here's 2 different post (combined into one) that i wrote on valentine's days past :D
...
-love is-
she smiled wearily and let out a little laugh. his hand squeezed her's as to say "i'm sorry" as he turned towards her and chuckled as well. it had been a long night. boring conversations. half-fake laughs. she really didn't want to be there at the dinner, but she knew it was best for him. it was his boss after all who had invited them to this dinner and this was the big break he had been waiting for. the grandfather clock banged. another hour had passed. she took a deep breath and squeezed his hand back. she was here for him.
[love is patient]
his palms were sweaty and his heart was beating what seemed like a million times a second. he stepped to the line as the ref bounced him the ball. this was it. the game was on the line. he needed to make at least one to tie. two to win. this was doable. this was what ever kid wishes for. a chance to be the hero. he was the captain of the team. he was where he wanted to be, with the ball in his hands. he quickly glanced to the sideline. she was there. she was watching. she smiled and gave him a quick thumbs up. looking back at the hoop, he took a deep breath and bounced the ball a couple of times. right after he released it, he knew he missed it. the ball bounced off the back of the rim. he was angry with himself. "hold it together." he thought to himself. "i still get one more shot to tie it. i can make these in my sleep. c'mon. let's do this." the other teams fans were screaming louder now. his own fellowship to his right was yelling words of encouragement. the ref bounced the ball to him again. this was it. he could make it. he had to make it...
the other team cheered and hugged one another. his teammates had told him it was ok, but he was angry with himself. sad. embarrassed. he walked out the gym. he needed to be alone. he needed to get away. he starred into the sky still replaying the final shot in his head. "hey." a voice called out from behind him. he didn't need to look, he knew it was her. he turned slowly, more embarrassed now. "you did good," she started. he was about to cut her off, but she kept going, "everyone misses some. you guys wouldn't have even been close if it wasn't for you." there were so many mistakes she could have pointed out, but she didn't. she just stood beside him letting him know she was still proud of him.
[love is kind]
her sister barged into her room screaming estatically. she put down her book. "what's up?" she asked. "craig just asked me to the prom!" her sister blurted out then proceeded to scream some more. "how exciting." she said. "i have to look for a dress now! want to help me look?" her sister asked. "sure. let me just finish this paragraph. she watched her sister leave and turned back to the book she was reading, but she couldn't focus. even though she was older by a year, it was hard being in her sister's shadow. her sister was the popular one. her sister was the smarter one. her sister was the more athletic one. her sister was always getting asked out, but no one ever asks her. she put down her book and grabbed her keys. "it's okay though. i'm happy for her. i know how long she's been interested in craig" she thought to herself. "i think she'd look good in forrest green. that's what we'll look for."
[love does not envy]
he got up from his knees. praying was always great, but there was still a heaviness in his heart. he knew that God was calling him to go on missions, but he simply didn't have the funds to go. he had been praying about this for months now and he had only half of what he needed to get. the deadline was in a couple of days. "maybe it just wasn't meant to be" he thought to himself. just then his phone rang. it was the missions coordinator from his church. "i just recieved a check from someone who wants to remain anonymous. it looks like they covered the rest of your expenses, so you are good to go." he still couldn't believe the good news after he hung up the phone. "thank you God" he prayed, "and thank you. whoever you are."
[love does not boast]
everyone had left leaving a mess like usual. she walked around the fellowship hall picking up the candy wrappings, old bulletins, and pens that were scattered about the room. she started to sing to herself as she stacked the chairs back on the side. it took her awhile to finally clean everything up, but finally she finished. she looked across the room to make sure she hadn't missed anything. smiling at the good work she had done, she turned off the light and locked the door. no one would know that she had again stayed late cleaning everything up, but that was just fine with her. no one needed to know. God knew.
[love is not proud]
he quietly sat in the quad by himself eating dry bread he had found it in the cubboard this morning before he took off for school. no one noticed him. no one ever did. a group of girls giggled uncontrolably as some of the more popular guys walked by them. he scoffed at them. what is there to giggle about. life sucks. no one cares about the outcasts like himself. the school bell rang indicating the end of lunch. he put on his backpack. "i should jus go home. no one would notice," he thought to himself. and yet, there he was walking back towards his class. a girl walked by and made eye contact with him. she slightly smiled and nodded her head as to acknowledge him. he paused slightly. how could jus a little smile like that make him feel better. he didn't even know that girl, but just that simple recognition made him smile. "guess not everyone in the school is that bad," he thought to himself.
[love is not rude]
there was something about her that intrigued him. something about her character. something about who she was. she was real. he had known one too many girls who were fake. who were kind to one person and then stab them in the back. but that wasn't her. she was kind. she was honest. she was humble. she did things for other people because it came from her heart. he saw her talking to one of the new comers. it was genuine that she cared. she was sincere. she smiled and laughed at something the girl said. he couldn't help but smile as well.
[love is not self-seeking]
he put his arm around her and she placed her head on his shoulders. pulling the blanket around their shoulders they quietly sat staring at the horizon as the sun made it's decent into the night. they've been together for 10 years now. how time had flown. it hadn't been all fun and games as they both recognized how flawed they really were, but they worked through those rough areas. and even after 10 years there were still issues they would face. sure he still did things that would sometimes upset her. yes, she did things that annoyed him. but those things were small compared to their love. they learned to love one another for who they were. they had learned to be patient with each other. they had learned to put Christ at the center of their relationship. it was dark now and the stars seemed to appear out of nowhere. "ready to go?" he asked. "just a little longer" she whispered. "sounds good" he held her close to his side. another 10 years would soon go by and he didn't want to miss any of it with her.
[love is not easily angered]
she had messed up again. how could he still love her? she was weak. she wanted to change. she wanted to be the woman that he wanted her to be. she wanted to be the woman that she knew she could be. and yet, here she was, disappointed with herself. she had fallen again. and yet he was always there for her. always forgiving her. she didn't deserve it, but he gave grace anyways. "why do you still take me back?" she asked. "it's cuz i love you." he would reply. "but i've made so many mistakes." she pointed out. "well, i don't remember them. they are as far as the east is from the west." and why wouldn't he forgive? he did die for her and her sins. he did die for you and me. he did die so that we may live.
[love keeps no record of wrongs]
he stood in shock of what he heard. lies. accusations. slander. how could this be? what did he ever do? he looked around the room. everyone diverted their eyes from him. everyone except the accusers. hatred in their eyes. fingers pointed at him. condeming him. yet he was innocent. everyone else in the room knew he was innocent. but they were too scared to do anything. he slowly gathered his stuff. ready to exit the room. until he heard her voice. he stopped and turned to see her standing. eyes locked on the table, but her voice did not waiver. "stop! this is wrong! i won't let this happen!" she had said what everyone was thinking but was too afraid to say. the accusers turned towards her. ready to attack. but another stood. and another. soon the whole room was filled with people who were ready to stand against the wrong that was happening. the accusers looked at one another. they knew it was a lost cause. gathering their stuff, they exited the room angrily. she smiled.
[love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth]
"wow! what time is it?" they had been studying as a group for hours now. "man it's late. we better get some sleep if we're gonna do well on our final." "ugh. i hate this class." "c'mon. you can do it. we can do this." she put her books into her bag and headed to the door. "c'mon let's go. i'm tired." her roommate grabbed her jacket and proceeded to the door. out of the corner of her eye she saw him get nudged by his roommate. "oh... umm... i walk you guys back." "oh. don't worry about it. it's not that far." "no. it's ok. i insist." the three of them headed out into the cool night. there wasn't much conversation. they were tired. they didn't meet anyone on the 5 minute walk back to their dormroom, but just having a guy there made the walk that much more comfortable.
[love always protects]
"no no no. don't do that honey." he look at his mother confused. as a child, he didn't know what was wrong. even though his lollipop had fell to the carpet and gathered some fuzz, he wanted to put it back into his mouth. but she took the candy from his hands. he started to cry. why did she take it away? he wasn't done with it yet. but a couple of seconds later (which felt like eternity to him) she brought it back. washed. cleaned. he happily popped the lollipop back into is mouth. it wouldn't be until he grew older that he would realize that sometimes, his parents would stop him from doing things he thought was right, but would have been hurtful to himself. he would learn to trust in them because they did have the best interest for him.
[love always trusts]
she sat there listening to the kind words said about her husband. about what a great man he was. about how much of an impact he had made on those around him. her son sat in his stroller, oblivious to what was going on. her daughter on the other hand, wept. she held her hand tightly and cried with her. her husband had died unexpectedly. much too early that expected. much too sudden. and now they would have to deal with this loss. she knew it would be tough. she knew it would be painful. and she knew that there would be days when she would want to quit trying. but she knew that she wouldn't give up. she would take care of her daughter. she would take care of her son. she would provide for her family. and she knew that one day, she would see him again, face to face, in heaven. that would be enough to keep her going from day to day. week to week. month to month. year to year.
[love always hopes]
he slammed his fists into the car steering wheel. it stung. but he hit it again. what is going on? why is this so hard? they had only been married for a couple of months and already his marriage seemed to be falling apart. another argument. another fight. will it ever end? it seemed like as one thing was resolved another issue would arise. this was definitely not what he had expected...
she slammed the bedroom door behind her and threw herself onto the bed. tears streamed down her face as she cried into her pillow. another problem. another fight. and he had driven off to who knows where. what had happened? it had started off so right. but one thing led to another. and the unresolved issues kept growing and growing. where did they go wrong?...
he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. he hated himself for driving off again. everytime they had gotten into a big argument, he would drive off. it was his way of getting away. but he needed to think. to clear his mind. they had fought over something so small too. it seemed ridiculous. he started the car, he knew what he needed to do...
she got up off the bed and walked to the bookshelf. eyes still red from crying she pulled a large photo album from the bottom of the bookshelf. she flipped through the pages of photos. they looked so happy. they were so happy. memories of laughter and good times filled her mind. pictures of dates and trips and of course the wedding day. she heard the garage door open. and soft footsteps came towards the room. she looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. "we need to talk..."
and they did talk. talked like they hadn't done in all their years of dating. they apologized. they forgave. they shared their hurts. they shared their concerns. they shared their hopes. their dreams. there was honesty. truth. understanding. they held hands. they prayed. they recommited themselves to each other...
it would take time for things to change. it takes time for people to change. but change did happen. 50 years later they still look back to that one day where he drove off and she slammed the bedroom door behind her. but they also remember how they were able to face the problems. how they resolved the issues. how they would learn and grow to love each other more and more as the years went by. and their children, and their children's children, can testify that their love for one another is stronger than anyone has ever seen. what seemed like a broken relationship became one that would last a lifetime.
[love always perseveres]
love is all these things. love is all around us. it's jus up to us whether we want to see it or not. it's jus up to us whether we want to show it or not. it's valentine's day. and on this "day of love," let's strive to show God's love to one another. a love that goes deeper than what the world proclaims as love. let's love as Christ first loved us.
