Love...

Love - such a beautiful thing, right? Depends on the context in which it is being used. The love we receive from God, without question, is beautiful. He loves us unconditionally no matter how much we neglect Him. He has done so much for us but we tend to forget. How can a person be so selfless? We could never fully understand because we are, by nature, selfish beings. Yes many of us do things for others out of the kindness of our hearts but, admittedly, some acts are done with selfish intent. Jesus committed the ultimate act of love by dying for us - those that were and that were to be - with no apprehension. It seems like a rhetorical question but how can someone die for the sins of persons who have yet to be born, and better yet, for people who hated Him? We could all take a page from His book...

Love as it applies to family and close friends is a beautiful thing - at least for me it is. I love my family whole-heartedly and I know that love is reciprocated. Without my family, I would not be the woman I am today. The love my parents have shown me and my sister over the years has taught me that love has no boundaries. The love of my family has brought me through difficult times and rough situations. Often, I deny wanting to have a family of my own but the truth is, I do want to have a child that I can love the same way my parents loved me. My love of close friends is as deep as that of my family. The only thing separating us is blood. I won't elaborate too much on this due to an earlier post I made ("To my close friends, I just wanted to say"). I said all I needed to say to my friends then.

And then there's the love of a significant other. The passionate love you feel for him or her can be a beautiful thing, but can also be deadly. This type of love can bring joy, happiness, everlasting bliss... or it can bring betrayal, anger, and even fatality. Have I ever been in love? I've asked myself that question over and over again. I come up with the same answer everytime, "Maybe". I've only been in one serious relationship. We dated off and on for about 3 years. He told me he loved me after a couple months. It just blew my mind! We were so young at the time and I didn't know what love was. I thought I loved him and told him this after dating for about 6 months. To this day, I don't believe I meant it. At that age (15-16) I think it's purely infatuation. What do a couple of teenagers know about love? It wasn't until after we'd been broken up for about a year or so that I thought I was in love. Who pines over someone for more than a year if it's not love? I dated/talked to other guys afterwards but always compared them to him. It took a long time for me to move on. In a sense, he was my "first love", but it wasn't the kind of love two people marry for.

I've seen the best of love through my parents. Almost 24 years of marriage and still going strong. They have their ups and downs but never have doubted the love they have for one another. I've also seen it turn fatal. About 6-7 years ago, a new neighbor killed his wife, step-daughter, and then himself, leaving 2 small children behind. Was he really in love? I think many people are in love with the idea of being in love. Can you really know if you want to spend the rest of your life with someone after 4 or 5 months? Or even a year? I think not. It takes time to learn about all aspects of a person. I do want love but I'm not in a rush to find it...