my dorm room to send my congratulation and at the end I would walk out.  As I was making arrangements for coming into town a miracle occurred.  My amazing Aunt Jo, one of the most beautiful women of God I know, wanted to pay for me to fly home and back.  How good can God get!  So we finalized the plans and kept this secret from both Grandma and Papa. 

 

As I arrived, my sister aided me in searching for the perfect “hiding place” from which I would emerge.  As I waited, I began thinking, something I enjoy doing quite often.  I began to reminisce of all the memories I had. 

 

MMMMMmmmmmmm…………..

 

So many trips where we had gone to a local creek and fished, oftentimes not catching anything but learning plenty about fish.  Then there were times where we caught more than our fair share.  Times where we went to Chevrolet fishing camps and caught multiple catfish.  Out of all the times, one in particular stands out to me.  In the summer of my junior year of High School, Papa and I went to Tatum, Texas for a fishing extravaganza!  We woke up early in the morning (3:00am) and began preparing ourselves for the adventure ahead of us.  As we met up with Uncle Walter, Papa’s fishing buddy, we grabbed the final pieces of gear we needed.  We departed on the lake in complete darkness.  We found our spot by a water outtake and began to lower our rods in hope of catching some catfish.  We were not disappointed.  As the sun exploded from the water, leaving colorful traces of itself in the sky, we began catching catfish left and right.  They would come up one, two, three at a time.  By noon we caught upwards of 40 catfish, 4 of which were big blues.  I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. 

 

But time was up.  They were about to play my video.  As I saw myself move off the screen,  I began singing happy birthday while walking towards the front of the room.  However, I became surprised when I noticed everyone was still mesmerized by the projector screen.  Nonetheless, I was able to surprise my Grandpa and give him my love.  As for the rest of the day……it was a blessing.  It is days like these that remind me of the huge blessing that my family is to me and inspire me further to love them and devote myself to helping them in whatever way I can.  My family is a visual representation of the love of Christ for me. 

 

My prayer to day is this:

That God shows me new and creative ways to love my family and to bless them.  Also that they live long, blessed, fulfilling lives devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ