More than a day

I began this post on Valentine's Day - I will try to finish it today.

Today is Valentine's Day.  A day that many couples celebrate in an over-the-top kinda day.  A day that some celebrate as a family.  A day that some like myself really don't celebrate at all.  Why, don't I celebrate?  I've been asked this many times through the years. And my answer remains the same, "Love should be celebrated everyday not just one day of the year".
I've thought for several days about what I would write today.
Thoughts of Love: Simple love, Difficult love, Everlasting love, Friendship love, and Relational love

Simple Love...I'm still trying to figure out how anything about love is simple.  I've boiled it down to all the things we say we "love".We will say we love certain foods, drinks, books, movies, places, items of clothing...will you get the picture.

Difficult Love...Abuse. Broken families. Addiction. Broken relationships. The journey for many in our society. Forgiveness, restoration, healing, and trust are part of this type of love.

Everlasting Love...This love I have known since I was 7 years old but continue to learn and grow more in this love each day. A love that is extended to everyone.  A love that requires us to have faith in someone we cannot physically see as an individual but see Him in others, in creation, and can feel His presence in our lives.

Friendship Love...Childhood friendships are beautiful memories.  Sometimes we are fortunate that those same friendships grow up with us and are a part of our lives forever and sometimes they are just a memory.  When I think about it, it doesn't really matter the age of the person when we love that special friend. Friendships are sometimes for a lifetime, some are seasonal but they are all a wonderful part of our life and I can't imagine life without the love of friends.

Relational Love...This love is beautiful and comes from the everlasting love.  The creation of humanity, the creation of relationships, all come from God's love.  This love grows each day, should be at the forefront of our thoughts.  I saw a poster the other day that said, Love is not the person you can live with but the person you cannot live without. This love is not always easy and it can have some rough patches along the way but it is beautiful and worth the "work" that goes into it - that protects it.

The words above were written on February 14, 2013 but stored in a draft to get back to and finish. As life happens days turned in to months and I vowed to finish the post today.

Since my word for the year is love, I continue to look at love, live in love and long to love. So far in 2013, I have experienced love these ways -  in our family as our son was married two months ago today; Tommy and I celebrated 26 years of marriage; a friend who has fallen in love; the pain of losing love for a few other family members; the loss of a loved one for friends and family... the list could go on.  A lesson in love is a lesson in life.  It is ever-changing.

Today, I am thankful I am loved.