Love Lives Here

It's February, the month of love. I think that February is one of my favorite months for many reasons. First and foremost, it signifies that I'm almost through the winter! This has been a rough one. It's -12 Fahrenheit right now with a windchill of -22.

It's also the month of other fun events - the Superbowl, my son's birthday, Valentine's day, my husband is off his teaching and tutoring because of winter break. This weekend I'm looking forward to participating in our local farmer's market. The following week we are going to go and visit my daughter and son-in-law for a couple of days. All fun things!

But February is also a reminder of love. I have this little plaque that sits on my mantle that says, "Love lives here." I often have to ask myself, "Is that true?" "Do I love well?" 

Some days, the answer is probably, "No." But then other days I do a better job. As I reflect back over the past week, I had more days when the answer was yes than no. And my goal is to get better at it each day.

This past week love lived here in the following ways:

💓 I loved myself enough to get outside, even on the coldest days, to go for a walk in the fresh air. I know I feel better when I move and when I go outside so even when I didn't want to do it, I made myself go. 

💓 I sat all afternoon on Saturday and read a fiction book. Not for a class, not to write or teach; just for my own pleasure. 

💓 I continue to make and eat healthy plant-based meals. And when I deviate off that I start to gain back weight. I love myself enough to want to make these healthy life-giving choices.

💓 We went to visit my father-in-law this week. Between the weather, the fact that there was covid going around his facility and they were in lock-down for a while, cataract surgeries, one car and busyness I hadn't been out there in a month. This past week was just as busy, but we went out of love for him.

💓 I made a point to schedule a lunch date with my husband. If we don't schedule it our calendar fills up with other things. It was nice to just sit and chat over a meal.

💓 I never liked football and it was such a confusing sport to me. However, my husband and son LOVE football. Because I love them, I learned the rules of the game. I sit and watch with them, and guess what, I've learned to like it. I was happy my son's team was in the Super Bowl and won last night. 

💓 I love to cook and I love showing my love to my family by making their favorite meals. Even though I eat entirely plant-based and they will eat whatever I cook, I do make their favorites on a weekly basis. Last night's dinner was pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade brownies for dessert. 

💓 There was a day when I had a bit of a pity party about something and was so tempted to express it out loud. Sometimes love really is not expressing every emotion we have! 

It's very easy to show love to those outside our home, but the true definition of how well we love is what we do behind closed doors. How do we treat our families? How do we behave when no eyes are on us? Do we act the same way whether someone is watching or not?

It's something I strive to do and while there are days when I fail, I'm thankful that the days I'm successful are much more frequent than they used to be. I'm thankful that I can say, "Love lives here."

1 John 4:19 ~

We love because He first loved us.