Love: Share it

Every person is uniquely made.  I believe God made each of us perfectly and just the way he wanted us to be.  He gives gifts and abilities in exclusive combinations to each of us.  Some of these things change as we mature, get older and life situations alter.  Whether you know it or not, you do have God given, special attributes.

One of my gifts is the gift of LOVE.  I LOVE.  I LOVE my family, my friends, strangers, animals, nature, etc...  The list goes on and on.  I often show my love through acts of kindness, words of encouragement or cooking.   The people that I show LOVE to know that I LOVE them, but I don't think they know how much I LOVE them.  No matter how hard I try, how much I cook or how kind I am, my loved ones cannot fathom the extreme amount of LOVE I feel in my heart and soul.  These acts just don't express it completely.

I LOVE my husband with my life and so much more.  When I was a struggling young girl, having gone through a lot of turmoil, I asked God consistently to bring a man into my life that would LOVE me like He says I am supposed to be loved. One that would never abuse me, leave me or hurt me.  One that would love me no matter what, for who I am and never want me to be anyone but who I am.  My husband is that man.  He is the answer to my prayers.  He is God's gift to me.  I LOVE our life together.  It is tough.  We have struggles.  Like every other couples, we have our moments.  But neither of us ever has to wonder if we can make it together.  What a blessing that comfort, commitment, realization and LOVE is.  The LOVE I have for this man consumes me.  I wish he could feel what I feel so he would know how much I LOVE him.

My children are the delight of my life.  It was difficult to have children for us.  We went through a lot.  In the end, we were blessed with two sublime daughters.  They are as different as night and day, yet both are beautiful, smart, godly girls.  They too are LOVED beyond belief.  How do you express the LOVE that completely fills you up from head to toe?  Whatever the words are for that, I LOVE my girls that much and so much more.

In my forty years, I have been blessed with some really good friends and some that I thought were my friends and ended up hurting me.  We won't focus on the latter even though, in my own way, I LOVE them too.  There are so many special friends who have all played important roles in my life.  They may not even realize how significant their friendship has been to me.

Twenty-seven years ago, I met my first "best" friend.  We lost touch for a few years, but I never gave up the LOVE I have for her.  "Sam," I LOVED you all that time and I still LOVE ya girl.

The one friend I know will still be my friend until the day we die came into my life when I was 11 years old.  As we have aged, our friendship has grown to a level that I don't think "friendship" quite does it justice.  "Chris," I cannot express with words how much I LOVE you girl.  Thank you for liking this country bumpkin despite how everyone else felt.  Thank you for the blind date that is now the LOVE of my life.  Thank you for all the other things we have shared that I don't have enough space to mention here.  I LOVE you beyond comprehension.  We have fun together despite the garbage life dumps on us, don't we?

When I think of friendships that I have been blessed with in my adulthood, I feel lucky to have so many names come to mind.  There are so many Godly women in my life that bring such joy and happiness to me.  I couldn't possibly name every single one, but there are a few that must be named.  T-Cakes, you are fabulous (haha!).  Our friendship had a strange beginning that can only be seen as one of those "gifts" from God that makes you scratch your head.  You taught me that girls can fix anything life throws at us by sharing a glass of wine.  Nadean, you have reminded me not to take myself so seriously and focus on the good.  I can't even explain how God brought us together.  I know that even when I haven't talked to you in a while, you are right there when I call.  You are one awesome chick that taught me that my "Patti-ness" is ok even if I can't seem to use a cold remedy properly.  Oh, Mimi, aren't we the unusual pair!  How do I even begin to explain how our friendship works?  I really can't except to say it just does.  We have struggled together, carrying each other through fires and rejoicing on the mountaintops together.  What started out as a line drawn in the sand has metamorphasisized into loving support and true friendship that I feel so blessed to participate in.  I learned the lie behind "but" and so much more because of you.  I don't say it enough "but" I expect a smart girl like you to know I LOVE you, though you can't fathom how much.  Then there's "Neesie".  Neesie, YOU ROCK!  There are not enough words in all the languages in the world to express all the ways I LOVE you.  You inspire me with your devotion to children.  I just don't even know what else to say except I LOVE you and "T" and miss you both like crazy.

I can go on and on naming the ones that mean so much to me.  I wish for every single person that I LOVE to know in their hearts that they are a special gift from God in my eyes.  Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends, Customers and especially my siblings...there is no way for you know how much I LOVE you.  You know I LOVE you, you just don't realize how much. 

God brought me into this world as the daughter of a fantastic Mom.  She is loving, mean, compassionate, honest, giving, supportive, mean and the hardest working woman I have ever known.  Mom, I LOVE you.  I worry about you.  I pray for you.  I LOVE you.  Thank you for...well, EVERYTHING.  You taught me to be strong, honest, loving and yes, mean.  I hope you are pleased with the woman, wife, mom, friend, sister and daughter I have become.

You see, the word LOVE is simple.  The emotion behind it varies from person to person.  The emotion behind my "I LOVE YOU" is strong and bigger than anything else in this world.  The Bible says "God is LOVE."  I believe that with my whole being.   Named here or not, the people I LOVE should know that my LOVE is unfathomable because it is through God, who is LOVE.  Can you grasp even a smidge of how much LOVE that must be?

LOVE ya, mean it!